Sam Masur

Practice Areas

• Commercial Litigation

• Oil, Gas and Energy Litigation. Arbitration, & Transactions

• Oilfield Service Company Transactions and Litigation

• Renewable Energy

• Environmental and Toxic Torts

• Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures

• Arbitration and Mediation

• Banking

• Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Creditors' Rights

• Business Transactions and Entity Formation and Governance

• Products Liability

Career

Sam’s practice is focused on oil and gas litigation, general commercial litigation, oil and gas titles, exploration company and oil field service company acquisitions and divestitures and general business acquisitions and divestitures.

Sam litigates oil and gas and general business contract disputes involving oil and gas leases, overriding royalty interest agreements, joint operating agreements, participation agreements, IADC drilling contracts and partnership and limited liability agreements. He has participated in such actions in the state and federal courts of Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Sam has successfully defended several oilfield environmental claims and toxic tort claims related to ambient air quality and has prosecuted a major oil and gas fraud case involving the theft of corporate assets and the breach of fiduciary duties by corporate officers. He also successfully defended a publicly traded company in seven class action suits that sought to enjoin a board recommended take-private merger. Additionally, he has handled products liability litigation involving propane explosions. Sam has been deposed twice and testified at trial twice in an arbitration proceeding before a three-member arbitration panel as an expert in the customs and practices of the energy extraction industry (Texas Brine Company, LLC v. Occidental Chemical Corporation, No. 69 198 129 13), and testified in a jury trial about the function and interpretation of a stock purchase agreement (Omni Energy Services Corp. v. Robert H. Rhyne, Jr. and Brent Trauth, Suit No. 2009-3396 c/w 2013-4316).

Beyond his litigation practice, Sam regularly represents clients in the start-up phase of their new businesses and manages asset-based and stock-based acquisitions and divestitures for exploration companies, chemical companies, oil field service companies and allied health businesses. He negotiates and drafts the complex purchase and sale agreements for those transactions and provides advice on corporate and financing matters to those clients.

Sam is a member of the American Arbitration Association National Roster of Arbitrators and the American Arbitration Association National Energy Panel. Sam is also listed by the Institute for Energy Law as an Energy Arbitrator.

Recognition:

• Selected to Acadiana Profile Magazine "Top Lawyers" List – Energy Law; Natural Resources Law; Oil and Gas Law; Commercial Litigation

• Ranked in Chambers USA for Energy & Natural Resources and for Litigation: General Commercial

• Named the 2022 Lafayette Lawyer of the Year - Natural Resources Law by The Best Lawyers in America®

• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Energy Law, Natural Resources Law, Oil & Gas Law; listed in Best Lawyers since 2010

• Selected to Louisiana Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2009 to Present

• Rated Martindale-Hubbell® A-V Preeminent™ – Top Rated Lawyer in Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources

• Louisiana Bar Foundation – Fellow

• Inns of Court of Acadiana – Master

Professional Memberships

• American Bar Association – Litigation Section, Environment, Energy and Resources Section

• AAA National Energy Panel

• AAA Commercial Panel of Arbitrators

• The Foundation for Natural Resources & Energy Law

• Institute for Energy Law

• Louisiana Bar Association

• Lafayette Bar Association

• Louisiana Oil & Gas Association