Porter Hedges LLP

Co-Managing Partners: E. James Cowen and Joyce K. Soliman

Offices: Houston, TX (HQ) and Oklahoma City, OK

Contact: [email protected]

Firm Overview:

Porter Hedges is consistently recognized among the leading law firms based in Texas. Key areas of the firm include energy transactions, corporate/M&A, litigation, banking and finance, bankruptcy, energy infrastructure projects and construction, with additional experience in tax, real estate, and intellectual property. The firm assists clients from small start-ups to large national and multinational organizations and provides practical, cost-effective business solutions.

Main Areas of Practice:

Energy Transactions

Corporate/M&A

Litigation

Commercial Lending & Finance

Bankruptcy

Energy Infrastructure

Construction

Tax

Intellectual Property

Real Estate

Employment

Energy Transactions:

Porter Hedges provides clients with a cross-practice team of attorneys who have handled more than $200 billion in energy transactions. The firm’s clients include public and private exploration and production companies, oilfield service companies, reservoir engineering firms, commercial banks, mezzanine lenders, private equity companies, natural gas pipelines and gathering systems and natural gas storage companies, among others.

Contacts: Robert H. Thomas and C. Randall King

Corporate/M&A:

Porter Hedges has one of the most sophisticated corporate practices in Texas with lawyers who counsel growth-oriented public and private companies ranging in size from New York Stock Exchange-listed companies to start-ups. The firm has handled hundreds of public and private offerings of equity and debt securities, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, institutional and private placements, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures and exchange offers.

Contact: Kevin J. Poli

Litigation:

Porter Hedges’ trial lawyers have both the experience and resources to meet the complex litigation needs of large national and multinational corporations, as well as those of small to mid-sized companies and individuals, from pre-litigation negotiation through appeal. The firm handles all types of commercial disputes, including the interpretation and enforcement of complex contracts, disputes regarding the ownership of various forms of businesses, business torts, banking matters, representation of lenders and borrowers, fraud, real estate, breach of fiduciary duty, employment-related disputes and cases concerning the respective rights of buyers and sellers.

Contact: Joseph D. Cohen

Commercial Lending & Finance:

Porter Hedges has a diverse and broad-based finance practice which is concentrated in the middle market and crosses many industries. The firm advises financial institution clients as lenders, corporate trustees, collateral agents, issuers, underwriters and credit enhancers and has a proven ability to handle both complex and routine transactions where controlling legal costs is essential. On the borrower side, the firm assists clients in sectors including oilfield service, transportation, distribution, pipeline services, retail, technology, co-location services, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, healthcare and hospitality services.

Contact: Joyce K. Soliman

Bankruptcy:

Porter Hedges represents debtors, creditors, trustees, creditors’ committees, institutional lenders and investors in connection with out-of-court debt restructurings, acquisitions and financings in addition to Chapter 7, 9 and 11 bankruptcy cases. The firm’s lawyers also have substantial litigation experience in bankruptcy courts, federal district courts and federal appellate courts. In addition, the bankruptcy attorneys have developed special skills in facilitating asset purchases from bankruptcy estates.

Contact: John F. Higgins

Energy Infrastructure:

The firm represents energy infrastructure clients from land acquisition to permitting, corporate structure to financing, design and build to operation, from opening to closing, acquisition to divestiture, and innovation to protection. The firm’s industry knowledge, innovative approaches and informed strategies assist clients in capturing opportunities and addressing challenges throughout the life of each infrastructure project.

Contact: Joel A. Goldberg

Construction:

Equipped with a broad understanding of the construction process and experience on all sides of the table, Porter Hedges lawyers handle the most complex private and public development projects. The firm represents contractors, public and private owners, developers, lenders, construction managers, sub-contractors, architects and engineers, sureties, vendors and suppliers in regards to litigation, arbitration and contracts.

Contact: David D. Peden

Tax:

Porter Hedges’ tax group regularly assists public and private enterprises with the federal, state and international tax aspects of acquisitions, dispositions, restructurings and financings of corporate and partnership ventures. The group has significant experience in the tax aspects of upstream oil and gas transactions involving tax partnerships, carried interests, like kind exchanges and other tax matters unique to the oil and gas exploration business.

Contact: Craig M. Bergez

Intellectual Property:

Porter Hedges provides the full range of services, including portfolio preparation and management; freedom-to-operate, clearance, invalidity and noninfringement opinion work; transactional matters, including licensing and due diligence support; and IP litigation, including patent, trademark, trade secret, unfair competition and antitrust litigation.

Contact: Jonathan M. Pierce

Real Estate:

Porter Hedges represents developers, investors, lenders, owners and tenants in a range of real estate transactions and financing. Porter Hedges’ lawyers advise on every aspect of real estate projects, including predevelopment planning and financing, entity selection and structure, acquisitions and sales of improved and unimproved properties, construction contracts, commercial leases, operating agreements, and restrictive covenant agreements.

Contact: George S. Craft

Employment:

Porter Hedges provides aggressive and cost-effective defense against employment-related claims in both state and federal courts.We regularly represent clients in investigations and litigation over employment, non-competition, non-solicitation, confidentiality, severance agreements, and theft of trade secrets, including the time-sensitive injunctions and restraining orders that often are important parts of these disputes. We defend the interests of employers on either side of a controversy — seeking enjoining former employees from doing harm or freeing new employees from unreasonable restraint.

Contact: William R. Stukenberg