REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE Steve’s representative litigation experience includes:
- Handling a wide variety of litigation emphasizing offshore oil and gas activities and maritime law.
- Representing oil and gas companies, drilling contractors, service contractors, stevedores, vessel owners and underwriters involved in control of well, bad-faith litigation, property damage and other coverage disputes.
- Representing both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial lawsuits including shareholder disputes, breach of contract, fraud, qui tam and Intellectual Property controversies.
- Concentrating on offshore oil and gas deferred and lost production, downhole blow-outs and other casualty claims in the energy sector.
- Appealing and arguing before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals addressing complex issues about indemnity and additional insured status.
- Defending a university’s $300 million insurance claim for fine arts property damage following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- Representing the insurer of two offshore drilling contractors against a $60 million claim for property damage arising out of Hurricane Ike and the sinking of a drilling vessel on offshore petroleum pipelines.
- Defending a $70 million claim for loss of oil and gas production and property damage following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- Representing an insurance provider in a complex clash limit first-party coverage dispute involving sEnergy and OIL policies.
- Representing a major provider of international and domestic contract drilling services in connection with environmental damage recovery for alleged coastline pollution.
- Defending a vessel seizure case in Norway involving an American flag vessel sold at foreclosure and redocumented with the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Representing an insured in U.S. Coast Guard, Minerals Management Service (MMS) and insurance disputes following loss of multiple drilling rigs following hurricanes.
PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS
- Recognized by Chambers USA: Guide to Leading Business Lawyers in the area of insurance law (2010)
- Selected for inclusion in Texas Super Lawyers® (2003–2009)
- Named to The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of maritime law and personal injury litigation (1995–2009)
- Selected for inclusion in Benchmark Litigation (2010)
- Selected for inclusion in the Houston Edition of Texas’ Best Lawyers (2008-2010)
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, State Bar of Texas
- Member, Houston Bar Association
- Member, College of the State Bar of Texas
- Member, Texas Association of Defense Counsel
- Member, Maritime Law Association of the United States
- Member, Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute
- Former Member, Admiralty and Maritime Committee
- Personal Injury Committee, Maritime Law Association of the United States
- Member, Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute
- Member, National Advisory Committee of the Tulane Admiralty Law Institute Member, Planning Committee of the University of Texas Admiralty Law Symposium
- Adjunct Professor of civil trial advocacy, University of Houston
- Former Editor, Longshore Newsletter
- Former Co-Editor, Longshore Section, Maritime Adviser’s Maritime Personal Injury Report
- Member, International Association of Drilling Contractors
- Member, Houston Mariners Club
- Member, Board of Directors and Initial Chairman and Co-founder of Archway Academy, a nonprofit high school serving students in drug and alcohol recovery
- Member, Board of Directors of Technology for ALL, a non-profit organization devoted to computer literacy training to underprivileged adults and children
RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Speaker, International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) Contracts & Risk Management Conference (October 29–30, 2008)
- Speaker, “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Ill Winds Blow Through the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry,” IADC Conference (November 2006)
- Speaker, “The Defense Base Act—More Questions Than Answers,” Client Presentation (2006)
- Speaker, “Recovery of Lost or Delayed Offshore Oil & Gas Production,” Energy Law Institute, South Texas College of Law (September 2005)
- Speaker, “Revisions to the Consequential Damages: Provisions of the IADC Standard Contracts,” 2004 IADC Contracts & Risk Management Conference (November 2004)
- Speaker, “Settling the Claims of Injured Workers: The Maritime Minefield,” 13th Annual Admiralty and Maritime Law Conference (September 2004)
- Author, “Offshore Recovery,” International Oil & Gas Finance Review (2002)
- Author, “Deferred and Lost Offshore Production,” Vol. II, International Energy Law and Taxation Review (November 2001)