Mr. Patrick S. Ottinger
Ottinger Hebert, LLC
http://www.ottingerhebert.com
PATRICK S. OTTINGER is Of Counsel in the Lafayette law firm of Ottinger Hebert, L.L.C. He has been in private practice in Lafayette since December 1973, with his practice being concentrated in the area of oil and gas, with emphasis on corporate and commercial matters, financial transactions, real estate, regulatory matters, eminent domain, mediation and arbitration, and banking matters, as well as litigation in these areas. He is an experienced arbitrator and mediator in oil and gas matters, rendering such services through The Patterson Resolution Group. He received his Juris Doctorate degree in December 1973 from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board. Mr. Ottinger is an Adjunct Professor of Law at LSU, teaching the course on Mineral Rights from 1996-2012, and currently teaches an Oil & Gas Seminar. He is the author of the course materials entitled Ottinger, A Course Book on Louisiana Mineral Rights (12th Rev. Ed., August 2011), and Louisiana Mineral Leases: A Treatise (Claitor’s 2016). He has published numerous articles in the Louisiana Law Review, Louisiana Mineral Law Institute, and the LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources. He is the Past Chair of the Advisory Council for the Institute on Mineral Law at LSU Law Center. He serves on the Advisory Board for the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. Mr. Ottinger serves as an Editor of the Institute for Energy Law e-reporter, a project of the Institute for Energy Law of The Center for American and International Law. Mr. Ottinger serves as the Reporter of the Mineral Law Committee and of the Louisiana Risk Fee Act Committee of the Louisiana State Law Institute, and is a member of the Institute’s Mineral Law – Unsolicited Offers Committee, the Counterletter Committee, the Prescription Committee, and the Tax Sales Committee. He served as City-Parish Attorney for the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government from January 2004-February 2011, and currently serves in that position since January 2024. Mr. Ottinger served as the President of the Louisiana State Bar Association during the years 1998-99. Mr. Ottinger was recognized as a 2014 Distinguished Achievement Honoree by the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center on September 21, 2014, for “professional achievement and career distinction, service to and support of LSU Law, and service to the community.” On September 7, 2017, Mr. Ottinger was inducted into the Lafayette Bar Association’s Hall of Fame. On June 7, 2018, he received the 2018 Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, awarded for “long-standing devotion to and excellence in trial practice,” and “upholding the standards of ethics and consideration for the courts, litigants and all counsel.”

Mr. Christopher Peyton
Kean Miller, LLP
Chris Peyton works out of Kean Miller's Lafayette office. Chris focuses his practice on mineral title examination, mineral diligence, unitization and other regulatory matters with the Office of Conservation, carbon sequestration projects, and general operational advice to oil and gas operators. He also has experience representing local businesses and medical professionals in commercial transactions.

Dr. Loren C. Scott
President & Founder
Loren C. Scott & Associates, Inc.
Dr. Loren C. Scott is the President of Loren C. Scott & Associates, Inc., a 43-year old economic consulting firm whose clients include such large national firms as BP, BellSouth, Capital One Financial, Entergy, ExxonMobil, J.P. Morgan Chase, Nucor, Sasol, and a diversity of others. He is one of the 50-member National Business Economic Issues Council, which meets quarterly to discuss issues of state, national, and international interest. This group has experts who cover international trade, Washington economic policy, retail trade, trucking, steel, chemicals, etc. Dr. Scott is an energy specialist on the NBEIC. He has been interviewed on CNBC, MSNBC, and Bloomberg TV, in addition to several local TV stations, and his work has been cited in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angles Times, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Financial Times, to name a few. His career started at Louisiana State University in 1969 where he spent the next 33 years, rising through the ranks from assistant professor to the prestigious Freeport McMoran Endowed Chair of Economics and the Director of the Division of Economic Development and Forecasting. Over the thirteen-year period from 1983-96, he was the chairman of the Economics Department at LSU. During that time, the Department’s ranking among the 3,000 economics departments in the U.S. rose from 101st to 38th. He is presently Professor Emeritus at LSU. He gives 50+ speeches each year on the state of the economy.

Mr. Paul B. Simon
Simon Lawyer, LLC
Paul B. Simon handles disputes, corporate matters, acquisitions and appeals for oil and gas clients. He regularly assists clients with issues arising under Louisiana's Mineral Code and the industry's primary agreements (JOA's, mineral leases, participation agreements, etc.) and with regulatory issues before the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Conservation and the Louisiana State Mineral Board.

Paul served as a law clerk to two judges on the federal bench, the Honorable W. Eugene Davis of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Honorable D. “Dee” Drell, Chief United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana. Paul frequently uses this experience to assist in matters in federal court, including in bankruptcy and appellate matters.

In law school, Paul was a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, the two highest academic honors Columbia Law School awards. He also received the Parker School Recognition of Achievement in International and Comparative Law, was an editor of the American Review of International Arbitration and served as Co-President of the Columbia Society of International Law and Co-Founder and Co-President of the Columbia International Arbitration Association.

Prior to law school, Paul worked as a strategy and management consultant for the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, in its Amsterdam office. He learned Dutch for the posting, adding to the French and Spanish he previously spoke, and to this day Paul maintains a rich network of contacts and knowledge regarding European business. While an undergraduate, Paul was a junior-year selection and President of Phi Beta Kappa.

Paul is a native of Lafayette, Louisiana. For several years he lived out of state, and overseas in Europe and the Middle East. He returned to Lafayette to practice mineral law, raise his daughters and be with family. He is admitted to both the Louisiana and New York bars.

Mr. Matthew D. Simone
Liskow & Lewis, APLC
Matt is an experienced trial and appellate litigator assisting clients with claims and disputes primarily in the energy sector. Matt’s practice is largely focused on pipeline related matters, including servitudes (easements) and expropriation suits, involving pipeline and underground storage projects from inception to conclusion for natural gas, crude oil, and refined product pipelines. His pipeline practice also includes assisting midstream companies in the defense of claims for breach of contract or environmental damage claims. Matt’s pipeline practice encompasses the representation of midstream companies before local and state agencies, including the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources and the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Mr. Andrew M. Staklum
King & Spalding, LLP
Andrew Stakelum is an energy disputes partner in King & Spalding’s Houston Office. His focus on the energy industry includes the oil and gas, renewables, and refining sectors. A key aspect of Andrew’s energy practice involves helping clients navigate the highly regulated environments in which they operate.

Andrew represents maritime and offshore energy clients in disputes that range from traditional blue water matters to disputes involving the decommissioning of offshore energy infrastructure. His matters frequently involve disputes among working interest owners, vessel owners and charterers, and governmental authorities. He advises clients and has litigated claims under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and their implementing regulations.

Andrew represents a wide range of onshore energy clients in traditional oil and gas and renewables disputes. These matters involve disputes among operators and service companies, landowners, working interest owners and governmental authorities. These claims include environmental, reservoir, and other property and economic damages. Andrew frequently litigates disputes in Louisiana, where he is also licensed and experienced in applying Louisiana’s civil law regime.

Andrew represents owners and contractors in a range of energy infrastructure and decommissioning disputes. This includes disputes involving the construction of greenfield and brownfield energy projects, as well as decommissioning projects. These matters have involved pipeline systems, offshore supply vessels, renewable diesel plants, offshore platforms and production facilities, petrochemical facilities, and crude oil refineries.

Mr. Edward J. Walters Jr.
Walters, Thomas, Cullens LLC
Edward J. Walters, Jr. has been representing individuals in personal injury cases for over 40 years. Because of his significant courtroom experience and because of his dedication to the Louisiana and Baton Rouge bar, and to the Louisiana State University Law Center, he received a statewide honor being named "Distinguished Attorney" in 2009 by the Louisiana Bar Foundation. He was recently chosen as the L.S.U. Law Center's 2015 Distinguished Alumnus of the year. His practice focuses on all areas of personal injury and wrongful death matters including products liability, automobile accidents, industrial accidents, and sexual abuse by professionals and others.

Ed Walters is certified in the fields of Civil Trial Advocacy and Civil Pretrial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been selected for inclusion in Superlawyers in the field of Personal Injury since 2006. Mr. Walters has been selected for inclusion in the 20th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Mr. Walters is dedicated to educating our future lawyers. He has served as Adjunct Professor of Law at the L. S. U. Law Center for in excess of 25 years, teaching a course he co-developed with Baton Rouge attorney Michael Patterson entitled "Advanced Trial and Evidence" which is a "hands-on" trial skills course. He has been a member of the faculty of the law school's yearly Trial Advocacy program since its inception 25 years ago.

Mr. Walters is a frequent lecturer and writer on a vast array of litigation, ethics and professionalism topics and has served as the Editor of the Baton Rouge Bar Association’s monthly publication The Baton Rouge Lawyerfor 30 years.

Mr. Walters was born in New Orleans. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University (B.S., 1969) and the Louisiana State University Law Center (J.D., 1975) where he is a member of its Hall of Fame.