Stefanie is primarily a commercial litigator, focusing on oil and gas, energy litigation, and environmental litigation, and regulatory work. She represents energy companies in a wide variety of litigation, including class action disputes, lease and contract disputes, royalty disputes, operating disputes, encroachments, condemnations, statutory disputes, personal injury claims, environmental enforcement actions, pipeline and property use disputes, and adversary proceedings in bankruptcy.
Stefanie regularly practices before federal and state trial and appellate courts, and has tried cases to decision, including federal court jury trials and arbitration. Her extensive commercial litigation experience includes drafting pleadings, discovery and discovery motions, dispositive motions, trial filings and motions, and appellate briefs. She has honed her skills in the courtroom and regularly takes and defends depositions, argues discovery and dispositive motions, and represents clients at evidentiary hearings, injunction hearings, mediations, arbitrations, and before jury and nonjury trials in state and federal courts.
Outside of the courtroom, Stefanie provides strategic litigation counsel to help clients manage risk and advance business objectives by considering the type and amount of litigation, amount of exposure, risk of multiple or inconsistent judgments, unsettled law and issues, and business priorities and plans. This involves working in partnership with clients’ business units as needed, including engineering and land departments, to understand business objectives and risks, and to work toward strategic litigation or settlement choices.
An energy lawyer at her core, Stefanie also provides counsel on pipeline and natural gas storage issues and negotiates and drafts property use agreements, coal agreements, rights-of-way, easements, and other land agreements for her clients. Additionally, she provides regulatory permitting and compliance counsel on land and eminent domain issues, notably relating to pipeline and natural gas storage issues.
Stefanie has a broad environmental law background, with experience representing clients in federal and state environmental enforcement actions and in environmental administrative proceedings, responding to EPA and other governmental notices of violation and requests for information, and representing clients in negotiation of consent agreements with regulatory bodies resolving alleged environmental violations. Stefanie also advises clients on federal and state regulatory compliance and permitting issues, including issues related to earth disturbance, air emissions, waste, legacy contamination, and water pollution, and she performs environmental due diligence on major acquisitions that include real estate and environmental risk and, reviewing and evaluating environmental reports and the potential effects of environmental risks on differing deal structures.
In recent years, Stefanie has also focused on emerging issues, such as carbon sequestration, including permitting as it relates to land and property use.
