Helen Hemingway McLaughlin

Helen Hemingway McLaughlin is an experienced litigator with more than twelve years of experience handling complex oil and gas and commercial disputes. Her practice focuses on representing operators, working interest owners, landowners, royalty owners, pipeline companies, and energy-related businesses in Texas state and federal courts.

Helen manages matters from pre-suit analysis through discovery, depositions, motion practice, and trial preparation. She develops strong factual and legal records to position cases for resolution through mediation, summary judgment, or trial.

Her experience includes disputes involving lease termination, royalty underpayment, non-participating royalty interest (NPRI) disputes, breach of pooling clauses, breaches of the executive right and related fiduciary duties, joint operating agreements, farmout agreements, retained acreage, trespass, nuisance, injunctions, and related commercial claims.

Helen has represented Fortune 500 pipeline and E&P companies, independent operators, investors, and private entities in state, federal, and bankruptcy courts. She regularly advises clients on lease provisions, royalty calculations, contract interpretation, and litigation risk, and works closely with land, accounting, and business teams to develop practical, business-focused litigation strategies aligned with operational realities.

MEMBERSHIPS

• State Bar of Texas Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section, Member
• Houston Bar Association, Member
• Texas Bar Foundation, Member

PUBLICATIONS

• Spring 2017: Oil and Water – Do They Mix on the Surface? An Analysis and Critique of the Accommodation Doctrine and Coyote Lake Ranch, LLC v. The City of Lubbock, State Bar of Texas Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section Report, Vol. 41, No. 3, Helen Hemingway McLaughlin, co-author
• 09.29.16: Royalty Issues and Decisions, State Bar of Texas 34th Annual Advanced Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Course, Helen Hemingway McLaughlin, co-author
• 04.15.16: Panel Discussion on Recent Developments Involving the Conflicting Rights of Mineral Owners and Surface Owners, 42nd Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute (PowerPoint)
• 10.24.13: A Litigator’s Perspective on the Current State of, and Recent Developments in, Arbitration, 37th Annual Page Keeton Civil Litigation Conference, Helen Hemingway McLaughlin, co-author and PowerPoint