In just one decade, the energy sector has seen three dramatic busts: (1) the 2008-09 financial crisis; (2) the 2014-15 oil crash; and (3) the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic (the “Three Crashes”). The 2020 crash may be the worst yet. One of my clients... Continue Reading →
Like most other businesses, law firms, too, are suffering the economic effects of COVID-19. Although many lawyers are able to work just as efficiently from their homes as they can from their offices, the impacts of COVID-19 on clients often... Continue Reading →
Over the course of the last few months, lawyers have been deluged with articles about COVID-19 and force majeure, much of them containing quite similar content and analysis. My Research Assistant at The University of Chicago Law School, Tanner Harris,... Continue Reading →
In 2003, China saw a preview of COVID-19 in the form of another coronavirus called SARS. SARS struck Hong Kong and sent a wave of change across China. Yet most Americans were oblivious to its existence. At the time, though,... Continue Reading →
For decades, consultants have sought to systematize the process of allocating work between in-house counsel and outside counsel. The largest companies even have entire “legal services” departments, which provide no “legal services” but are instead responsible for decreasing legal costs... Continue Reading →
About a month ago, Houston declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We closed our office and sent our five lawyers to work from home. The good news was that most of our practice involves drafting and... Continue Reading →
Lawyers often gain valuable experience by accident. This was the case with me and force majeure. A couple of weeks after 9/11, I joined Occidental Petroleum’s business development office in Dubai. As the youngest person on the team, I received... Continue Reading →
When I last visited the Venezuelan cities of Caracas and Puerto La Cruz in 2007, Hugo Chavez was sowing the seeds of the nation’s economic destruction: “Venezuela demanded changes to the agreements made by international oil companies that would give... Continue Reading →
Last week’s issue on Shale vs. Deepwater Returns [Issue 61] featured the below figure from Hess Corporation: Several readers questioned to what extent the figure’s economics reflected different risks, including the chance of success (during exploration) and political risk. This... Continue Reading →
