Energy
Headquartered in the Marcellus Shale region, MBK delivers legal sophistication combined with local positioning to energy clients from across the nation.
Our energy team at MBK represents local and national energy companies involved in the exploration and production, gathering, processing, transportation, and marketing of Marcellus gas. The Marcellus Shale formation is one of the largest natural gas fields in the world and has attracted strategic investments from regional, national, and international operators. Recognizing the significance and rapid development of this resource over the last decade, MBK cultivated a dedicated and adept energy practice which has earned a reputation for sophisticated, first-chair representation to operators in the exploration and production, midstream, downstream and marketing sectors. We advise clients on matters ranging from day-to-day operations to high-stakes litigation involving enterprise-wide implications. Our attorneys regularly find themselves toe-to-toe, or side-by-side, with national law firms, delivering legal excellence combined with the unique advantage of decades of experience in the very courts that decide disputes arising from the Marcellus gas operations.
MBK serves as Pennsylvania counsel to several national exploration and production, and midstream companies, including Fortune 500 companies, in stand-alone, mass and class litigation in state and federal courts. We have argued industry issues of first impression before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and regularly litigate in all of the following areas:
- Pipeline construction matters
- Royalty and landowner disputes
- Compulsory arbitrations regarding contract terms
- Easement, trespass and encroachment claims
- Real property disputes involving subsurface estates
- Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law claims related to royalty payment practices
- Employment related claims
Our attorneys collaborate to support our energy clients on internal investigations, regulatory compliance, employment issues, corporate matters, and taxation law, both routine and unique to Pennsylvania energy stakeholders. We offer our clients comprehensive legal support for all facets of their organization combined with an in-depth knowledge of the industry and the region in which they operate.
MBK supports the critical social, technological, and economic benefits derived from an active and properly regulated energy sector, and we are committed to the representation of companies working to deliver these benefits to our region.
Recent News
State Argues to Pa. Justices That Consumer Protection Law Covers Landowners in Gas Leases
Do natural gas lease agreements entered into by drillers and private landowners fall under the state Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law’s definition of “trade or commerce”? That was the question before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 27, the third day of livestreamed […] READ MORE
Pa. Justices Probe Power Gap Between Drillers, Landowners
Members of Pennsylvania’s highest court homed in repeated on what the called the “economic reality” of the relationship between gas drillers and landowners as they heard arguments Wednesday about whether Attorney General Josh Shapiro should be allowed to pursue consumer protection claims over allegedly deceptive […] READ MORE