Firm Strengthens its Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group
OKLAHOMA CITY – Crowe & Dunlevy is pleased to announce that experienced oil and gas attorneys Dale Cottingham and Lewis LeNaire have joined the firm as new shareholders in the Oklahoma City office, further expanding the capacity and capabilities of the firm’s Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group.
With over 40 years of experience, Cottingham focuses his practice on oil and gas and water law, representing clients across a broad spectrum of energy and environmental matters including royalty class actions, leasing disputes, water permitting and acquisition agreements, pipeline condemnation, and related complex commercial litigation. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Oklahoma City University School of Law since 1997, where he teaches Natural Resources Law, Water Law, and Environmental Law. He is also a long-time member of the Oklahoma Mineral Lawyers Society and served as President from 2009-2010.
LeNaire represents energy industry clients in complex business litigation in state and federal courts. His comprehensive energy practice includes successfully representing companies across a variety of energy related matters including seismicity litigation, post-production cost and royalty underpayment disputes, joint operating agreement and COPAS disputes, lease cancellation and quiet title actions, surface damage and landowner disputes, and pipeline condemnations and easement rights disputes. Outside of his energy practice, LeNaire has experience representing municipal bodies and state governmental entities, commercial property owners, and industrial manufacturers and suppliers.
“The Firm is thrilled to add Dale and Lewis to our Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group,” said Adam Childers, President and CEO of Crowe & Dunlevy. Childers further noted, “the Oil and Gas Department at Crowe Dunlevy has always been one of the pillars of this institution. Dale’s arrival as the new Oil and Gas Department Chair, as well as the new Co-Chair of the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Practice Group, further cements the strength of both the department and the practice group. Our clients will benefit greatly from Dale and Lewis’ expertise while adding increased bench strength in critical areas of the practice. That’s why this is big news not only for the firm, but also for the energy industry both inside and outside of Oklahoma.”
“Dale and Lewis are top-flight oil and gas lawyers. Couple this with Dale’s significant water law experience and both will have an immediate and substantial impact on behalf of our clients. We could not be more pleased that Dale and Lewis are joining our team of energy and environmental practitioners,” said Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Co-Chair, Don Shandy.
“Dale and Lewis have decades of experience in the upstream and mid-stream sectors and are a powerful addition to our strong energy group,” said Mark Walker the outgoing Co-Chair of the practice group.
Cottingham graduated with honors from Oklahoma Baptist University with a B.A. in English. He holds a juris doctorate degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. LeNaire graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a B.A. in English. He later earned a Master’s degree in English from UCO before receiving his juris doctorate from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.
