Neil E. Giles

With a primary focus on the energy and oil and gas sectors, Neil Giles concentrates on his practice in complex commercial, employment and insurance litigation. He has a special emphasis on complex cases involving upstream and midstream oil and gas commercial, financial and technical issues. In recent years, Neil has developed a niche practice in employment law and restrictive covenants, representing employees and employers in litigation and developing fair contracts that avoid litigation.

Over three decades in the making, Neil’s legal career has been marked by a stellar record of success in trials, arbitrations and appeals. Neil has represented large, integrated energy companies, independent E&P companies, gas transmission and processing companies, wholesale electricity trading companies, insurance companies, as well as a variety of other publicly traded and privately owned businesses and individuals. Representing clients in both tort and contract matters, Neil’s broad depth of experience plays well in the areas of general commercial litigation, energy/oil and gas, employment litigation and creating fair employment agreements, insurance coverage and subrogation, securities litigation/arbitration, admiralty and maritime, personal injury/products liability, toxic torts, environmental litigation and real estate.

What Neil finds most enjoyable about his practice and the work he does for clients is distilling down the critical elements within a large quantity of information, synthesizing the essentials into a coherent story, and communicating simplified concepts to a diverse audience. In short, years of experience enable Neil to quickly analyze the crux of an issue and develop a strategy to best achieve his client’s goals.

Prior to joining Hall Maines Lugrin in 2009, Neil was a partner in the Trial Section of Bracewell LLP. He learned early on that exhaustive preparation and encyclopedic recall, along with an effective working knowledge of industries, businesses and scientific concepts, would enable him to adapt to diverse groups and help conflicting factions come together.

• Coverage & Bad Faith Defense
• 3rd Party Defense
• Appellate
• Commercial Disputes
• Excess Liability & Monitoring
• Energy – Hydrocarbons
• Insurance
• Coverage Opinions
• Products Liability
• Energy – Renewables

• Represented successor operator of gas processing plant in defense of $150mm suit brought by ExxonMobil alleging breach of contract, fraud, and conversion involving dispute over complex technical accounting for NGLs (state court jury trial and appeal).  Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Kinder Morgan Operating L.P. “A”, 192 S.W.3d 120 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2006, no pet.).
• Represented E&P company in defense of lawsuits by royalty owners involving breach of contract and breach of implied covenant claims, primarily over alleged failure to drill offset wells and/or pay lieu royalties (state court).
• Represented Midwestern Local Distribution Company in $20mm contract dispute with Coastal Corp. regarding management of natural gas storage assets on major interstate pipeline (private arbitration).
• Represented Canadian electricity producer/marketer in various litigation and regulatory matters arising out of California’s post-deregulation wholesale power crisis (state and federal courts, FERC proceedings, state regulatory agencies).  Also advised companies on issues of U.S. antitrust law implicated in distributing wholesale electricity into Western U.S. states and partnered with Canadian law firm in developing combined Canadian/U.S. antitrust employee manual for traders and their managers.
• Represented Lloyd’s syndicates and London insurance companies in $200mm coverage dispute with Pioneer Natural Resources involving destruction of Gulf of Mexico offshore platform in Hurricane Rita, including issues relating to decommissioning of downed platform and plugging and abandonment of 24 wellbores (state court bench trial).
• Represented Lloyd’s syndicates and London insurance companies in $50mm coverage dispute with Anglo Suisse Offshore Partners involving destruction of five Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms in Hurricane Katrina, including issues relating to decommissioning of five downed platforms and eleven pipelines, and plugging and abandonment of 50+ wellbores (state court jury trial).
• Represent Lloyd’s syndicates and London insurance companies in $100mm coverage dispute with Anadarko Petroleum involving claims arising out of Deepwater Horizon disaster/oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (state court).
• Defended independent oil and gas operator against complex breach of contract, fraud and conversion claims involving farm out agreement of oil & gas leases (state court jury trial).
• Represented lease finance company against $20 million complex fraud claims involving sale of accounting system brought by more than 30 plaintiffs (state court jury trial).
• Represented manufacturer of road construction products in suit to enforce promissory notes and defense of complex fraud and product defect counterclaims (state court jury trial and appeal).
• Represented multiple energy brokers and energy industry executives in employment litigation (primarily involving restrictive covenants) and negotiating new, more favorable contracts with employers.
• Represented individuals in personal injury claims against national companies, obtaining successful results.

What do I do when not practicing law

Mostly I spend time with my family.  I also love the outdoors: fishing, hunting, hiking, sailing, and rock climbing.  I enjoy participating in service ministries and leadership councils at my church.  The best is combining outdoors or church ministries with family activities – the things we do together change us, change the world and last a lifetime.

Last read

A Discourse on Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Quote I live by

“To me, every hour of the day is an unspeakably perfect miracle.”

• Walt Whitman

Most satisfying personal accomplishment

Raising three happy, well-adjusted, compassionate and intellectually inquisitive children.