Conrad Hester

Managing Partner

Conrad Hester is an experienced litigator who focuses his practice on the oil and gas industry. He represents clients in contract disputes, lease termination and title suits, surface access and damage disputes, and royalty litigation. Conrad relies on his extensive experience examining, drafting, and negotiating deeds, leases, and industry agreements in advising clients facing disputes in the oil patch. His strategic, efficient, and thoughtful approach provides value to clients facing complex litigation matters.

Lessor/Lease Litigation  

  • Represented clients at all state levels of lease termination litigation, including production in paying quantities, retained acreage cases, and total cessation.  
  • Provided pre-dispute counseling on a variety of lease matters, including negotiation, maintenance, expiration, and acquisition.  
  • Represented clients in damages disputes and surface access matters, including easements, saltwater disposal, water rights, and injunctions.  
  • Represented the payors and payees in royalty disputes, including overriding royalties, underpayment, cotenancy accounting, nonparticipating royalty rights, post-production, and suspension issues.
  • Represented operators and royalty owners in a series of allocation-well cases, including counseling clients on access rights, production-sharing agreement issues and well-allocation formulas.

Title Issues  

  • Represented clients in leasehold title and mineral deed litigation, including defect guidance, cotenancy rights, trespass to real property, bona fide purchaser issues, farmouts, adverse possession, and partition suits.

Industry Contract Disputes  

  • Represented both operators and non-operators in a variety of joint operating agreement litigation, in addition to advising on operational compliance matters.  
  • Represented clients in upstream and midstream indemnification, fraud, breach of contract, and related tort cases.  

Admissions 

  • Texas  
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit  
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas

Board Certifications

  • Oil, gas, and mineral law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Education  

  • The University of Texas (J.D., 2008)  
    • With Honors
    • The Review of Litigation, Associate Editor
    • Mediation Competition, Champion
  • Abilene Christian University (B.S., 2005)

Memberships 

  • 2019–2020 Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, Dallas/Fort Worth regional chair  
  • State Bar of Texas  
  • Dallas Bar Association  
  • Tarrant County Bar Association  
  • Fort Worth Wildcatters  
  • ADAM Energy Fort Worth  
  • Petroleum Club of Fort Worth
  • Fort Worth Botanic Gardens Advancement Committee  
  • Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Lease and Title Analysts (DFW-ALTA)  
  • Pro Bono College of Texas (2010–2017)  
  • The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, executive committee (2023)

  • Chambers USA, America’s Leading Business Lawyers, “Band 3 Oil & Gas Litigation (USA),” 2024.
  • BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America Guide, “Oil & Gas Law,” 2024.
  • BL Rankings, Best Lawyers, “Best Lawyers in DFW,” 2024.
  • Benchmark Litigation, USA (National), Texas List, “40 & Under Hot List – South, Commercial Litigation and Oil and Gas,” 2024.
  • Thompson Reuters, Texas Super Lawyers, “Rising Stars,” 2017-2023.
  • Thompson Reuters, Texas Super Lawyers, “Up-and-Coming 100,” 2022-2023.
  • Fort Worth Magazine, “Top Attorneys,” 2017-2019.