Mr. Swan has more than 30 years of litigation experience in civil trial and appellate cases, including complex and multidistrict proceedings that have centered primarily on disputes arising from the energy sector. He is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial Law.

Practice & Background

Mr. Swan’s broad oil and gas litigation practice includes representation of several national as well as independent oil and gas companies in contractual disputes involving royalty and working interest owners, contract disputes relating to offshore oil and gas development and transportation, disputes involving the charters and operation of drilling rigs, and disputes involving trade secrets and confidentiality agreements, as well as personal injury defense. While active in all areas of energy litigation, he has represented several international clients, including Russia’s largest oil and gas company in litigation in a U.S. court, and the government of a former Soviet republic in a matter involving development of a major oil and gas field in Kazakhstan. He has handled commercial arbitrations involving both foreign and domestic disputes.

After serving in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Mr. Swan joined a prominent Houston law firm in 1981, where he ultimately became the managing partner.

From 1988 through 1992, Mr. Swan was a partner in the general litigation section of another law firm, where his practice was concentrated primarily in the area of energy litigation. He was lead trial counsel for a major interstate pipeline in its major multimillion-dollar litigation. His representation encompassed virtually every legal issue encountered by major producers and pipelines, including take-or-pay, pricing, gas balancing, classification, royalty issues, spot market and market-out issues, contract renegotiations, deregulation and transportation issues.

In addition to his vast experience in energy litigation, Mr. Swan has handled and tried cases involving professional malpractice, labor, defamation, real estate disputes and personal injury defense.

He has been a speaker at seminars sponsored by both the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Bar Association. From 1982 to 1985, he served as a director of the State Bar of Texas. He has also served on the board of the Downtown YMCA. He is a life fellow in both the Houston and Texas Bar Foundations and is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Awards & Accolades

Selected as The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice area of Commercial Litigation (2013 to 2014)
Consistently named in a survey of his peers as a Texas “Super Lawyer” (2003 to 2011)