Biography
Jim was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1957. He received his undergraduate degree from Rockhurst College in 1979 and received his law degree from Washburn University School of Law in 1982. Jim was an Assistant General Counsel at the Kansas Corporation Commission from 1982-1985. He joined the firm in 1985 and became a partner in 1990. He is admitted to practice before all courts in Kansas, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Jim is a partner in the firm, and he is a member of the Kansas Bar Association. He is past president of the Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Section of the Kansas Bar Association. He actively participates in the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association and is a member of its Natural Gas Committee. Jim is also involved in the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission and Federal Energy Bar. He has authored several articles relating to the oil and gas and public utility industry. His primary fields of practice are oil and gas law and public utility law. He typically represents oil and gas producers, intrastate natural gas pipeline companies, natural gas local distribution companies and electric utility companies before the Kansas Corporation Commission. He has also represented clients in numerous arbitration cases relating to electric generation joint operating agreements, gas gathering agreements and utility acquisition cases.
He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America's Energy Law section since 2005 and Super Lawyers in Energy and Natural Resources section since 2008.
Jim is a member of the Administrative Procedure Committee of the Kansas Judicial Council.
Jim and his wife, Gina, have four adult children and four grand-children.
Practice Areas
- Public Utility Law
- Oil & Gas
Bar Admissions
- Kansas, 1982
- U.S. Federal Court, 1982
Education
- Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas
- J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence - 00/1982
- Rockhurst College, Kansas City, Missouri
- B.A., Bachelor of Arts - 00/1979
- Honors: magna cum laude
Professional Associations
- Kansas Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Energy Bar Association
- Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association
- Eastern Kansas Oil and Gas Association
References
- Kansas State Bank
- Arvest Bank
Representative Clients
- Atmos Energy
- Black Hills Energy
- Colt Energy, Inc.
- Columbus Telephone Company
- Elkhart Telephone Company
- ONE Gas, Inc.
- ONEOK, Inc.
- Suburban Water Company
- The Empire District Electric Company
- Liberty Utilities
Representative Cases
- Coover v. Neosho Ridge Wind LLC, 2019 WL 11695617
- Kansas Petroleum, Inc. v. Colorado Interstate Gas Co., 710 F.Supp. 758, 1989, D.Kan., 1989056833
- Greeley Gas Co. v. State Corp. Com'n of State of Kan., 807 P.2d 167, 1991, Kan.App., 1991049012
- Amoco Production Co. v. Charles B. Wilson, Jr. Inc, 266 Kan. 1084, 976 P.2d 941 , 1999
- Water District No. 1 of Johnson County v. Mission Hills Country Club, 265 Kan. 355, 960 P.2d 239 , 1998
- Sprint Communications Co. L.P. v. Corp. Commission, 45 Kan. App. 2d 460, 249 P.3d 1210 , 2011
- Hiji v. City of Garnett, 248 Kan. 1, 804 P.2d 950 , 1991
- Osborn Energy, LLC v. Atmos Energy Corp., 265 P.3d 599 , 2011
- Gas Service Co. State Corp. Com’n, 15 Kan. App. 2d 285, 807 P.2d 167 , 1983
- Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. v. State Corp. Commission, 258 Kan. 796 908 P.2d 1276 , 1995
- Greeley Gas Company v. State Corp. Com’n, 15 Kan. App. 2d 285, 807 P.2d 167 , 1991
- Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association v. State Corp. Commission, 244 Kan. 157, 769 P.2d 1 , 1989
- Farmland Industries, Inc. v. Kansas Corp. Com’n, 26 Kan. App. 2d 1031, 37 P.3d 640 , 2001
- Midwest Gas Users Ass’n v. State Corp. Com’n, 30 Kan. App. 2d 61 , 2002
- Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Foundation v. Scottish Power, PLC, 2005 WL 427503 , 2005
- United Cities Gas Co. v. Brock Exploration, 984 F. Supp. 1379 (1977); 995 F. Supp. 1284 , 1998
- Kansas Mun. Gas Agency v. Vesta Energy Co., Inc., 840 F. Supp. 814 (1993); 843 F. Supp. 1401 , 1994
- Maisch v. Hunt Midwest Mining, Inc., 1997 WL 94234 , 1997
- Aquila, Inc. v. State Corp. Com’n., 115 P.3d 794 , 2005
- BOC Gases v. State Corp. Com’n., 117 P.3d 151 , 2005
- J. P. Morgan Trust Co., v. Mid-America Pipeline Co., 473 F. Supp. 2d 1162 (2007); 413 F. Supp. 2d 1244 , 2006
- State Corp. Comm. V. F.C.C., 787 F.2d 1421 , 1986
- Gas Service Co. State Corp. Com’n, 662 P.2d 264, 1983
- Catron v. Colt Energy, Inc. 2014 WL 2828683
- Lutz v. Petro-D Corp. 1989 WL 9331, 1989
- National Helium Corporation v. Seward County, Kansas; Kansas Court of Appeals 1992 WL 12944849, 1992
- Wallis v. Dog Day, Inc. 317 P.3d 148, 2014
- United Steelworkers of America, Local No. 4706 v. Kansas Com’n on Civil Rights, 855 P.2d 905, 1993
- Mid-Gulf, Inc. v. Bishop, 1992 WL 133902
- Williams Natural Gas Company, Inc. v. State Corporation Commission 1995 WL 18253364
- J.W. Lange Petroleum, Inc. v. Lange, 787 F. Supp. 975, 1992
- Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board v. State Corp. Com’n of Kansas, 202 P.3d 109, 2009