Conference Chairs

Ryan Purpura

Blank Rome

Ryan Purpura represents oil and gas companies, private equity and hedge funds, and other financial institutions in mergers and acquisitions, project finance and development, and other transactions related to the energy industry. A recognized practitioner in Texas and Pennsylvania, as well as across the United States, Ryan also frequently lectures on topics related to oil and gas and has served as an adjunct professor teaching Energy Law at Duquesne University’s School of Law.

Ryan’s experience includes:

• Joint ventures and other strategic combinations regarding the development of oil and gas assets, primarily in domestic shale areas
• Acquisitions and divestitures of oil and gas assets, midstream and master limited partnership assets, and oilfield service businesses
• Financing transactions, including asset-backed securitization (ABS) transactions, volumetric production payments, net profits interests and mineral royalty funds

 He has served as in-house counsel to two publicly traded natural gas companies (including the first-ever exploration and production master limited partnership), where he advised on a range of commercial and operations issues, including oil and gas marketing arrangements, land acquisition and development, employment matters, and litigation. Ryan also serves as outside general counsel to several exploration and production and midstream companies, advising them on all aspects of their operations.

Candace Smith

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Candace Smith is a member in Steptoe & Johnson PLLC’s Lexington, Kentucky office, where she has extensive experience representing coal, oil and gas, and renewable energy companies in a variety of disputes.  She serves as a board member of the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association (KOGA), and is chair of the KOGA Legal Committee.  She is also a member of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation Board of Trustees.  Candace has a B.A. from Transylvania University and earned her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Benjamin Verney

CNX Resources Corporation

Speakers

Rodney Andrews

University of Kentucky

Rodney Andrews is Director of the Center for Applied Energy Research and Senior Associate Vice President for Research Administration at the University of Kentucky.  He is a Professor of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Andrews chairs the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority (KNEDA) and is a member of the Kentucky Energy Planning and Inventory Commission (EPIC) Executive Committee. He was appointed to the National Coal Council in 2014 and served on the Science Advisory Board of the US Environmental Protection Agency from 2018-2021.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Kentucky.

Lila Appaya

Bricker Graydon

Lila’s environmental practice focuses on all aspects of environmental law, both state and federal, including counseling private and public sector clients on environmental due diligence and transactional issues, regulatory compliance and permitting. In addition, Lila also represents private and public sector clients on complex energy issues including regulatory proceedings involving the permitting of utility-scale development projects. She also has experience litigating these issues in state and federal courts and before administrative bodies.

John Boyd II

John T. Boyd Company

John T. Boyd II is President of John T. Boyd Company (BOYD), an international mining, geological, and energy consulting firm headquartered outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with additional offices in Denver, Colorado; Brisbane, Australia; Beijing, China; and Bogota, Colombia. In addition to being an experienced lawyer on mining, environmental, natural resources, regulatory and contract matters, John performs comprehensive strategic, operational, and financial assessments, valuations, and market analyses for BOYD’s diverse client base.

Industry achievements include Past President and John L. McClaugherty Award recipient of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation and former member of the Board of Directors of the National Mining Association.

John earned a B.B.A. degree in Finance from The George Washington University and a J.D. degree from the University of Richmond. He is a frequent speaker on international and domestic coal and energy markets.

Baylee Carvillano

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Baylee Carvillano is an associate in the Bridgeport office of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. Baylee joined the firm’s Litigation Department in 2022 and focuses a majority of her practice in Energy Litigation. Prior to starting her career at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Baylee had the honor of working as a summer clerk for the Honorable Judge Irene M. Keeley with the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. As an associate, Baylee has experience representing clients in the oil and gas industry in litigation and regulatory proceedings including hearings before the West Virginia Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Wesley Cate

NGL Supply Co. Ltd.

John Crockett

LG&E KU Energy LLC

Tyler Fields

Ramaco Resources

Christine Fleming

Milliman

Christine M. Fleming, J.D., AIC, ACAS, MAAA is a Principal and leads Milliman’s Casualty Claims & Underwriting Practice. Christine joined Milliman almost 30 years ago. Her area of expertise is claims operational assessments, however Christine is also an actuary. Prior to joining Milliman she practiced law at a national insurance coverage defense firm where she specialized in complex litigation claims handling. Christine has specialized expertise in black lung claim valuation and actuarial estimation, and she developed a proprietary software specifically designed to aid in the estimation of federal black lung claims. Her clients have included large self-insureds, insurers, reinsurers, governmental agencies and municipalities, captives, and risk retention groups.

Chantell Foley

Fisher Phillips

Chantell Foley is a partner and member of Fisher Phillips’ Workplace Safety Practice Group with a focus on Occupational Safety and Health (“OSHA”) compliance and disputes. She represents employers in contesting OSHA citations, navigating OSHA inspections, and advising and training employees in OSHA compliance. Prior to joining the firm, Chantell was an attorney with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, Department of Workplace Standards (“Kentucky OSHA”). This experience allows Chantell to provide unique insight into workplace inspection procedures and the citation process. She is also equipped to provide employers with the best defense tactics when defending OSHA violations. Additionally, Chantell represents employers in all aspects of labor and employment law.

Britt Freund

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Britt Freund is a Member in Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC’s Southpointe office. Britt concentrates his practice in mineral and energy law. He is an Assistant Practice Group Leader and an integral part of the firm’s Energy and Natural Resources Department. Britt represents coal and oil and gas producers, financial institutions, and mineral owners with regard to all aspects of real property development, mineral production and sales, and finance transactions. He is a graduate of Duquesne University School of Law, and a member of the EMLF Board of Trustees, serving as its president in 2023-2024.

Bridget Furbee

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Bridget Furbee is a member in the Bridgeport office of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, and an Assistant Practice Group Leader, and former Practice Group Leader, in the firm’s Energy Department. She is a member of EMLF and formerly served on the Board of Trustees. Bridget has extensive experience in major transactions as well as litigation and regulatory proceedings in the oil and gas industry and has represented production and midstream clients in transactional, operations, and litigation matters, including class action claims. With over 30 years in the industry, Bridget brings a practical perspective to find legal solutions to various types of contract disputes, including joint operating agreements, farmouts, leases, and gas contracts. She is also recognized as The Best Lawyers in America® for Energy Law, Commercial Litigation, and Oil and Gas Law.

John Gianola

Lewis Gianola

John Gianola is an attorney with Lewis Gianola PLLC in Charleston, West Virginia.  He has represented businesses of all shapes and sizes in Federal and state courts, specializing in complex litigation and business disputes.  He regularly handles matters involving energy, construction, real estate, and corporate disputes. In addition to his time spent litigating, he frequently helps businesses and their principals develop and navigate strategies to minimize their litigation expense and risk.  A proud member of EMLF, he received his undergraduate in Computer Science from West Virginia University and his J.D. from George Washington Law School. 

Andrew Graham

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Andy Graham has practiced energy and mineral law with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC over the last 21 years in Texas and West Virginia, focusing on title examinations, assisting clients buying or selling mineral, midstream and renewable energy assets, and handling surface use issues arising from energy development. He also teaches energy land management at West Virginia University, writes about energy law developments for the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s Mineral and Energy Law Newsletter, and serves as a trustee of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation. He has been included in Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law every year since 2012. He graduated from Shepherd College and the West Virginia University College of Law, and he is admitted to practice law in West Virginia, Texas, and Ohio.

Karen Greenwell

Wyatt, Tarrant, and Combs

Karen Greenwell is a member of Wyatt Tarrant and Combs’s Executive Committee and a Co-Team Leader of the Natural Resources & Environmental Service Team.  She concentrates her practice in the areas of mineral, energy and property law, and commercial litigation. 

 With 30 years of legal experience in the mineral and energy industry, Ms. Greenwell has assisted coal, oil, gas and energy industry clients with all manner of transactions, including leasing matters, asset acquisitions and divestitures, corporate mergers and stock acquisitions, and bankruptcy sales.  Ms. Greenwell’s experience in litigating property, contract and business tort disputes, as well as in other types of commercial litigation, gives her an unusual breadth of experience and perspective in dealing with issues affecting mineral and energy industry clients. 

 Ms. Greenwell is a Trustee of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation, a director of the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association, an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, and a frequent speaker and author on energy topics for organizations such as the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, the Institute for Energy Law, and the Conference of Government Mining Attorneys. 

 Wyatt is a member of the Kentucky Consortium for Carbon Storage, and Ms. Greenwell is one of the leaders of its task force on legal issues relating to carbon capture and storage. 

In addition to litigating business tort, property and contract disputes, Ms. Greenwell has negotiated and prepared mineral leases and been involved in mineral-related acquisitions and lending transactions. 

Ryan Haddad

Blank Rome

Ryan Haddad’s multidisciplinary energy transactional practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and energy development and operations, primarily in the oil and gas and related sectors, including a leading practice representing project developers in the emerging carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”) industry.  Ryan counsels industry clients on matters involving acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, CCS project development, production prepayment facilities and other structured finance, oil and gas and pore space leasing, corporate governance, project development, coordination of estates matters, distressed asset sales, commercial agreements, and other documents associated with natural gas operations, CCS, waste-to-energy projects, and other energy development.

 Ryan has advised industry clients in equity, debt, and structured financing transactions, including asset-backed securitization (ABS) transactions, volumetric production payments, net profits interests and mineral royalty funds. Ryan also has experience representing debtors-in-possession in transactional and corporate matters in the Chapter 11 context, and has advised established companies and new and emerging business in connection with raising and investing capital and forming alternative asset structures such as special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”).

Shane Harvey

Jackson Kelly

M. Shane Harvey leads Jackson Kelly’s Environmental Practice Group and Coal Industry Group, and is a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. The Best Lawyers in America^® named him “Lawyer of the Year” in Charleston, WV, for Environmental Law in 2021 and 2026 and Mining Law in 2020 and 2023.  Shane frequently litigates complex commercial and environmental matters and counsels clients on a variety of compliance issues. 

Matthew Heiskell

Spilman Thomas & Battle

Matt Heiskell is a Member in Spilman, Thomas & Battle’s Morgantown, West Virginia office who focuses his practice on litigation and counseling clients in reducing litigation risks in matters involving mineral and energy law, complex commercial and banking disputes, construction law, corporate and partnership business disputes, and class actions. Matt has a B.A. from West Virginia University, a J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, and an L.L.M. in International Trade and Banking from the American University Washington College of Law. He is licensed to practice in West Virginia and New York and has been included in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Commercial Litigation and Corporate Law.

Blake Klinkner

University of North Dakota College of Law

Professor Blake A. Klinkner is an award-winning legal educator and author. Blake currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota School of Law, where he teaches Civil Procedure, Cybersecurity Law, Law & Technology, Law Practice Management, and International Law. Prior to entering academia, Blake practiced in the areas of energy law, environmental law, natural resources law, cybersecurity law, and complex commercial litigation. Blake completed his undergraduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his master’s degree at Northern Illinois University, and his juris doctor at the University of Utah School of Law.

John McCreary, Jr.

Babst Calland

John A. McCreary, Jr. is a shareholder in the Employment and Labor and Public Sector groups of law firm Babst Calland. John represents public and private sector employers in the full range employment-related issues, including labor contract negotiation and administration, union-related matters, grievance arbitration, OSHA compliance, discrimination and wrongful termination claims, and litigation over pension and benefit entitlement. He has been closely following the state laws related to medical and recreational cannabis, and regularly advises employers on how to address the issues arising therefrom.

Tim McGranor

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease

Tim is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office,  a member of the litigation group, and head of the appellate subgroup. Tim’s practice focuses primarily on appellate law, oil and gas litigation, commercial litigation, and antitrust. His practice takes him throughout the state and federal courts in Ohio, the Ohio Supreme Court, various Ohio courts of appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  Tim has appeared before the Supreme Court of Ohio, courts of appeals throughout Ohio and the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Ninth Circuits.  Tim’s oil and gas experience includes representing both large, horizontal producers and conventional operators. He has represented clients in a wide range of disputes including landowner lease disputes, royalty claims, and business-versus-business disputes, and he has been involved in a range of disputes from single-plaintiff actions to class actions. Tim also has extensive experience defending oil and gas clients in regulatory proceedings, including before the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission and the Ohio Reclamation Commission.

Ashley C. Pack

Dinsmore & Shohl

Ashley is the Managing Partner of Dinsmore’s Charleston, West Virginia office, and has significant experience representing employers in a variety of labor and employment matters, including employment litigation, sexual harassment investigations, unfair labor practice and union representation cases. She also practices media and First Amendment law, advising newspapers and media outlets on prepublication review, FOIA and open records, advertising, and defamation issues. She is AV-Rated and listed in the Best Lawyers®and Super Lawyers® and is very active in the community, sitting on various nonprofit boards. She was selected by the Benchmark Litigation’s “Under 40 Hot List.” She graduated from Leadership WV and is an active speaker and writer. She also is a recipient of the 2012 Generation Next 40 Under 40 award from The State Journal. Ashley is also a member of the Dinsmore Board of Directors. Ashley was appointed by West Virginia’s governor in 2024 to serve as one of five members of the West Virginia Industrial Council, which is charged with overseeing the worker’s compensation insurance market in the state.

Gabe Procaccini

Usnergy

Mr. Procaccini is a leading lawyer in transactions involving upstream, midstream and downstream assets, energy marketing matters, LNG, LPG, energy infrastructure project development, M&A and joint ventures.  In 2024, Gabe founded USNERGY to provide legal and executive-level strategic advisory services to his clients and represents and advises oil and gas producers, gas buyers, midstream companies, large LNG traders and other LNG market participants, including U.S. LNG export and bunkering projects and regasification terminal owners and operators, LPG traders, international mining companies, private equity and data center developers.  In addition to his work in the United States, since 2024, Mr. Procaccini has advised clients on matters in Argentina, Brazil, China, the Dominican Republic, India, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Trinidad, Turkey and Vietnam.  In 2023 and 2022, Mr. Procaccini was recognized by the The Legal 500 for his Latin America Projects and Energy work and in 2020 and 2019 by the IFLR1000 for his Project Development, M&A and Project Finance work in Energy, Oil and Gas.

Over his 20-plus-year career, Mr. Procaccini has led transactions relating to the purchase, sale and development of key energy assets, including throughout the LNG and LPG value chain, through a wide range of commercial arrangements and has closed more than $130 billion in transactions.  Mr. Procaccini previously practiced law at Akin Gump and was a partner at the firm from 2013 to 2023.  Mr. Procaccini holds a JD from the University of Chicago and an MBA and BBA from Loyola College in Maryland and is licensed to practice law in Texas and Florida.

John Rogers

Fisher Phillips

John Rogers is Of Counsel with the Fisher Phillips Louisville officer, and a member of Fisher Phillips’ Workplace Safety Practice Group and Energy Industry Practice Group. John advises employers in a wide range of complex labor and employment matters including but not limited to catastrophe management, OSHA investigations, OSHA related litigation, OSHA compliance, workplace discrimination matters, and various other workplace policies and personnel matters ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal laws. Before joining Fisher Phillips, John worked for the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, Department of Workplace Standards where he assisted with investigations into OSHA, Wage and Hour, unfair labor, and child labor violations and prosecuted those matters in administrative and state courts.

Courtney Ross Samford

Dinsmore & Shohl

Courtney Ross Samford is a partner in Dinsmore & Shohl LLP’s Lexington, KY office. Courtney earned her BA from Centre College, and her JD from University of Kentucky College of Law. Her practice focuses on labor and employment law. Her experience includes representing employers at every stage of the litigation process in all areas of employment law, including claims of employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or breach of contract. Courtney regularly guides her clients through various administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, and Kentucky Labor Cabinet. She also assists clients with hiring and firing, investigations, compensation, leave, handbooks, training, and other employment related issues.  

Joseph A. Schremmer

University of Oklahoma College of Law

Joseph A. Schremmer is a Professor of Law and the Eugene Kuntz Chair of Law in Oil, Gas, & Natural Resources, and serves as the Director of the Oil & Gas, Natural Resources, & Energy Center, at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He teaches oil and gas law, oil and gas contracts, and first-year property and contracts. Schremmer’s writings focus on basic property issues in mineral and natural resources law, including the waste, correlative rights, conservation regulation, subsurface trespass, and split-estates issues. He is the sole update and revision author of the multi-volume treatise, Kuntz, Law of Oil & Gas.

Collin Schueler

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

Collin received his undergraduate degree in Political Science with highest distinction from the University of Michigan. Collin then graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he served on the Kentucky Law Journal, received the Faculty Cup for outstanding contributions to the law school, and was a member of the Order of the Coif. After law school, Collin clerked for Judge Karen Caldwell of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and Judge John Rogers of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkships, Collin served in the United States Department of Justice’s Honors Program as an Attorney Advisor in the Executive Office for Immigration Review in San Francisco, California. Collin later joined the United States Department of Homeland Security, and he litigated immigration cases as an Assistant Chief Counsel in the Washington, D.C. area. Currently, Collin is a career law clerk in the Pro Se Office at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and he primarily works on civil rights and habeas cases. Collin also regularly serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Steven Silverman

Babst Calland

Steve Silverman is a shareholder in the Litigation and Energy and Natural Resources groups of law firm Babst Calland. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, with an emphasis on natural gas title and lease disputes and other energy-related cases. Steve received his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Larry Skryzsowski

EQT Corporation

Lawrence (Larry Ski) Skrzysowski is a Senior Staff Attorney in the Litigation Division of EQT Corporation’s Legal Department in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He represents the company in a wide range of energy-related litigation, including breach of contract, condemnation, lease disputes and terminations, municipal disputes, nuisance, personal injury, property damage, quiet title actions, and royalty payment claims. Before joining EQT’s Legal Department, Larry served as EQT’s Director of Land Acquisitions, where he led the company’s acquisition strategy and horizontal well development throughout West Virginia and Ohio. His oil and gas career began at Chesapeake Energy in Oklahoma City, where he worked in the company’s Eastern Land and Legal Department. He later served as District Landman with Rice Energy in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, overseeing acquisition and development programs in Ohio. Larry earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Temple University, an MBA from Wilkes University, and a Juris Doctor from West Virginia University’s College of Law. He is licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia and is an active member of both state bars. In addition, he holds the American Association of Professional Landmen’s Certified Professional Landman (CPL) designation and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation (EMLF).

Justin Stoll

Jones Day

Justin Stoll is an associate in the Cleveland office of Jones Day. He has represented clients from the mining and energy production industries in litigation, regulatory and transactional matters. His experience includes extensive engagement with regulatory bodies concerning the environmental permitting of facilities in those industries. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association. Justin received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.

Katerina P. Vassil

Babst Calland

Katerina Vassil is an associate in the Litigation Group of law firm Babst Calland. Katerina represents clients in a variety of litigation practice areas, including commercial, energy and natural resources, environmental, and employment and labor. She received her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Jason Wandling

Spilman Thomas & Battle

Mr. Wandling is a member in the firm’s environmental practice group. His practice encompasses
energy and environmental law, state and local government work, business expansion and
development, and legislative advocacy. Jason represents companies in the natural gas, chemical,
and manufacturing sectors before state administrative boards as well as in the state’s courts,
where he has almost 25 years of experience. Most recently, he spent eight years working in
government relations, focusing on extensive collaboration with members of the West Virginia
Legislature in drafting and passing state laws and administrative rules as general counsel for the
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

Alex York

Milliman

Alex York, AIC, is a Principal and a senior claims consultant working in Milliman’s Casualty Claims & Underwriting Practice. Prior to joining Milliman, Alex had over a decade of expertise managing a team of federal black lung claims professionals for Kentucky Employers Mutual. Alex’s role includes developing strategies for resolution, devising cost-saving measures for claims operations, conducting best practices claim reviews, and estimating values of workers’ compensation and black lung claims.