Gray Reed & McGraw is proud to announce it has continued to strengthen its Houston Oil & Gas section with the addition of Paul Yale as a Member and Julie Clark and Elizabeth Pinion as Associates. Their practices focus on representation of oil and gas companies in connection with oil and gas title examination and operations, and compliments Gray Reed & McGraw's already existing Dallas-based oil and gas title examination practice. The two groups combined include ten oil and gas attorneys and places Gray Reed & McGraw as one of the largest oil and gas title examination practice areas in Texas.

Paul Yale

Paul Yale manages Gray Reed McGraw's Houston-based Oil and Gas Title Examination Section and routinely performs title examinations for oil and gas producers, especially in Texas and North Dakota. He is board certified in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has 33 years experience working primarily in the oil and gas industry, including 27 years with ExxonMobil Corporation and its predecessor companies at various locations within the United States. His last position prior to retirement from ExxonMobil in 2007 was Manager of Land for ExxonMobil's United States Production Organization with responsibility for ExxonMobil's land activities in the continental United States both onshore and offshore. He also advises clients in connection with joint operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, farmouts, leasing, gas contracts, drilling and seismic agreements, and other oil and gas related agreements. Paul is admitted in Texas, Colorado and North Dakota. He received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University.

Julie Clark

Julie Clark practices in oil and gas law with a focus on oil and gas title and transactional work. In addition she also has a background in litigation and regulatory compliance. She received her B.A. from the University of Iowa and her J.D. from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College.

Elizabeth Pinion

Prior to going into private practice, Elizabeth Pinion worked as a landman for ExxonMobil. Her work included preparation of joint operating agreements, farmouts and exploration agreements. While in private practice, Elizabeth worked for clients preparing drilling, division order and acquisition title opinions. She received her B.A. from Colgate University and her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center.

Gray Reed & McGraw's Energy Title Examination team features a core group of experienced oil and gas lawyers who possess a wealth of experience in the examination of title and preparation of title opinions for drilling, division orders, financing transactions, and acquisitions. The team focuses its work on title examination of onshore properties in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Dakota, and other oil and gas producing states, as well as offshore properties in both state and federal waters off Louisiana and Texas. Properties examined range from urban shale plays with units involving hundreds of town lots to more traditional title examination in rural areas including both exploratory plays and complex secondary recovery units. Many of Gray Reed & McGraw's energy team members bring years of practical experience in the energy industry to their practice - working for major and independent oil companies, serving on various energy company boards, and, in one case, even owning their own refinery.  The firm's attorneys includes two Texas board-certified oil, gas and mineral law specialists and many are licensed in states throughout the energy centers of the Southwest and other Western States. In addition, Gray Reed & McGraw energy attorneys  are frequent authors and lecturers on a broad range of energy-related topics.  Many have held leadership positions in such industry-focused organizations as the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, the Energy Law Institute, and the Energy Sections of the American Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Houston Bar Association, and the Dallas Bar Association.

Founded in 1985, Gray Reed & McGraw is a Texas-based, full-service law firm with more than 90 lawyers practicing in Houston, Dallas and Tyler, and offers a wide range of legal services including business litigation, corporate transactions, oil & gas, tax planning and litigation, real estate, healthcare, trusts and estates, employment law, family law, and bankruptcy.