2/28/2012
The legal landscape in some regions in the United States has been changed by the advent of the multibillion-dollar Marcellus Shale industry. It also has pushed lawyers like Bill Caroselli to focus on oil and gas law practice after a couple of decades of specialization in other fields.
Firms that already have lawyers that specialize in oil and gas law practice are making them larger, while those that did not have a practice are in a mad scramble to create one. Small law firms and solo practitioners are also trying to catch up, with the hope of representing landowners as Big Law links up with gas companies.
Mr. Caroselli said, “All of us were taught property rights and real estate when we were still in law school, but haven’t really thought about those issues for 20, 30, 40 years. So it is a whole new mindset for what you have to do.”
At the Pittsburgh-based Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan & Conboy LLC, Mr. Caroselli is a partner and concentrates in fields like malpractice and personal injury laws. At present, his law practice also involves representing landowners in legal disputes with natural gas corporations entering their area to drill.
He said, “Just keep reading. I keep reading statutes, I keep reading articles, I keep reading what the Legislature is doing, and that’s what you have to do to stay current.”
Staying up to date is principally essential to Mr. Caroselli and his clients because lawyers on the opposite side almost always are more very well-acquainted and experienced in oil and gas law.
