James Hardwick Bio

Jim Hardwick has been with the firm since 1967 and is a Senior Member of the firm's Board of Directors. His practice focuses solely in Oil & Gas Law, with expertise in Partnership/Unincorporated Entity Law and Federal & State Energy Regulatory Law. Before joining Hall Estill, Jim served as an attorney with Sun Oil Company, Mid-Continent Division, from 1964 to 1967. He has an individual AV Preeminent rating through Martindale-Hubbell. He was a member of the Board of Editors, Oklahoma Law Review; and is a past Trustee and a past member of the Executive Committee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (now the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law). Jim is also the Oklahoma reporter for that Foundation’s Mineral Law Newsletter and is a Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Energy Law of The Center for American and International Law (formerly The Southwestern Legal Foundation). Additionally, he served as one of the seven members of the AAPL appointed working committee which revised the Model Form Operating Agreement and resulted in the AAPL Model Form Operating Agreement-1989. Finally, he is a frequent speaker on oil and gas law issues, including at the 2010 Institute for Energy Law's Short Course on the Law of Shale Gas Plays.