Alan H. Katz

Alan Katz focuses his practice on bankruptcy litigation and has considerable experience in litigation, including commercial disputes, products liability defense, foreclosure, collection, and loan workouts, oil and gas asset sale disputes, oil and gas lease termination and royalty disputes, legal malpractice defense and real estate litigation.

In addition, Alan’s earlier mineral law practice involved examination of title for drilling and royalty payment, drafting and interpretation of oil- and gas-related contracts, from leases and rights-of-way through gas purchase agreements, sales of oil and gas properties and related litigation.

Prior to joining the Firm, while at Entergy, Alan prepared and reviewed commercial contracts, including coal purchase and railroad transportation contracts, handled customer service issues and provided antitrust law counseling. Alan was the principal in-house attorney for Entergy's acquisition of a $60 million natural gas storage facility.

Alan's experience includes:

• Represented employer in action by former employee claiming ownership interest and various allegedly unpaid income items, resulting in judgment for employee for only unreimbursed business expenses and unused vacation time
• Represented independent oil and gas producer in lawsuit to recover royalties diverted after asset acquisition, resulting in judgment for client
• Oil and gas title examinations for independent oil and gas producers in connection with sales of assets and asset-backed loans
• Represented lessor in two "failure to develop" oil and gas lease cancellation suits against major oil companies, resulting in release of more than 1,000 acres located in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
• Represented Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in various foreclosure and collection lawsuits
• Represented offshore drilling contractor in acquisition from major oil company of 40-acre industrial facility, involving naturally occurring radioactive material inventory and remediation agreement and other environmental aspects, and bankruptcy of seller while transaction was pending
• As team member, represented manufacturer of commercial laundry equipment in products liability/construction lawsuits brought by two hotels concerning floor vibrations; involved analysis of machines' dynamic performance, analysis of design and construction of hotel floors, and investigation of laundry design process and equipment purchase and sale practices
• Represented architects in a malpractice lawsuit seeking personal injuries incurred on a construction site, resulting in a defense summary judgment
• Represented power distribution products manufacturer in products liability lawsuits seeking personal injuries and property damage
• As team member represented major regional law firm in malpractice matter with multimillion-dollar exposure
• Represented independent oil company in defense of third-party demand seeking indemnification against expenses of offshore oil and gas well and platform plugging, abandonment and remediation
• Performed many oil and gas title examinations, principally for independent oil companies
• Performed title examination and closing of residential mortgages for local mortgage company