Warren & Siurek, L.L.P.

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Warren & Siurek, L.L.P.
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Assisting Executives Throughout Houston For Over 35 Years

Skilled Legal Counsel For Energy Industry Professionals

Cyclical economic pressures caused by price declines and spikes in the oil and gas industry are well-known. But what happens when those pressures or other unforeseen factors put your professional employment at risk?

At Warren & Siurek, L.L.P., in Houston, we have a proven record of helping executives and professionals who work in the energy industry assert their legal rights. If you are facing an employment dispute, we can provide skilled guidance on how to move forward toward a positive resolution. Call 713-489-2202 to discuss your unique circumstances with an experienced lawyer.

What Specific Issue Are You Facing?

Our firm handles a full range of employment law issues for oil and gas executives and highly compensated professionals. This includes:

  • Severance compensation: If you’re being let go, it’s time to consider your legal options for maximizing severance pay.
  • Non-compete agreements: Covenants not to compete and confidentiality agreements are enforceable in Texas only if certain legal tests are met. We will make sure your interests are protected.

Our experience extends to all types of written employment contracts. No matter what issue you are facing, we will draw upon our decades of experience to craft a strategic solution.

Executive Compensation Issues In The Oil And Gas Industry

Executive compensation structures in the energy sector can often be more complex than compensation packages in other industries. Additionally, disputes can frequently arise when market cycles or transactions change the playing field. Common issues include:
  • Commodity-price and production-based incentives: Because the price of oil can swing dramatically based on benchmark selection, measurement dates, or midstream/downstream pricing adjustments, so can the compensation packages for oil and gas executives.
  • Reserve- and performance-metric disputes: These can involve how companies categorize, revise or audit reserves, and how those revisions affect payout under long-term incentive plans.
  • Change-in-control and asset-sale triggers: These can depend on mergers, divestitures and joint ventures – particularly whether a deal qualifies as a triggering event and whether benefits are single- or double-trigger.
  • Equity, equity equivalents, and carried-interest treatment: These issues can arise when awards are converted, substituted, cashed out, or forfeited in a recapitalization or a sponsor exit.
  • Committee discretion and adjustment provisions: These can result in reduced or recharacterized bonuses and LTI payouts after leadership changes or restructurings.
  • Clawback and recoupment demands: These can be tied to policy changes, alleged misconduct, performance restatements or post-separation disputes.
When compensation is tied to volatile markets and complex deal structures, we can help clarify your rights, assess exposure, and pursue the compensation and protections your agreements provide.

Common Employment Issues For Executives In The Oil And Gas Industry

Energy-sector executives often face employment disputes shaped by restructurings, asset sales, and highly regulated operations, such as:
  • Transaction-driven changes: Mergers, divestitures, and joint ventures can trigger reporting-line shifts, role redefinitions and relocation demands. They can also present questions about whether an employment agreement is assigned to a successor entity.
  • For-cause versus without-cause terminations: Termination disputes often turn on contract definitions, notice-and-cure provisions, and whether alleged policy or performance issues justify termination and loss of severance or other incentives.
  • Reductions in force and restructurings: Commodity-cycle downturns can result in layoffs and reorganizations, during which executives must evaluate exit terms, releases and negotiated separation packages under strict timelines.
  • Restrictive covenant enforcement: Companies may use non-competes, non-solicitation clauses, and confidentiality provisions to limit an executive’s next role, client relationships or their ability to recruit team members.
  • Confidential information and trade secret concerns: Employers may frequently cite technical data, subsurface information, reserves evaluations, pricing, and strategic plans to justify restrictions or threatened injunctive action.
  • Compliance and retaliation issues: Safety, environmental, and regulatory reporting can create whistleblower and retaliation risks, especially when executives raise concerns internally or with regulators.
We recognize how these issues can affect deal timing, separation terms and post-employment mobility. That’s why we work to protect your contract rights and negotiate a business-focused path forward.

Take Action

Call our office via 713-489-2202 or complete the brief online form to arrange a confidential appointment. We serve clients throughout southeast Texas.