Drake Hill has been an oil and gas lawyer for nearly 30 years. He served as an adjunct professor at the College of Law at the University of Wyoming. He has taught on surface rights and condemnation law at the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation – the leading oil and gas organization in the United States. Keenly aware of the approaches that work and do not work, Mr. Hill has helped clients avoid condemnation and regulatory entanglements that are costly and that would otherwise lead to delays in getting projects built. Mr. Hill has recently assisted in getting an interstate crude line built without the necessity of condemnation as well as intrastate pipelines having the same success.
Should condemnation be required, Mr. Hill is a leading Wyoming practitioner in this area. Mr. Hill serves as a frequent advisor to legislators in Wyoming on condemnation statutes, constitutional rights, oil and gas law, and split-estate issues. Under the Wyoming Constitution, pipeline companies hold the rights of condemnation, though the condemnation statutes have been modified in recent years to require pipelines to comply with certain procedures to show good faith negotiations before a condemnation action can be filed. Condemnation rights must be preserved during good faith negotiations and Mr. Hill frequently advises clients on how to preserve these rights while not losing time in that process.