James Coleman received two degrees from Harvard University — a J.D. (cum laude) and B.A. in biology (magna cum laude) with highest honors in the field. Upon graduation from law school he served as clerk for Eighth Circuit Judge Steven Colloton, and then practiced energy, environmental, and appellate law as an associate in the Washington, D.C., firm of Sidley Austin LLP for three years. 

Prior to joining SMU, he was on the faculty at the University of Calgary, where he taught at both the law school and the business school. Before Calgary, he served on the faculty at Harvard Law School as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law. 

Coleman’s scholarship addresses regulation of North American energy companies, focusing on how countries account for and influence regulation of fuel and electricity in their trading partners and how global energy companies respond to competing pressures from investors and regulators in multiple jurisdictions. He publishes the Energy Law Professor blog and you can follow him on Twitter at @energylawprof. This fall he will teach Oil & Gas Law.

Brandon Durrett is an attorney in the San Antonio office of Jackson Walker LLP in its Energy Practice Group. He is a Board Certified oil and gas attorney and an alumnus of Texas Tech School of Law and Brigham Young University. He is a former president of the San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen and has organized its annual education seminar since 2014. Brandon originally hails from Midland and now lives in Alamo Heights with his wife and three children. 

Practicing in Texas and New Mexico, Brandon counsels petroleum industry clients in mergers and acquisitions, commercial industry agreements, and complex disputes over oil and gas assets. 

Brandon has broad experience negotiating purchase and sale agreements for upstream and midstream assets, plus related marketing, financing, confidentiality, and transition services agreements. He also works closely with his corporate colleagues on energy-related mergers, stock and membership interest purchases, joint ventures, capital investments, and private equity deals. 

Brandon regularly negotiates complex petroleum industry agreements, such as “drillco” and participation agreements, JOAs, MSAs, drilling and contract operator agreements, production marketing/gathering/transportation agreements, commercial SWD service agreements, water sale and supply agreements, oil and gas leases, pooling and production sharing agreements, and surface use agreements.

Brandon often teams with his litigation colleagues in oil and gas disputes involving lease termination claims, subsurface trespass, title disputes, breaches of representations and warranties, indemnification claims, operatorship conflicts, payout and non-consent issues, deed and contract construction, royalty payment disputes, and land use conflicts. Brandon also advises clients in regulatory compliance matters before the Railroad Commission of Texas and New Mexico Oil Conservation Division regarding drilling permits, spacing and density issues, enforcement actions, P&A liability, and forced pooling.

Tim Pawul is a business development and financial professional who has been interacting with C-suite oil and gas executives and investors since the beginning of his career. 

From 2011-2014, he launched and ran the international division for PLS Inc. From 2014-2021, he was the SVP-Americas for Energy Council where he began building his sector expertise in the minerals and royalties space. In February 2022, he launched the Minerals and Royalties Podcast and to follow was Minerals & Royalties Authority LLC in June 2021. 

He is a Rice University graduate with BA in Economics and Political Science.

Dwayne Purvis, P.E. has spent nearly 30 years in reservoir engineering and executive leadership as a consultant and operator.  He has led or participated in hundreds of engineering and strategic studies over dozens of basins in the United States and abroad. Mr. Purvis leads Purvis Energy Advisors, and he frequently teaches, speaks, and writes for industry organizations and for Texas Christian University.

He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas, member of SPEE, AAPG, SEG, SIPES and an active, 25-year member of SPE. He has also recently completed a master’s degree in sustainable energy at Johns Hopkins University. 

Matt Skalka currently serves as Vice President and Head of Stewart Title’s National Commercial Services office in Houston, Texas where he also leads Stewart Title’s Energy Group. Prior to rejoining Stewart, Matt started Thomas Title and Escrow’s Energy Services group and the National Commercial Services office in Houston, Texas (Thomas Title was ultimately purchased by Stewart). 

Prior to joining Thomas Title, he served as Associate Senior Underwriting Counsel in Stewart Title’s Houston National Commercial Services office where he specialized in commercial, energy, industrial and international projects and routinely acted as lead underwriting counsel providing guidance on affirmative coverages, endorsements and curative matters concerning complex, high-liability commercial transactions. Mr. Skalka spends considerable time, and has developed a deep skill set, underwriting industrial, retail, multi-family, office, cell tower, utility scale renewable energy projects (solar/wind), mining operations, natural gas plants and other energy related infrastructure facilities throughout the United States. Before returning to Houston, he spent 18 months in London underwriting commercial transactions throughout Europe. 

Mr. Skalka also has experience as claims counsel and spent time in Stewart’s corporate legal department. Having grown up in the title insurance business in Houston, Mr. Skalka is uniquely positioned to lead Stewart’s growth in the energy capital of the world. 

Education and Professional Qualifications
South Texas College of Law, Juris Doctor
Texas A&M, Mays School of Business, MBA
University of Texas at Austin, B.A Government and Spanish

Community Service and Affiliations
Texas Land Title Association
American Bar Association
Knights of Momus
State Bar of Texas
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Breeders Greeters

CLE Instruction
Title Insurance: Recent Changes in the Industry Landscape, Hot Topics, & Practice Pointers – March 2019 – Arizona Bar Association
Wind and Mineral Rights In Title Insurance & Related Title Matters – November 2019, Houston Bar Association.
The University of Texas School of Law – The Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas 2021 Renewable Energy Law Institute – January, 2021 – Austin, TX – Texas vs Other State Title

Victoria Rose Whitehead is a native of the Texas Panhandle, growing up in Hereford and Canyon.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Texas Tech University and her Juris Doctorate Degree from Texas Tech School of Law. 

Mrs. Whitehead has had an impactful and fast-paced career working for Texas leaders such as State Senator Robert Duncan, Representative Drew Darby, and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Victoria developed a passion for serving rural Texas through legislative advocacy and education and most recently served as the General Counsel for the High Plains Water District, where she is responsible for assisting and advising the District on groundwater law and policy issues, grant acquisitions, state and federal compliance, and legal matters that face the District.

Currently, Mrs. Whitehead owns and operates Whitehead Law, PLLC, a general law practice in Lubbock dedicated to serving the businesses, industries, and people of West Texas by providing solutions for land development, small business operations, and effective communications with government and regulatory officials. 

She is the recipient of notable industry and civic honors including the American Agricultural Law Association’s 2020 Scholarly Writing Award, Lubbock’s Top 20 Under 40, the Junior League of Lubbock’s 2019 Rising Star, Capitol Crowd’s House Intern Most Likely to Be Running the Legislature in 10 Years and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ Women’s Campaign School. 

Mrs. Whitehead is very passionate about her community and Texas and enjoys giving back in a variety of civic and leadership roles through service on the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and nonprofit organizations such as the Junior League of Lubbock and the Lubbock YWCA. She is also a two-time gubernatorial appointee of Governor Greg Abbott, currently serving on the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and previously serving as Student Regent for the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents. 

She and her husband, Jeffry, an oil operator, are the proud parents of Palmer and Brooks.