Kenneth A. Young

Commercial Litigation, Energy, and Class Actions

• Lead trial counsel in the Southern District of Texas for Bayou City Energy Management, LLC and its managing partner in securities fraud class action and related opt-out litigation by Alta Mesa shareholders alleging that the value of the company had plummeted by more than $3 billion. Secured a complete summary judgment victory on securities fraud and control liability claims brought against the managing partner and near-total dismissal of the control liability claims against Bayou City Energy Management, LLC, leading to a favorable in-trial settlement on the few remaining claims.
• Trial counsel for Rice Drilling D, LLC in a jury trial in which plaintiffs sought over $60 million in damages for allegedly trespassing on and converting their oil and gas below the surface. Successfully defeated several claims prior to trial with dispositive motions and, after a two-week jury trial before the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Ohio, secured a unanimous jury verdict in the client’s favor.
• Counsel for EQT Corporation lawsuits related to the terms of oil and gas leases under Ohio law bringing claims for trespass and conversion. Successfully defeated plaintiffs' motion for class certification in J&R Passmore.
• Appellate Counsel for EQT Corporation where Ohio Supreme Court overturned a $40 million judgment against EQT (prior to Kirkland’s involvement), concluding that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain the trial court’s award of summary judgment to the plaintiff on its bad-faith-trespass and conversion claims.
• Counsel for oil & gas producer in putative class action litigation alleging failure to pay statutory interest to North Dakota royalty owners. The Court adopted Kirkland’s argument and struck the proposed class because the named plaintiff’s claims were not typical of the class and individual issues predominated over common ones. The court also adopted Kirkland’s argument that plaintiff lacked standing to bring a declaratory judgment claim.
• Counsel for natural gas producer in putative class action litigation alleging abandoned gas wells in West Virginia. Favorable settlement achieved after the court struck a proposed class of West Virginia landowners alleging trespass and negligence.
• Trial counsel for steel manufacturer JSW Steel USA Ohio, Inc. in a multi-million-dollar case seeking compensation related to the collapse of a crane. Successfully resisted dispositive motions and secured an early favorable settlement.
• Counsel for midstream company in a putative collective action brought under Fair Labor Standards Act. The Court granted a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration as a third-party beneficiary to the arbitration agreement.
• Counsel for Primexx in a putative collective action brought by a drilling supervisor under Fair Labor Standards Act. The Court granted a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration as a third-party beneficiary to the arbitration agreement.
• Trial counsel for Primexx in three lawsuits in Oklahoma state court alleging injection of wastewater from fracking at disposal wells caused seismic activity. Successfully settled.
• Trial counsel for TotalEnergies SE and multiple subsidiaries in climate change litigation pending in jurisdictions across the United States. Successfully achieved dismissal from lawsuits in California and Oregon and prevailed on motions to dismiss in lawsuit brought by Delaware Attorney General.
• Trial counsel for Midstates Petroleum in contract and lien disputes over amounts allegedly owed for goods and services. Obtained a multi-million-dollar summary judgment for actual fraud against service provider.
• Represented Extraction in case brought by 15+ plaintiffs alleging that Extraction failed to property calculate royalties owed under oil and gas leases. Kirkland secured early dismissal of all claims with prejudice on a motion to dismiss based on plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies under state law.

Texas State Court Litigation

• Lead counsel for E&P company in contractual dispute in Texas Business Court. Summary judgment in client’s favor.
• Trial counsel for American Jereh International Corporation in a commercial contract dispute before the District Court of Harris County, Texas related to the purchase and sale of large oil and gas equipment. Following an early mediation, the case successfully settled.
• Counsel for Panalpina World Transport Ltd. in Texas state court defending breach of contract and fraud claims arising from freight forwarding services provided in connection with a construction project in Southern Iraq. The parties reached a favorable settlement.
• Counsel for Newfield Exploration in resolving dispute arising from ownership rights to seismic data.

Restructuring Related Litigation

• Trial counsel for Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc. in adversary proceedings before the Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Delaware. Following extensive discovery, briefing and multiday trials against multiple counterparties, prevailed in rejecting numerous midstream contracts by establishing that they did not contain real covenants and that rejection was a reasonable exercise of Extraction’s business judgment.
• Appellate counsel for Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation in defending the bankruptcy court’s high-profile ruling that allowed debtors to reject certain midstream contracts during its Chapter 11 cases in the Southern District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• Represented GenOn Energy, Inc., one of the largest competitive generators of wholesale electricity in the U.S., in its Chapter 11 case and in related litigation proceedings. Following a 10-day bench trial, Kirkland achieved a complete victory when the court estimated more than $650 million in fraudulent transfer and breach of contract claims against GenOn at $0.
• Represented Chesapeake Energy Corporation and 40 of its subsidiaries in their Chapter 11 restructuring before the Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Texas. Following extensive briefing and oral argument, obtained favorable rulings on disputed executory contract rejection and real covenant related proceedings, ensuring a multi-million-dollar savings to the company.
• Counsel for Emerald Oil, Inc., in successful trial of a contract rejection dispute in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
• Litigation counsel for the ad hoc committee of unsecured noteholders in successfully defeating ad hoc equity group’s valuation challenge in the Chapter 11 cases of Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Associate, Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C.

Trial counsel for two brothers banned from extracurricular activities by their school district based on their adherence to a religious promise. The boys have long kept a small strand of hair uncut, which they braid and tuck into their shirts, as part of a religious promesa, a practice familiar to Mexican Catholics, related to a promise made to God because one of the brothers recovered from bacterial meningitis as an infant. Obtained injunction and summary judgment in Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Successfully argued to affirm before the Fifth Circuit. The case received substantial media attention from outlets, including Newsweek, the New York Post, the Washington Examiner, and Fox News, as well as local Corpus Christi news stations.

Pro bono counsel for Congregation Torah Vachesed synagogue and Jews for Religious Liberty in authoring amicus brief challenging FEMA policy that had prohibited religious organizations from obtaining post-Hurricane Harvey aid. During the pendency of the case, FEMA revised its policy to allow religious organizations to receive aid on a non-discriminatory basis.