Energy Attorney of the Year Finalist: David Castro, Kirkland & Ellis
David Castro was named a finalist for “Energy Attorney of the Year” as part of Texas Lawyer’s Texas Legal Awards, and participated in this Q&A.
David Castro, partner with Kirkland & Ellis, is among the finalists for Texas Lawyer's 2025 Energy Attorney of the Year Award. Read a Q&A with him below.
How have recent shifts in energy policy, both at the state and federal level, affected your practice, and how do you help clients adapt to these changes?
The past few transitions in presidential administrations have been accompanied by significant changes in federal energy policy, including the degree to which specific technologies or fuel sources are emphasized. It is important to keep abreast of policy shifts, such as developments in permitting and other regulatory requirements, to help our clients understand how those changes create risks but also provide opportunities for their operations and their business.
More fundamentally though, and the near constant in respect of the oil and gas business, is volatility in the commodity markets. The price of oil and/or gas moves considerably, and energy policy (at the state and federal level) is one of many factors that inform commodity markets. With those changes, the value of the underlying business and assets are meaningfully affected. As a result, speed of execution is often paramount, and we take great measures at Kirkland to help guide clients towards thoughtful and efficient deal execution. The failure to sign a deal quickly often results in material value degradation and, sometimes, a failed transaction.
The most critical element for efficient deal execution is creativity and a commercial mindset; seeking to fully understand both my client’s objectives, as well as the counter-party’s objectives, so that we can quickly identify and solve for specific concerns, rather than trade drafts for weeks over the same issues. I take pride in my reputation for being creative and commercially minded and believe that has been critical in the timely execution of many of the deals I worked on during the last year.
Particularly for deals of scale, many of which now involve the buyer obtaining a representation and warranty policy (RWI), the deal timeline also often depends on the speed at which a competent team can complete the required diligence to support the insurance policy and negotiate the required documentation with the underwriters. Kirkland is unique insofar as we helped pioneer the RWI structure. So, while the product was slow to take hold in upstream oil and gas transactions, it has become far more common, which allows Kirkland to take advantage of years of infrastructure and expertise to navigate the process rapidly.
