Peter C. Tipps
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
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Biography
Peter is a partner in the Houston office, where he has practiced since 2010. He is a seasoned disputes lawyer whose practice focuses on complex commercial litigation involving the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. Peter has experience handling disputes arising from carry agreements, drilling contracts, seismic acquisitions, pipeline construction contracts, transportation agreements, and distribution agreements. He also has significant experience representing petrochemical facilities in mass tort litigation and private and public condemnors in eminent domain proceedings in Texas. Peter has represented plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts at both the trial and appellate levels.
Peter's representative experience covers a diverse group of clients in a wide variety of disputes. For example, he has represented an energy client in a commercial case arising from the construction of a deepwater, semisubmersible drilling rig; a Fortune 500 medical device manufacturer in a variety of commercial and tort matters; and a real estate client in a dispute arising from the acquisition of multi-million dollar property in Harris County. Peter also has experience litigating copyright, trademark, and Lanham Act disputes, and was recently staffed on a trial team that successfully obtained a jury verdict in a Lanham Act lawsuit on behalf of one of the world's largest producers of alcoholic beverages.
Peter loves to advocate on his feet, having conducted numerous special commissioners hearings in Houston and West Texas, and having first-chaired nearly a dozen jury trials in Houston's municipal courts, as well as a week-long condemnation trial in Harris County District Court.
Peter has conducted lectures on pipeline acquisition and condemnation in Texas, and offshore drilling crew safety compliance in the Gulf of Mexico.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, magna cum laude, Boston College, 2009
BA, summa cum laude, Tulane University, 2005
While in law school, Peter was an editor on the Boston College Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He also was a member of Phi Beta Kappa while at Tulane.
Peter is admitted to practice law in the state of Texas, and is licensed to practice in all Texas courts, the Southern District of Texas, the Western District of Texas, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Texas State Bar
Commercial Litigation
- Obtained summary judgment dismissal on behalf of offshore seismic surveyor in copyright infringement case
- Obtained a jury verdict on behalf of alcoholic beverage producer in a trademark infringement case in federal court
- Obtained summary judgment dismissal for Fortune 500 energy-industry client in multiple offshore personal injury disputes
- Obtained summary judgment dismissal of wrongful foreclosure lawsuit in Harris County
- Obtained dismissal of lawsuit alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in federal court
- Obtained dismissal of copyright infringement lawsuit arising from the acquisition of seismic lines in cross-border litigation filed in federal court
- Represented oil companies and drilling companies in a variety of maritime disputes, including breach of contract and personal injury
- Represented global healthcare equipment manufacturing company in wrongful death matter and obtained favorable settlement of claims
- Represented global healthcare equipment manufacturing company in a fraud dispute; obtained a favorable settlement including the dismissal of all claims against the client
- Represented Fortune 500 airline in dispute arising from the airline's alleged breach of contract of carriage and business-related torts
- Represented pipe manufacturer in contract, trading, and partnership dispute
- Represented energy-industry client in an alter ego and single business enterprise dispute
Eminent Domain/Condemnation
- Lead counsel in jury trial for condemnation of commercial property in Katy, Texas
- Represented energy company in the acquisition of 450 miles of right-of-way for the installation of a crude petroleum pipeline across Texas
- Represented energy company in two right-of-way acquisition projects - totaling 100 miles and 30 miles, respectively - for the installation of a crude petroleum pipeline in West Texas
- Represented regional water authority by analyzing several hundred pipeline easements in connection with plan to convert a natural gas pipeline into a water pipeline
- Performed multiple legal research state surveys regarding federal and state condemnation rights across the United States
- Represented clients in all aspects of the condemnation process, including at trial, special commissioners hearings, mediations, discovery, and settlement negotiations in connection with condemnation proceedings in Texas
- The Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, Commercial Litigation, Best Lawyers, 2023-2024
- "Easements in Texas: Pipelines," The Seminar Group, Legal and Professional Education, January 2015
- "Legal & Practical Issues with Texas Easements: Easements in Texas," Lorman Education Services, April 2016
- Houston Young Lawyers Association (Judiciary Committee Chair)
- Houston Young Lawyers Foundation
- Houston Bar Association
- Texas Association of Defense Counsel