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Jack Carnegie

Senior Counsel
fax +1 832.397.3524

Jack Carnegie represents businesses in the oil and gas industry in litigation and arbitration by defending them from potential liabilities and helping them recover significant losses.

Much of his practice involves the oil and gas and chemical industries, where he handles a wide variety of contract, business tort, and insurance and indemnity disputes including contract and coverage issues related to additional insured provisions. Jack also has an active appellate practice and is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Education

J.D., University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, 1982, Texas Law Review
B.A., Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1979

Recognitions

Named among The Best Lawyers in America® – Environmental Law and Litigation- Environmental (2024) by Best Lawyers

Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell

Named among Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson and Reuters (2008-2019)

Recipient of the Harris County Bench Bar Pro Bono Award (April 2015)

Recipient of the University of Texas Law School’s Excellence in Public Interest Award (April 2015)

Named Appellate Lawyer of the Week by The Texas Lawyer (August 2013)

Listed among “Who’s Who in Energy” by American Cities Journals (2013)

Listed as one of Houston’s Top Lawyers by H Texas magazine, in both commercial litigation and civil appellate law

Memberships

Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow

Greater Houston Partnership, Oil & Gas Subcommittee Member

Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas

State Bar Licenses

Texas

Court Admissions

U.S. District Ct., S.D. of Texas
U.S. District Ct., E.D. of Texas
U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Federal Claims

Experience

Jack’s experience includes catastrophic equipment failures, chemical manufacturing and supply arrangements, construction disputes, well damage, and environmental contamination. As examples, Jack has represented:

  • A domestic oil and gas company in litigation involving an oil concession in Chad – compelling arbitration against non-signatory Chinese defendants;
  • A international chemical company headquartered in Germany in arbitration in a raw material pricing and quantity dispute;
  • An oil field pipe supplier in preventing enforcement of Chinese arbitration award;
  • A chemical manufacturer in arbitration to recover reconstruction costs and business interruption losses arising from an ethylene plant fire;
  • Obtained a writ of mandamus vacating an order compelling international arbitration in In re Kellogg Brown & Root, the first Texas Supreme Court case to cleary establish the standards under which nonsignatories may be compelled to arbitrate.
  • A major pipeline company in the recovery of abandonment costs for a toppled offshore platform;
  • A construction company seeking to recover damages, including delay damages, resulting from the failure of equipment installed in a large chemical plant;
  • An international pipeline company in a civil rights action filed by pipeline protesters;
  • An oil field equipment manufacturer in trade secret litigation;
  • An international E&P company in connection with complex indemnity and insurance issues relating to a deep water project utilizing an FPSO;
  • An oil field chemical supplier at trial and on appeal in indemnity and insurance litigation arising from an oil field explosion;
  • A PRP Group in a Superfund CERCLA cost recovery action;
  • A Saudi company in litigation involving tortious interference with gas field contracts in Turkmenistan; and
  • A power company in litigation involving gas supply contracts.
  • Represented chemical company in litigation to recover for catastrophic losses caused by power outage.

In addition to his trial and arbitration practice, Jack maintains an active appellate practice.

  • He prevailed before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in a landmark pro bono case reforming the procedure under which children may be certified adults: Moon v. State, 451 S.W.3d 28 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). For this pro bono work Jack received the Harris County Bench Bar Pro Bono Award and the University of Texas Law School’s Excellence in Public Interest Award.
  • He helped the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund fend off the City of Houston in a highly publicized case, The Board of Trustees of the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund v. The City of Houston, 466 S.W.3d 182 (Houston [1st Dist.] 2015, pet. denied).
  • He was victorious in Evanston Ins. v. Atofina Petrochemicals, the Texas Supreme Court’s seminal decision on additional insured provisions and the rights of policyholders who settle claims. This case was referenced in the Texas Bar Journal as “potentially the most significant decision of the year.”
  • He prevailed on behalf of an oil field chemical supplier in Getty v. INA, a key decision on Texas res judicata law, and the Texas Supreme Court’s first decision dealing with additional insured provisions and the Texas Oil Field Anti-Indemnity statute.
  • He won Crown Central Petroleum Corp. v. Garcia, the first Texas Supreme Court case to grant mandamus relief establishing limits on “Apex” depositions of high level corporate officers.
Articles
  • Texas Supreme Court Clarifies The “Independent Injury Rule”, Strasburger’s Trial & Error Blog (April 2017)
  • JUVENILE JUSTICE: A Look at How One Case Changed the Certification Process, Texas Bar Journal (December 2015)
  • Absolute Immunity from Defamation When Cooperating with Government Investigations? Maybe – Maybe Not Strasburger Blog (May 2015)
  • Court of Criminal Appeals Reforms Juvenile Certification Procedure, Houston Lawyer (March/April 2015)
  • Texas Supreme Court Holds BP Not Entitled to Full Coverage under Transocean Policies Strasburger Energy, Oil, Gas Newsletter (February 2015)
  • Fifth Circuit Vacates Its Own Decision In Transocean Insurance Case, Strasburger Transportation & Logistics Blog (September 2013)
  • Additional Insured Provisions: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You, Strasburger Transportation & Logistics Blog (August 2013)
  • Insurance Agreements or Contracting for Disaster?, Collin County Business Press (March 2013)
  • Energy Focus: What Happened to Transocean’s Insurance and How to Prevent it from Happening to You, Strasburger News Alert (March 2013)
  • Oil and Gas Operator Liability In Texas – What’s In Your Contract? Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (January 2013)
  • Property Damage, Experts and Damages, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (November 2012)
  • Class Arbitration: Who Decides And When Are They Wrong? Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (June 2012)
  • Keeping Your Expert, and Yourself, Out Of Trouble. Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (December 2011)
  • Arbitration: Is it Time to Re-Evaluate?, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (November 2011)
Presentations
  • Contractual ADR: Arbitration and More, Dallas Bar Association (July 2015)
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution in Commercial Contracts, Strasburger Client CLE (July 2015)
  • Texas Supreme Court Sidesteps Subsurface Trespass Issue, Strasburger News Alert (February 2015)
  • Co-presenter with the Honorable Deborah Hankinson, Understanding the Risks and Benefits of Arbitration, State Bar of Texas Oil and Gas Disputes Conference (January 2015)
  • Emerging Liability Risks in the Energy Industry: A Litigator’s Perspective, Willis North American Energy Conference (May 2014)
  • The Perils of Additional Insured Provisions, Aviation Insurance Association Conference (May 2014)
  • Risk Management In The Energy Industry, National Risk and Insurance Management Society Conference (March 2013)
  • Insurance Coverage Update, Houston Risk and Insurance Management Society (January 2013)
  • Insurance Update: Additional Insurance Provisions and More, Houston Risk and Insurance Management Society (January 2012)
  • What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Arbitrate, Strasburger Client CLE (October 2011)
  • High Courts Review: An Analysis of Recent Major Business Decisions and What to Expect Next (November 2010)
  • Jones Day MCLE University (October 2010)
  • Legislative and Regulatory Changes Resulting from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (October 2010)
  • Indenities, Exculpatory Clauses and Insurance: Lessons Learned from the Deepwater Horizon Event (September 2010)
  • Risk Management in a New Age – Developing Trends in Insurance Law (May 2010)
  • Indemnities and Additional Insured Clauses from State to State and Offshore (May 2010)
  • Insurance for In House Counsel (February 2010)
  • Recent Developments in Texas Insurance Law (January 2010)
  • High Courts Review (October 2009)
  • The Use of Appellate Counsel At and Before Trial (2009)