Mr. Dixon is an associate at Saul Ewing LLP, where he represents clients in matters involving  environmental regulation and litigation, including government enforcement proceedings. He  helps companies navigate federal and state environmental agencies in their effort to obtain  permits to build projects that are regulated by the government or require considerations  involving impacts to the environment. Mr. Dixon formerly served as assistant counsel to the  Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), where he counseled several DEP  programs and represented DEP in litigation proceedings. He also served as assistant counsel to  the Honorable Richard P. Mather, Sr., of the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB).  In that capacity, he counseled the EHB on complex environmental laws and regulations,  assisted the judges in hearings, and drafted opinions and adjudications. Mr. Dixon received his  BA, with high distinction, from the Pennsylvania State University, and his JD from Widener  University Commonwealth School of Law.

Mr. Burnett is a director with Pittsburgh law firm Houston Harbaugh, P.C.; his practice is exclusively devoted to the representation of landowners and royalty owners in oil and gas matters. He is the Chair of the Firm’s Oil and Gas Practice Group and represents landowners and royalty owners in a wide array of oil and gas matters throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He assists landowners and royalty owners in the negotiation of new oil and gas leases as well as modifications to existing leases. He also negotiates surface use agreements and pipeline right-of-way agreements on behalf of landowners. He also advises and counsels clients on complex lease development and expiration issues, including the impact and effect of delay rental and shut-in clauses, as well as the implied covenants to develop and market oil and gas. He also represents landowners and royalty owners in disputes arising out of the calculation of production royalties and the deduction of post-production costs. Mr. Burnett also assists landowners with oil and gas title issues and develops strategies to resolve and cure such title deficiencies. A prolific author and speaker on numerous oil and gas topics, he is a frequent lecturer at Pennsylvania Bar Institute oil and gas programs and currently serves on the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s “Oil and Gas Law Advisory Committee.” He is also a contributing author of The Law of Oil and Gas in Pennsylvania (1st Ed. 2014), published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s premier oil and gas law program, the annual “Oil and Gas Law Colloquium.” He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Landowner’s Alliance and is an active member of its Legislative Committee. He also served on the “Siting and Routing” Workgroup of Governor Wolf’s “Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force” in 2015. He is also a retired officer from the United States Army. Mr. Burnett received his B.A. in political science, with honors, from John Carroll University and his J.D., cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is BV® Rated, in the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating System and named a Who’s Who in Energy, Pittsburgh Business Times, 2011-2017. His memberships include the Pennsylvania Bar Association (Shale Energy Law Committee, Civil Litigation Section and Environmental and Energy Law Section); National Association of Royalty Owners; Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Landowner Alliance (Board of Directors); and the Allegheny County Bar Association. 

Heather A. Hurst helps energy companies accomplish their operational and transactional goals. She focuses her practice on commercial and real estate transactions and transition projects within the coal, oil and gas and renewables industries (including solar, wind and renewable fuels). Heather assists industry clients with all stages of acquisition, operation and divestiture of coal, oil and gas, and renewable energy assets and on a variety of mergers and acquisitions, land management, joint venture, commercial and title-related matters in the Appalachian region. She has abstracted and drafted title examination opinions for surface, oil and gas and coal interests. She has experience performing title, site control and commercial due diligence for oil, gas, coal, solar and wind operations and transactions, negotiating leases, options and agreements, and drafting a variety of transactional, commercial and operational instruments and agreements. Her experience also includes negotiating and drafting gas gathering, purchase and sale, service, easements, correlative right agreements and construction agreements. Heather has also represented oil, gas, coal, and renewable owners, operators and companies in real estate closings, transfer, severance and property tax matters, and property, landowner and contract disputes. She has also assisted coal, oil and gas and coal operators in compliance matters related to environmental and safety regulations, including obtaining required permits, conducting compliance audits and analysis representing clients in challenging Mine Safety and Health Administration enforcement proceedings and defending operators in administrative adjudication. Prior to joining Buchanan, Heather represented numerous coal mining operators in Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission proceedings resulting in significant penalty and severity reductions for issued citations and elevated enforcement actions.

Lauren John is Senior Counsel at Range Resources in Canonsburg. Prior to this position, she was in both private practice and in-house at a private equity-backed natural gas producer. She is a graduate of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Duquesne University, J.D., and The Pennsylvania State University, B. A., Advertising and Public Relations and B.A., International Politics. Ms. John is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Pittsburgh chapter of the Womens Energy Network.

Gregory J. Krock is a partner in the Pittsburgh office of McGuireWoods LLP. Greg is an accomplished litigator who represents clients in matters involving the oil and gas, electric utilities, and coal industries. His experience includes litigating contract disputes, unfair competition claims, toxic tort cases, and other business disputes before state, federal, and appellate courts. Greg is well known in the energy market for his expertise litigating disputes which occur throughout the lifecycle of oil and gas production, from access to mineral rights to supply contracts. For example, Greg has litigated royalty and lease disputes with landowners (including bad faith pooling cases), toxic tort claims involving hydraulic fracturing, multi–million dollar contract disputes between drilling companies and their contractors, unfair competition claims against natural gas companies, disagreements involving joint operating agreements, and a myriad of disputes involving the construction and operation of natural gas pipelines. Greg served as lead counsel in the highly–publicized Butler v. Powers mater in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in his client’s favor, thereby preserving the state’s so–called “Dunham Rule” and affirming that natural gas rights are separate from mineral rights in the state. The opinion protected thousands of lease deals between landowners and developers in the state’s Marcellus Shale region. Greg graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served on the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and was elected Phi Beta Kappa). For more information about Greg, please visit https://www.mcguirewoods.com/people/k/gregory-j-krock.

Vera Kanova serves as the executive deputy chief counsel at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Prior to that role, she served as an IT, technology, procurement, and RTKL attorney for the Office of Administration. Prior to that she served as an assistant counsel for the Department of Environmental Protection. Prior to joining the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was an associate counsel at Mette, Evans & Woodside and served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Mary D. France of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania. While in law school, she served as a certified legal intern for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, conducted research projects for Professor of Law Gary S. Gildin and was a pro bono advocate. Ms. Kanova graduated with distinction from the Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a B.S. in Information Science and Technology. Before going to law school, Ms. Kanova worked as an application developer where she gained practical experience in the software development and project management fields. She received her J.D. degree from the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law, where she was a member of the Woolsack Honor Society.

Heggel Echeverria, based in Miami, Florida, is currently Director of Practice Innovation Systems at Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Heggel Echeverria brings experience from previous roles at Americ Disc.

George is the founder and managing partner of GA BIBIKOS LLC and has practiced law since 2003. George has represented business of all shapes and sizes – from global corporations to sole proprietors – in litigation, transactional, and regulatory matters. His practice spans a variety of disciplines, including oil and gas law, environmental law, administrative law, litigation and appeals, and alternative dispute resolution. Over the course of his career, George has represented exploration and production companies, interstate pipeline companies, midstream companies, energy investors, public utilities, alternative energy producers, oilfield services companies, construction equipment rental companies, major land developers, biotech companies, telecom companies, pharmacies, health care facilities, casinos, large non-profit organizations, state legislators, legislative caucuses in the Pennsylvania House and Senate, major food corporations, government contractors, numerous business and industry trade organizations, and other commercial clients in various market sectors. A magna cum laude graduate of Widener Commonwealth Law School and Editor-in-Chief of the law review, George practiced oil and gas law as a partner at a global law firm and a national law firm before starting his own practice. He is licensed in Pennsylvania and practices in all state and federal trial and appellate courts and administrative agencies in the Commonwealth. He began his career in 2003 as a law clerk to Honorable Dan Pellegrini of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Staiger is a Shareholder at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC in Pittsburgh, where he concentrates his practice in business law and taxation, with an emphasis in oil and gas matters. He represents oil and gas producers and midstream companies operating in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Oklahoma in connection with the acquisition and disposition of oil and gas assets, including the negotiation of joint development and exploration agreements, gas gathering and processing agreements, physical gas trading and marketing agreements, including NAESB, ISDA with Gas Annex and related contracts, mineral conveyances, title certification and diligence, IADC drilling contracts, farmout agreements, services agreements, pipeline rights of way and other agreements related to joint ventures. Mr. Staiger has extensive experience involving business and tax planning for commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, as well as planning involving partnerships, S corporations and other closely held businesses. He also represents taxpayers in connection with tax disputes involving the Internal Revenue Service, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and City of Pittsburgh. Mr. Staiger has consecutively been named to the Pittsburgh Business Times’ “Who’s Who in Energy” list, a compilation of southwestern Pennsylvania-based key players in the energy industry.

Edward G. Hild is a principal in Buchanan’s government relations practice in Washington, D.C. Edward joined Buchanan after nearly 20 years on Capitol Hill, serving in various positions, most recently as chief of staff for U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and as legislative assistant, legislative director and deputy chief of staff for former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). Ed began his Capitol Hill career in 1997 as a legislative correspondent for Sen. Domenici and then moved up to legislative assistant, legislative director, deputy chief of staff and chief counsel. After Senator Domenici’s retirement in 2008, Ed joined Senator Murkowski’s office as legislative director. In 2011, he was promoted to chief of staff and served as Senator Murkowski’s principal advisor on all policy, legislative and campaign issues. Ed also ensured coordination between the Senator’s personal office, her staff on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and her staff on the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. Ed also assisted the Senator regarding matters relevant to her memberships on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee. During the 111th Congress, Ed was selected to participate in the Congressional leadership program as a John C. Stennis Congressional Staff Fellow where he worked to examine the issue of “Balancing Governing Responsibility and Campaign Politics.” Ed has extensive experience in the authorization and appropriation processes in Congress, especially as it relates to the energy and natural resources industry and the defense industry. Ed is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School, J.D., and Ithaca College, B.A.