Sarah A. Kirkpatrick

In her 25 plus years of legal experience, Sarah has had years of contract experience covering all aspects of professional and construction services for various types of energy-related facilities, from the initial development phase to the operation and maintenance phase.  She has specific experience in working with procurement groups on supply chain agreements, including master service agreements, professional services agreements, general terms and conditions, purchase orders, licenses, and contractual insurance requirements.  Sarah has worked with companies to resolve land use issues and disputes, and negotiated servitudes and joint agreements of various sorts to fulfill client business development needs. She also has experience with pre-contract non-disclosure agreements, pipeline expropriation, evaluating and resolving construction liens, and negotiating cloud-based services for providers and customers. Over time, she has helped multiple clients develop an integrated “stable” of contract forms for diverse contractors and has trained the corporate team members to use the forms to their best advantage.  In addition to her contract practice, she has an active litigation practice where, in the energy area, she has been involved for over 20 years in defending legacy claims and in defending and pursuing royalty actions. Sarah is collaborative and works to find solutions to thorny issues.

In non-oil and gas areas, Sarah has worked with various small business and individual clients and, in that area of her practice, has assisted clients with the formations and dissolutions of their businesses, establishing business policies and procedures, purchases of franchises, negotiations for the sale of partnership and membership interests, navigated tax sales and redemptions and tax sale litigation, dissolved, merged, and converted corporations, successfully defended attempts to annul property transfers, negotiated and developed commercial, residential, and communication tower leases, litigated and negotiated non-competition agreements, reviewed and drafted employee handbooks, policies, and correspondence, and pursued claims under both the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Lanham Act.