Our Founder

Reagan L. Butts is an accomplished General Counsel and Attorney licensed in Texas & Oklahoma with an 18-year background in major energy/oil & gas litigation, corporate transactions, contracts, and regulatory compliance. Applying broad legal exposure, he brings a unique ability to anticipate challenges across the business landscape and offer innovative, practical, and legally sound solutions.

As General Counsel at privately owned, independent oil & gas exploration and production company Mewbourne Oil Company, Reagan oversaw all legal aspects of operations in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, supporting multi- year exponential growth. Originally hired as an attorney in 2011, Reagan was promoted to General Counsel in 2017. With this advancement to General Counsel, his scope expanded to include regulatory affairs, environmental affairs, HR-related matters, legal advisory, risk analysis, and more

At Mewbourne, Reagan has prevented $150M+ in lawsuits and avoided costly contract disputes by introducing a company-first tailored Master Service Agreement that pre-defines party roles, responsibilities, and risk distribution for oilfield- related work.

He also successfully navigated a team of multi- disciplinary technical experts, attorneys, and senior executives through consent decree negotiations over an environmental challenge alleged by the U.S. Department of Justice, EPA, and New Mexico Environment Department addressing 400+ wells in New Mexico and Texas, limiting total civil penalty expenditures to $5.5M (several other companies have faced similar Clean Air Act containing civil penalties in excess of $60M).

He won a multi-million-dollar settlement of a lawsuit involving a damaged downhole pipe and associated reservoir damage and prevailed against a class action attempt to prove systemic underpayment of oil & gas lease royalties in Oklahoma. He also settled numerous personal injury cases involving traumatic injuries and deaths individually with initial demands of $75M+

In an earlier role as Litigation Attorney at Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe & Dawson, P.C, a law firm well- known for expertise in oil & gas litigation and transactional matters, Reagan worked on all trial aspects of major cases, supporting the firm’s growth and expansion in West Texas, New Mexico, and Houston.

In this position, he presented oral argument to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding well blowout coverage. He also successfully defended a Fortune 500 petrochemical company against a tragic blindness accident at a chemical plant and won summary judgment in favor of a land brokerage against the surface owner alleging damages related to oil & gas well drilling.

Reagan holds a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Business Litigation from Baylor University School of Law. He is a Life Fellow of Texas Bar Foundation, was involved in three industry legal committees, the American Exploration & Production Council (AXPC), Western Energy Alliance (WEA), and New Mexico Oil & Gas Association (NMOGA), and remains actively involved in his community.