Agenda

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Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before start time.

Log into Webinar
8:00 – 8:30 am CDT
Morning Session
8:30 am – 12:00 pm CDT
Break
12:00 – 1:00 pm CDT
Afternoon Session
1:00 – 4:30 pm CDT

 

Agenda
Understanding Texas Surface Water                     K. Fancher, L. Dougal
and Groundwater Rights
Ownership of Texas surface and groundwater:
• Public waters, prior appropriation and the Texas Water Rights Adjudication Act
Regulation of surface water rights
Obtaining surface water rights
Application and permitting process
Amending surface water rights
Current issues in surface water rights
Regulation of groundwater rights
Obtaining groundwater rights
Application and water well permitting process
Current issues in groundwater rights

Takings of Water Rights: Just Compensation Issues?                     J. Hodge
Takings of groundwater                                                                                          G. Taylor
Takings of surface water
Valuation issues

Water Well Drilling Laws and Regulations                     M. Adair, C. Buck

Water Utility Regulation                     C. Ruiz
Types of water utilities
Regulation of utility service areas
Application and permitting process for service areas
Utility construction design standards and approvals
Current issues in utility service area regulation

Ethical Issues in Water Use and Regulation                     C. Porter
Ethical issues in water use
Ethical issues in real estate development
Ethical issues in water transactions

 

 Webinar Instructions

All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited.

Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher.

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Credits

Texas Attorneys & Paralegals
6.5 Texas CLE Hours
(1.0 Ethics Hour)

Professional Engineers & Geoscientists
6.5 PDHs
(1.0 Ethics Hour)

 

Continuing Education Credit Information
This webinar is open to the public and offers 6.5 CLE hours, including 1.0 ethics hour, to Texas attorneys and paralegals. HalfMoon Education is an accredited CLE provider in the state of Texas and this course has been approved by the State Bar of Texas and by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for 6.5 CLE hours in the specialty areas of Oil, Gas & Mineral Law and Real Estate Law.

This webinar offers 6.5 PDHs, including 1.0 ethics hour, to Texas professional engineers and geoscientists. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Texas.

Completion certificates will be awarded to participants who complete this event and earn a passing score (80%) on the quiz that follows the presentation (multiple attempts allowed).

Speakers

Mary E. Adair

Branscomb Law
Ms. Adair is an associate in the real estate department of Branscomb Law, where she primarily practices in the areas of real estate and water law. She has experience in representing individuals and businesses in a variety of real estate and water rights transactions

Clint L. Buck

Clint L. Buck Branscomb Law
Mr. Buck received a B.A. in Music and Sociology from Austin College in 2007 and a J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2011. He has practiced law in a variety of fields since his admission to the State Bar of Texas in 2011 and is currently a member in the litigation department of Branscomb Law in San Antonio, Texas. He centers his practice on real estate litigation and has represented clients in title and boundary disputes, groundwater rights matters, rate-change cases at the PUC, and breach of contract and fraud cases involving sales of real estate. 

Leonard H. Dougal

Jackson Walker, LLP
Mr. Dougal represents a diverse group of clients in complex permitting and water matters, including data centers and other technology companies, power generation companies, real estate developers and special districts. He is also active in water quality and wetlands issues where he represents energy companies, developers and agricultural operators in Clean Water Act permit and compliance matters. As a recognized authority on emerging water law issues, Mr. Dougal is frequently sought after to speak at bar and continuing legal education seminars. He is the author of two chapters in the treatise on Texas water law, The Essentials of Texas Water Resources. Mr. Dougal has a special interest in solving water supply issues for clients, including permitting of groundwater, contracting with others for new water supplies, conveying or reserving water rights, or reusing treated wastewater. Mr. Dougal is board certified in Administrative Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a Texas licensed Professional Engineer (inactive).

Kristen Fancher

Fancher Legal, PLLC, in Frisco
Ms. Fancher has extensive experience in representing clients on water and other legal matters across the State of Texas. She represents a diverse array of clients – from water districts to landowners and private companies – and therefore has a broad perspective that benefits her clients. After practicing in Austin for a number of years, Ms. Fancher simultaneously founded Fancher Legal, PLLC, and relocated with her family to the North Texas area where she was raised. She is a sixth generation Texan and is fortunate to have the opportunity to represent clients with interests and values similar to those that she was raised with.

Justin Hodge

Justin Hodge Marrs Ellis & Hodge LLP
Mr. Hodge is a trial lawyer who represents Texas landowners in condemnation, eminent-domain, and real-estate lawsuits.  He has handled complex condemnation and eminent-domain cases throughout the State of Texas.  Mr. Hodge has appeared in condemnation and eminent-domain lawsuits and he has defended landowners against the Texas Attorney General’s office, pipeline companies, electric transmission line companies, school districts, cities, and counties.  He is passionate about Texas property rights.  Mr. Hodge has testified on Texas condemnation and eminent domain reform on behalf of Texas landowners in front of both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate.  He also writes a weekly blog at TexasCondemnation.com.  Mr. Hodge is currently an adjunct professor at University of Houston School of Law where he teaches a course on eminent domain. 

Charles R. Porter Jr.

Real Estate and Water Rights Expert; Texas Real Estate Broker
Mr. Porter is a visiting professor at St. Edward’s University in Texas and a water rights and real estate expert nationwide named an expert in over 650 court and arbitration cases since 1987. His areas of expertise include: real estate brokerage ethics and fiduciary duties of license holders, real estate brokerage standards commercial and residential; water rights and estimated sales price of water rights; property management – apartments, retail centers, and office buildings; and construction management.

C. Cole Ruiz

Lloyd Gosselink Attorneys at Law
Mr. Ruiz’s practice focuses on guiding clients through a myriad of governmental and water-related legal and policy issues, including certificates of convenience and necessity, statutory and regulatory compliance, various transactions, permitting, water rights, water resource management and development, and governmental relations. As a member of the University of Texas Environmental Science Institute’s Advisory Council, Mr. Ruiz’s practice focuses on the nexus of science, law, and public policy. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Ruiz cut his teeth in regional water planning at the San Antonio River Authority, while serving as project manager for the South Texas Regional Water Planning Group (Region L) and the Regional Water Alliance. While at the River Authority, Mr. Ruiz also helped steer the agency’s Legislative Program, while developing strategic partnerships with other local and state political subdivisions, elected officials, and staff. During his time at the River Authority, Mr. Ruiz filled the role as program leader, overseeing the implementation of various sustainability projects, which focused on low-impact develop and flood planning needs. Mr. Ruiz served as Legislative Intern for then, State Representative Doug Miller during the 83rd legislative session. Prior to that, Mr. Ruiz spent summers working on his grandfather’s drilling rig, providing water well services across South Texas.

Graham Taylor

Attorney at Marrs Ellis & Hodge LLP

Graham Taylor is an associate attorney representing clients in civil litigation and Texas eminent domain matters. Mr. Taylor earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 2018. During his second year, Mr. Taylor earned the Lex Award for the highest grade in his legal writing course and clerked with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, where he worked on complex medical fraud cases. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of St. Thomas (TX) in 2015 with a B.A. in Political Science and with distinction as the Outstanding Student in Political Science. During his undergraduate career, Mr. Taylor was captain of the mock trial team and president of the University of St. Thomas chapter of the National Political Science Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha.  Mr. Taylor is licensed in Texas and a member of the Houston Bar Association (HBA) and the Houston Young Lawyers Association (HYLA). 

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