Kuntz Conference

John Berry is a litigation attorney at Mahaffey & Gore focusing on oil and gas matters, environmental issues, real property disputes, and general litigation. As an associate attorney with the firm, John represents producers, mineral owners, and landowners in a wide range of complex oil and gas issues.

A native of Seiling, Oklahoma, John attended the Oklahoma City University School of Law, graduating in 2024 in the top five of his class. In law school, he earned the CALI Award for the highest grade in seven courses, including Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas Regulation, and Trial Practice. He served as a staff editor of the Oklahoma City University Law Review, competed on the ABA Appellate Advocacy Moot Court team, and was treasurer of the Energy Law Association. He received the Judge Alfred P. Murrah Sr. Outstanding Academic Performance Award and the Charles Nesbitt Energy Law Award.

Reagan E. Bradford has been a leading advocate for royalty owners, resulting in significant recoveries for his clients. His law firm, Bradford & Wilson PLLC, has litigated dozens of class actions on behalf of royalty owners in Oklahoma, Wyoming, and North Dakota. Before representing royalty owners, Reagan served as Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary for one of the nation’s largest oil and gas producers. He serves on the boards of the National Association of Royalty Owners and its Oklahoma chapter and as an advisor to the Royalty Owners Coalition of Oklahoma. Reagan also serves on the OU Law Board of Visitors and received the Regents’ Alumni Award for his service to the university and the Order of the Parliamentarian for his legal accomplishments.

Timothy C. Dowd is an attorney with Elias, Books, Brown & Nelson, P.C., in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Dowd is a past President of the Oklahoma City Mineral Lawyers Society (1996-97) and past Chairperson of the Oklahoma Bar Association Mineral Law Section (2005-06). He is listed in Best Lawyers in America for Oil & Gas Law.

Mr. Dowd is the author of the Oklahoma chapter of AAPL’s Nationwide Comparison of Laws on Leasing, Exploration and Production (2011) and the chapter on Oil and Gas Titles in West Publishing Company’s Oklahoma Real Estate Forms and Practice. He is admitted to practice in New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

Mr. Dowd has written numerous articles, including: Surface and Subsurface: Common Split Estate Issues, 2024 No. 4 FNREL Inst. 4 (2024); Statutory Pooling and the Unleased Mineral Owner, 65 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 13-1 (2019); Wellbore Assignments of Oil and Gas Leases, 2019 No. 6 RMMLF Inst. 6 (2019); Trespass in the Age of Horizontal Drilling Under State Conservation Statutes, 63 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 6A-1 (2017); Current and Emerging Issues in Oil and Gas Title Examination, 2 Oil & Gas, Nat. Resources & Energy J. 505 (2017); Oil and Gas Title Law: A Review of 50 Common Problems, North Dakota, 90 N.D. L. Rev. 289 (2014); Clearing Title of Long-Lost Mineral Owners, 54 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 30-1 (2008); and Costs That Can Be Charged in Calculation of Risk Penalties Under Forced Pooling Actions and Non-Consent Penalties Under Operating Agreements, 25 Energy & Min. L. Inst. ch. 10 (2005).

Mr. Dowd’s primary area of practice is oil and gas law, including the rendering of title opinions, probate, and title curative.

Biographical information forthcoming.

Cody McPherson is a shareholder with Mahaffey & Gore, P.C. in Oklahoma City. Cody represents oil and gas producers, mineral owners, and surface owners. His practice involves oil and gas litigation, with a focus on land and surface use issues, quiet title, and oil and gas contract disputes. Cody resides in Washington, Oklahoma, with his wife, Ericka, and their three children, John, Joseph, and Mia. The McPhersons own and operate an agribusiness in southern Oklahoma where they raise cattle, alfalfa, cotton, and small grains.

Joseph A. Schremmer is a professor of law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and director of the Oil, Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Center. He teaches courses in oil and gas, energy and natural resources law, as well as first-year property and contracts.

He is the sole revision and update author of Kuntz on Oil and Gas Law, a co-author of Oil and Gas Law: Cases and Materials (11th ed. Foundation Press) and has published extensively in law journals on topics including correlative rights, waste, pore space, subsurface trespass and split estates.

Before joining OU Law, Schremmer was the Judge Leon Karelitz Oil and Gas Law Professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Before that, he practiced law in Wichita, Kansas, for six years, handling a wide variety of matters involving oil and gas production.

Patrick L. Stein is a trial lawyer whose practice is primarily focused on complex litigation, with an emphasis on representing clients in the upstream and midstream sectors of Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry. A substantial part of Patrick’s practice is defending producers and first purchasers in class actions involving alleged underpayment of royalties and seeking unpaid statutory interest on alleged late payments. He also defends clients in lawsuits alleging damages from pollution, induced seismicity, and subsurface trespass, among others. Patrick is included in the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, where he is ranked nationally in oil and gas litigation.

Since earning his Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Scott has focused his career on the oil and gas industry. As a litigator at Mahaffey & Gore, Scott has represented individual landowners and Oklahoma’s largest operators alike in complex disputes involving royalty payments, joint operating agreements, operations, title disputes, and other matters arising from all aspects of the exploration and production of oil and gas resources. With a thorough understanding of both the legal principles governing the oil and gas industry and the practical realities facing clients operating in an evolving regulatory and business environment, he is dedicated to helping clients chart their path to their goals and around any challenges they may face.

Biographical information forthcoming.