Expert witness services provided by The Scotia Group include court testimony, arbitration, litigation support, damage estimates, technical support, reserves, mineral interests and fair market evaluations. The Scotia Group is an independent petroleum consulting firm with broad domestic and international experience. Our highly trained staff includes professionals with engineering, geological, economic and computing skills.

Following is a partial list of past project experience in the area of litigation support and expert witness work:

Year:  2004
Legal Firm:  Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP, Houston, Texas
Contact:  Karen F. Stallings
Work Performed:  Reviewed documents and prepared preliminary calculations and exhibits relating to reservoir damage issue in offshore Gulf of Mexico. Settlement reached prior to depositions and trial

Year:  2001/2002
Legal Firm:  Correro Fishman Haygood Phelfps Walmsley & Casteix, L.L.P., New Orleans, Lousiana
Contact:  Esmond Phelps
Work Performed:  Prepared an expert opinion report relating to a calculation of damages (i.e., loss of gas reserves) as a result of a Gulf of Mexico offshore well control incident. Included deposition and trial testimony.

Year:  2000/2001, Ongoing
Legal Firm:  County of Kern, California
Contact:  John Gallagher
Work Performed:  Retained by the County of Kern to complete an independent fair market value of Elk Hills (formerly known as Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1) for property tax assessment for Years 1999 and 2000, plus hearings.

Year:  1999/2000
Legal Firm:  Gardere & Wynne LLP, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  John Nabors
Work Performed:  Fair market valuation of the oil and gas holdings of TransTexas Gas Corporation as part of bankruptcy proceedings. Included trial appearance. TransTexas is now out of bankruptcy.

Year:  1999
Legal Firm:  Thompson & Knight, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Emily Parker/Buford Berry
Work Performed:  Fair market valuation of private company oil and gas properties for estate and gift tax case. Trial appearance was not required following valuation agreement between the parties.

Year:  1998
Legal Firm:  Haynes & Boone, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Werner Powers
Work Performed:  Estimated damages in a negligence suit involving deep gas well drilling.

Year:  1997
Legal Firm:  Covington and Burling, Washington, D.C.
Contact:  Covington and Burling
Work Performed:  Prepared an expert opinion report and presented deposition testimony in a case involving the efforts of several major oil companies to recover bonus money paid to the Federal government for offshore Atlantic leases due to a drilling moratorium placed on those leases by the government. The report included an opinion of fair market value for the leases in question.

Year:  1996
Legal Firm:  Freehill, Hollingdale & Page, Sydney, Australia
Contact:  Desmond Sweeney
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support in a lawsuit between County Natwest Securities and Ampol Exploration involving breech of securities laws in reporting valuation of exploration and development properties in Papua New Guinea.

Year:  1996
Legal Firm:  The Law Offices of Stephen F. Malouf, P.C., Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Steve Malouf
Work Performed:  Reserves evaluation of a property purchase in east Texas, including assessment of going concern and fair market values in assessment of future project risk.

Year:  1996
Legal Firm:  Wayne Malouf, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Wayne Malouf
Work Performed:  Provided opinions on damages in a deep drilling dispute in west Texas including deposition. Lawsuit was dropped by the opposition following the deposition.

Year:  1996
Legal Firm:  U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Contact:  Eric Williams/Sheldon Shuff
Work Performed:  Conducted an evaluation of mineral interests and their fair market value including development of a comprehensive report that was pivotal in settling the dispute with the State of Washington. Deposition and trial appearance was not required following submittal of the report.

Year:  1996
Legal Firm:  Liskow & Lewis, Lafayette, Louisiana
Contact:  Patrick Gray
Work Performed:  Prepared an expert opinion report responding to landowner's allegation of operator's violation of the saltwater disposal lease agreement for a South Louisiana field. The report included a calculation of damages.

Year:  1996
Legal Firm:  Kean, Miller, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:  Charles McCowan
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support to oil and gas operators in a Class Action lawsuit which claimed contamination of the freshwater aquifer as a result of injection of produced water from oil and gas operations into disposal wells which lacked mechanical integrity. Litigation support included a mechanical integrity review of saltwater disposal wells in a five-township and range area west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Year:  1995
Legal Firm:  Cole, Cole & Easley, Victoria, Texas
Contact:  Emmett Cole, Jr.
Work Performed:  Evaluation of mineral interests in a royalty payment dispute.

Year:  1995
Legal Firm:  Gardere & Wynne LLP, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  John Nabors
Work Performed:  Provided a damage estimate in a dispute between TransTexas Natural Gas and Enron on certain properties in Webb County, Texas. Following depositions, the case was settled.

Year:  1995
Legal Firm:  Gardere & Wynne LLP, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  John Nabors
Work Performed:  This case involved a dispute with a royalty owner on calculation of royalties in a case where the producer used an affiliate company to gather and sell gas. The plaintiff ultimately dropped the case.

Year:  1995
Legal Firm:  Kean, Miller, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:  Charles McGowan
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support to an operator of a South Lousiana oil and gas field in evaluation of the landowner's claim that injection of produced saltwater into disposal wells had contaminated the freshwater aquifer due to lack of mechanical integrity in the disposal wells. Litigation support included witnessing of a radioactive tracer survey run in an alleged problem well to confirm the mechanical integrity of the well.

Year:  1995
Legal Firm:  Texaco in-house, New Orleans, Louisiana
Contact:  
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support relating to a lawsuit filed by a royalty owner of State water bottoms who claimed incorrect payment of royalty payments by the operator.

Year:  1994
Legal Firm:  PiperAlderman, Adelaide, Australia
Contact:  Charles Bagot
Work Performed:  Provided an evaluation of mineral interests in the Burbank oil field including fair market valuation as part of the Beach Petroleum directors fraud suit. Included preparation of a report on the opinion and trial appearance, including three days of testifying in Adelaide.

Year:  1994
Legal Firm:  Gardere & Wynne LLP, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  John Nabors
Work Performed:  Performed evaluation of damages in the Toma Steel litigation involving the use of substandard casing in a well drilling program. The case was settled out of court at the damages calculated.

Year:  1993/1994
Legal Firm:  Stone Pigman Walther Wittman & Hutchinson, New Orleans, Louisiana
Contact:  Esmond Phelps
Work Performed:  Provided expert witness testimony (deposition only) relating to the loss of reserves in an offshore Gulf of Mexico field as a result of workover operations on a well. The case was settled out of court.

Year:  1993
Legal Firm:  Gardere & Wynne LLP, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  John Nabors
Work Performed:  Generated an opinion regarding the right of royalty owners to take gas in-kind under circumstances where the gas gathering system did not allow un-commingled production from many wells and many different royalty owners.

Year:  1992
Legal Firm:  The Law Offices of Stephen F. Malouf, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Steve Malouf
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support and damage calculations on a negligence suit involving deep drilling in west Texas, including deposition.

Year:  1992
Legal Firm:  Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Houston, Texas
Contact:  Mike Dorman
Work Performed:  Acted as one of three arbitrators in a dispute between TransAmerican Natural Gas and Penrod Drilling in a third party drilling program payout. The arbitrators ruled in favor of Penrod Drilling.

Year:  1992
Legal Firm:  Mobile County Board of School Commissioners (client), Mobile County, Alabama
Contact:  Philip Russell
Work Performed:  Presented expert witness testimony before the Alabama Oil & Gas Board relating to formation of a unit for the Aloe Bay Field, Mobile County, Alabama.

Year:  1991
Legal Firm:  Donohoe, Jameson & Kolb, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Jim Donohoe
Work Performed:  Provided an independent evaluation opinion on the holdings of TGX Corporation on behalf of the shareholders in this Chapter 11 reorganization. TGX was subsequently reorganized and came out of bankruptcy.

Year:  1991/1992
Legal Firm:  Jones, Day, Revis and Pogue, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  John Lewis
Work Performed:  Provided an independent evaluation opinion on the holdings of TGX Corporation on behalf of the TGX Official Unsecured Creditors' Committee in this Chapter 11 reorganization. TGX was subsequently reorganized and came out of bankruptcy.

Year:  1991
Legal Firm:  Ungerman Hill, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Jay Ungerman
Work Performed:  Appeared in court to opine on a proposed day rate for a large offshore drilling rig. The plaintiffs considered the rig rates excessive, but accepted the rates as proposed.

Year:  1990 - 1993
Legal Firm:  Strain, Dennis, Mayhall, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:  Bill Strain
Work Performed:  Provided expert witness testimony in alleged investor fraud case involving re-entering of a deep Tuscaloosa well in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana.

Year:  1990 - 1991
Legal Firm:  Alliance Operating Company (client), New Orleans, Louisiana
Contact:  Bill Gray
Work Performed:  Provided an independent evaluation opinion and expert witness testimony on the holdings of Alliance Operating Company on behalf of the company in this Chapter 11 reorganization. Alliance was subsequently reorganized and come out of bankruptcy.

Year:  1990 - 1992
Legal Firm:  The Carmouche Firm, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Contact:  Joe Mize
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support in connection with lawsuit involving injury to a crew member during coiled tubing operations on a well.

Year:  1989
Legal Firm:  Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Denver, Colorado
Contact:  Craig Carver
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support during deposition of the opposition's expert and was also deposed regarding litigation between Heritage Resources and the Hunt and Hill families in a deep drilling project in west Texas.

Year:  1989
Legal Firm:  Strain, Dennis, Mayhall, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Contact:  Bill Strain
Work Performed:  Provided expert witness testimony in connection with litigation involving the drilling of an exploration well to a revised bottom-hole location by the operator without notification of partners that the bottom-hole location for the well had been changed.

Year:  1989
Legal Firm:  Sideman & Bancroft, San Francisco, California
Contact:  Sideman & Bancroft
Work Performed:  Prepared expert opinion report which included a fair market value determination of the interests owned by an investor in six drilling programs in South Louisiana. The case was ultimately settled with the Internal Revenue Service.

Year:  1989 - 1994
Legal Firm:  The Carmouche Firm, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Contact:  Joe Mize
Work Performed:  Prepared expert opinion report relating to a well control incident in South Lousiana. In this case, the company providing mudlogging services on a well was alleged to have been negligent in monitoring conditions during the drilling of the well, which the plaintiff claimed resulted in a loss of control of the well.

Year:  1989
Legal Firm:  The Carmouche Firm, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Contact:  Joe Mize
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support relating to alleged oil theft from a producing field in South Louisiana.

Year:  1988
Legal Firm:  Thomas H. Hutchings, et al (client), Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Contact:  Thomas H. Hutchings, et al
Work Performed:  Provided expert witness testimony before the Alabama Oil & Gas Board regarding formation of a unit for the newly discovered Gulf Crest Field, Mobile County, Alabama.

Year:  1988
Legal Firm:  Brown, Bristow and Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay, Houston, Texas
Contact:  Daryl Bristow
Work Performed:  Provided technical and valuation support services for a "take-or-pay" lawsuit in Ohio.

Year:  1986/1987
Legal Firm:  The Carmouche Firm, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Contact:  Josh Koch, Joe Mize
Work Performed:  Provided expert witness testimony in litigation relating to reservoir damage issues in various Gulf of Mexico offshore fields resulting from curtailed production rates by the gas purchaser/pipeline.

Year:  1986
Legal Firm:  Bright Nichols Zrenda & Dunn, Denver, Colorado
Contact:  
Work Performed:  Completed an independent valuation of a drilling program previously valued by a subsidiary of Petroleum Information as defendants of a case by Pecunex, a German drilling fund citing negligence. Included testimony in Calgary. The trial was ruled in favor of Petroleum Information.

Year:  1986 - 1988
Legal Firm:  The Carmouche Firm, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Contact:  Joe Mize
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support in several "take-or-pay" lawsuits between producers and pipelines.

Year:  1986 - 1988
Legal Firm:  Jones, Walker, New Orleans, Louisiana
Contact:  Mark Adams
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support in several "take-or-pay" lawsuits between producers and pipelines.

Year:  1986 - 1988
Legal Firm:  Lemle & Kelleher, New Orleans, Louisiana
Contact:  Lannie Edwards
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support in several "take-or-pay" lawsuits between producers and pipelines.

Year:  1985
Legal Firm:  Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Denver, Colorado
Contact:  Craig Carver
Work Performed:  Developed a technical justification for allowing independent mineral deep rights holders in the Hugoton gas field. These rights were ultimately granted.

Year:  1985
Legal Firm:  Petro Lewis Corporation (client), Houston, Texas
Contact:  Rene Daigre
Work Performed:  Provided expert witness testimony before the Alabama Oil & Gas Board relating to a change in well spacing for a newly drilled well in the South Womack Hill Field, Clarke & Choctaw Counties, Alabama, from 80 acres to 40 acres. Prior to this time, oil wells had been traditionally drilled on 80-acre spacing in Alabama. As a result of testimony presented, the Board ruled in favor of the Petro Lewis petition to down-space to 40 acres.

Year:  1985 - 1987
Legal Firm:  Gordon, Arata, McCollum, Stewart & Duplantis, New Orleans, Lousiana
Contact:  L.V. Cooley
Work Performed:  Provided litigation support in two separate cases between producers and pipelines involving "take-or-pay" litigation.

Year:  1984
Legal Firm:  Liddell, Sapp Zivley & LaBoon, Houston, Texas
Contact:  Mike Dorman
Work Performed:  Provided reserves evaluation and damages estimation in the GHR lawsuit including depositions and court testimony.

Year:  1983
Legal Firm:  Ungerman Hill, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Jay Ungerman
Work Performed:  Acted as technical advisor and valuer for creditors for all properties in a small, independent oil and gas company in Chapter 11. Participated in the reorganization and ultimately became trustee. The company was finally liquidated in 1995.

Year:  1983
Legal Firm:  Ungerman Hill, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Jay Ungerman
Work Performed:  Acted as technical advisor and valuer for creditors of Puma Exploration. This Chapter 11 bankruptcy was subsequently converted to a Chapter 7 and liquidated.

Year:  1982
Legal Firm:  Creel & Atwood, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Ed Creel
Work Performed:  Provided technical and valuation services for the creditors committee on the holdings of Crown Petroleum. An amicable settlement was subsequently achieved without resorting to bankruptcy.

Year:  1982
Legal Firm:  Haynes & Boone, Dallas, Texas
Contact:  Robin Phalen
Work Performed:  Independent valuation on behalf of the creditors on the holdings of Zider Oil & Gas.