The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Stephen Boone advises clients on oil and gas-related transactions, including M&A, joint ventures, financings, and project development, across the entire energy value chain. He represents public and private companies and investment funds, such as developers, exploration and production (E&P) companies, midstream companies, private equity funds, purchasers, and sellers on all aspects of energy transactions and agreements. His experience includes upstream and midstream asset acquisitions and divestitures, asset construction, development, operational and commercial matters, M&A, farmouts, farmins, and joint ventures and investments, as well as oil and gas marketing arrangements, financings, and related disputes.
Stephen has been acknowledged in The Legal 500 United States for Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas (2023, 2025) and by The Best Lawyers in America for Oil and Gas Law (2026). He was listed in Euromoney Expert Guides: Rising Stars for United States—Energy and Natural Resources (2020) and named a Texas Rising Star in Super Lawyers (2017–2020). Stephen is board certified in oil, gas, and mineral law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Prior to entering the legal profession, Stephen worked for a major engineering and construction firm in its petrochemical projects area, including on-site work at one of the largest oil refineries in the United States.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
I am a transactional lawyer focused on the traditional oil and gas sector, representing a variety of parties in matters spanning upstream oil and gas M&A, midstream projects, ancillary marketing transactions, financings, and disputes. It is a dynamic and ever-evolving practice, yet everything ties back in one way or another to the fundamental energy industry that continues to power the world. This work requires a strong understanding of the energy business, both where it currently stands and where it is headed next.
What types of clients do you represent?
I represent a broad range of both public and private companies and investment funds, including developers, E&P companies, midstream companies, private equity funds, purchasers, and sellers. In summary, if a company or investor is involved or interested in the energy space, it is a potential client for this practice.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Some of the recent and ongoing deals that I work on include the acquisition of a midstream natural gas company in the Gulf of Mexico/America, the sale of upstream oil and gas assets in the Permian Basin, and the negotiation of a long-term natural gas supply agreement relating to a new liquified natural gas (LNG) facility.
How did you choose this practice area?
Growing up in Texas, my interest in the oil and gas industry came naturally. My curiosity evolved into a career focus on transactional law in this sector. Prior to law school, I worked with a seismic crew in south Texas chasing the Eagle Ford Shale and later with a prominent engineering, procurement, and construction firm on petrochemical projects. Even during law school, my interest continued. I spent my 1L summer working at one of the nation’s oldest and most prominent oil refineries outside Chicago. Once I decided to concentrate on transactional work rather than litigation, focusing on the domestic oil and gas industry felt like a natural fit.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
As a father of five young children, I don’t necessarily keep a “typical” schedule in the traditional sense. I usually wake up obnoxiously early to exercise and get in an hour or two (or more) of work before the rest of the house starts moving. This helps me to catch up on documents and correspondence that may have come in overnight. It’s the only way I have found to be attentive to client needs and the demands of an active transactional practice while still prioritizing family time and maintaining our morning routine. This is also typically the easiest and longest stretch of uninterrupted time throughout the day to sit down and focus without the clutter of constant emails and phone calls.
Once the kids are all at school, I then typically start my second block of work from my desk downtown. While I enjoy the flexibility of working from home, nothing beats the training, mentorship, and camaraderie available through face-to-face interactions with other associates, counsel, and partners. From there, the rest of the day is generally a blur of meetings, phone calls, and frantic email exchanges.
I usually leave work at a reasonable hour to tend to another round of kid and family commitments. After things have quieted down at home, I typically dive into my final block of work and my second window of uninterrupted time, focusing on documents and transactions.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
In my practice, there is absolutely no substitute for a genuine interest in and understanding of the industry itself. If you want to excel in traditional oil and gas or other energy areas, you must understand the underlying business on a deeper level than a typical corporate lawyer. Energy isn’t simply another widget to be built, bought, or sold like any other manufactured good. There are a variety of features and ancillary issues that make this industry very unique, such as the real property component of oil and gas development, political implications, environmental concerns, the global nature of the commodity, the highly technical nature of development, the magnitude of risk associated with mistakes, and the connection between the industry and the communities in which it exists.
What misconceptions exist about your practice area?
There are a number of misconceptions about the traditional oil and gas industry and the legal practitioners who work in it, but a few misconceptions are that the industry doesn’t care about the environment, that the world no longer needs oil and gas, and that the sector is populated by archaic people and technologies. For various reasons, these are all entirely untrue.
While there have been and will continue to be significant advances around renewable energy technologies, oil and gas remain essential energy sources across the globe, especially in regions that are still growing and developing. The United States is one of the leading producers of both oil and gas, and it develops these valuable resources in one of the most highly regulated and transparent economies, which is a good thing for everyone.
Finally, I have found, as have many others, the industry to be filled with some of the most enlightened and technically gifted minds around, and new and innovated technological advancements are always right around the corner.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
At Sidley, my practice sits at the intersection of traditional domestic energy work and the firm’s world-class corporate and investment platform in many ways. I tend to get involved in deals where some of the most sophisticated and successful companies and firms are looking to establish, expand, or divest their energy investments. It is a very exciting and rewarding time to be working in this area.
How do you see this practice area evolving in the future?
From AI and data centers to LNG, there are a number of interesting developments reshaping the global economy, creating unprecedented demand for secure and consistent energy sources on a massive scale. My practice continues to track the progress and development of the broader industry. As companies and firms look to invest in the traditional energy sources that sustain the global economy, my practice will continue to evolve alongside them.
What kinds of experiences can summer associates gain in this practice area at your firm?
Summer associates gain true hands-on experience across the types of transactions I handle, from development projects to M&A in the energy space. Every little task, whether listening in on phone calls, drafting checklists, or proofing exhibits and schedules to larger agreements, serves as one of the small building blocks upon which a sophisticated transactional practice, particularly one in the energy space, must be built.