S. Douglas Stinemetz

Professional Experience: 

Mr. Stinemetz is the founding member and Presiding Partner of the Firm. The Firm's goal is to establish strategic, long-term relationships with its clients, in effect acting as general outside counsel and advisor to its clients, ultimately leading to the maximization of shareholder value in the clients.

Mr. Stinemetz has over 21 years of global transactional experience, which includes significant onsite negotiation of international investments, specifically in the international oil industry. Doug's projects have taken him to over 40 countries throughout the world and his practice is focused on international strategic relationships, such as financings, joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, offshore project structuring and investment transactions, technology transfers, with particular emphasis on structuring complex transactions under local law.

Mr. Stinemetz has been a pioneer in the negotiation of new ventures in the former Soviet Union, including many ventures in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Among other projects, he has worked on several of the first telecommunications ventures and one of the first oil exploration ventures in Russia. Doug served as in-house counsel for a major oil field services company and is sensitive to in-house counsel's need for cost-efficient services from outside counsel. He has also represented companies in arbitrating oil industry disputes in a number of countries.

Mr. Stinemetz’s body of work includes:

• Providing strategic advice on overall business and legal strategy for many companies, including access to capital through public securities offerings in the US, AIM and LSE listings in England, and private financing sources worldwide.

• Numerous international corporate mergers and acquisitions, including for example an acquisition of a major international oilfield service company.
• Structuring joint ventures and similar business arrangements in South America, East Asia, Central Asia, West Africa and Europe (including Russia), focused particularly in the oil and oilfield service industries.
• Preparing and negotiating production sharing agreements, service (lifting) contracts and similar agreements for exploration and production of hydrocarbons throughout the world.
• Winning and enforcing Swedish arbitration awards against a Russian oil company, winning the first case of interpretation of a Production Sharing Agreement in Azerbaijan and acting in numerous other international arbitrations.
• Negotiating with foreign governments on behalf of US companies for oil concessions, tax exemptions and tariff reductions and assisting companies with business development in those countries.

Most recently, Mr. Stinemetz was a partner for 10 years at Haynes and Boone located in Houston, Texas, and started and presided over its office in Moscow, Russia. Mr. Stinemetz serves on the Board of Directors of several companies in the international oil and oilfield service industry.

Admissions and Qualifications:
Texas, Ohio, Missouri, and the District of Columbia Bar

Education:
J.D., New York University School of Law, 1986
M.A., Harvard University, 1983
B.A., Harvard College, 1980

Professional Affiliations:
Association of International Petroleum Negotiators

Languages:
Russian, Spanish, French, German