Pillsbury welcomes Anthony (“Tony”) Guerino and Elizabeth (“Liz”) Klingensmith as partners in the firm’s Houston office. Previously partners at Womble Bond Dickinson in Houston, they are energy litigators with deep experience in both domestic and international oil and gas disputes.
“Liz and Tony’s arrival represents an exciting step furthering our strategy of building on one of the firm’s important sweet spots – the intersection of energy, construction, infrastructure and international disputes,” said Deborah Baum, the leader of the firm’s global litigation practice. “Their sterling reputations as litigators in the oil and gas sector will complement our energy, environmental and construction strengths in Texas. We are thrilled to welcome them to the firm.”
One of Houston’s top oil and gas litigators, Guerino has more than 25 years of experience in energy and environmental litigation and arbitrations involving oil exploration and production disputes throughout the U.S. Before earning his law degree, Guerino worked at Marathon Oil Company for nearly a decade, serving in various engineering positions, including as the engineering manager on staff for the executive vice president for the company’s worldwide upstream operations.
Klingensmith has tried, arbitrated and mediated cases to successful resolution for more than a decade. She enthusiastically assumes the role of a strategic, trusted and collaborative advisor to her clients in commercial disputes to achieve their objectives whether through dispute resolution or at trial. She routinely represents clients in matters arising from oil and gas transactions, oil field services, seismic operations, equipment and pipeline failure, hydraulic fracturing, mineral liens and theft of trade secrets in addition to general commercial disputes. Klingensmith serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Oil, Gas and Mineral Section and on the Executive Committee for the Institute for Energy Law.
“We were impressed by Pillsbury’s long-standing and well-deserved reputation in the energy industry and in litigation generally,” said Guerino. “This is exactly the platform we need to expand our energy, oil and gas practices.”
“Much like Tony, I was impressed by the track record of success and energy industry depth of the folks here at Pillsbury,” Klingensmith added. “We look forward to working with this very talented, collegial and entrepreneurial team.”
Pillsbury advises companies around the world and across industries as they evolve and adapt to the challenges of the energy transition. From helping to advance new energy technologies to providing established companies with guidance on meeting decarbonization goals, Pillsbury provides energy stakeholders with comprehensive industry experience and a track record of innovation and success. The firm helps clients build and modernize all types of power generation projects; develop decarbonization strategies that account for carbon sequestration, utilization and storage; deploy new fuels and clean technologies such as biofuels, hydrogen and advanced nuclear reactors; leverage sustainable sources of financing; capitalize on government incentives; provide public policy support regarding evolving government programs and initiatives; navigate environmental compliance requirements; design and implement ESG programs; and prevail in energy-related litigation and international arbitrations.
Pillsbury’s award-winning team of more than 200 litigators works with clients around the world to help them successfully resolve disputes, in trial and out of court, at home and in jurisdictions around the globe. The firm has garnered dozens of top-tier recognitions as a result of the exceptional litigation counsel, and was most recently recognized as one of the ten most feared law firms for litigation by BTI Consulting Group.
