Brian Capell
Jean-Paul Coussan
Bryan Hanks
Shane Hilton
Chunyan Li
Margaret Patton
Scott Patton
George Plauché
David Snodgrass
Brian Capell is a litigator. He has experience in trial and appellate proceedings throughout the state of Louisiana and in federal courts. Many of his clients are in the energy industry, but the array of topics he has litigated are broad. He defends companies in various industries against personal injury and environmental claims and represents companies in contractual disputes and property matters.
Much of Brian’s practice includes representing energy clients in joint operating agreement disputes. Brian works with major oil and gas companies as well as local operators.
Born in Jefferson Parish and raised in Lafayette, Jean-Paul is a partner at Andrus Boudreaux-Complete Title, a real estate law firm and title company. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Finance in 2000, having completed the LSU Center for Internal Audit program, and received his J.D. and Bachelor of Civil Law from Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 2004.
Jean-Paul was elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 2015 where he served two terms in the House of Representatives, serving as chairman of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee, and was elected in 2023 to the State Senate, where he served as Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs Committee.
Jean-Paul was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission in November of 2024 and his current term ends December 31, 2030. He is married to Jennifer Joy Coussan and has three children.
Bryan Hanks’ extensive knowledge and background in the industry is exceeded only by his passion for providing the best land services in the industry – on every job, for every client, every day.
Bryan was born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana and graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL), now the University of Louisiana – Lafayette (ULL) in 1981. He is a Certified Professional Landman who has over 41 years of experience in all phases of landwork including title research, lease acquisition, due diligence, seismic acquisition, pipeline right-of-way project management – including route and site selection, landowner negotiations, contract preparation, ROW easement amendments and modifications, solar, wind, transmission line acquisition, carbon sequestration and battery storage. These tasks have taken place in over 39 states, as well as Alberta, Canada. He and his companies have been involved in assisting several companies as they became publicly traded, with at least four that have a current market value in excess of several billion dollars. His current company, BETA Land Services, has hundreds of landmen and is currently or has been involved in over 100 company acquisitions totaling over $39.26 billion dollars since 2010 with properties located in over 39 states. Since 2010, this work has encompassed more than 3,593,656 acres, as well as oil and gas lease purchases of more than 746,926 acres, and has involved more than 26,027 wells.
He is involved in several state and national professional organizations such as the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), International Right of Way Association (IRWA), Southern Gas Association (SGA), Lafayette Association of Professional Landmen (LAPL), Houston Association of Professional Landmen (HAPL), West Houston Association of Professional Landmen (WHAPL), Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen (DAPL), Professional Landmen’s Association of New Orleans (PLANO), and was President and Landman of the Year of the Lafayette Association. Mr. Hanks served as Chairman of the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA) from 2012 until 2018, as well as continuing to serve on LOGA’s Board of Directors since 1997. Additionally, Mr. Hanks has been Chairman of LOGA’s Gulf Coast Prospect Exposition (GCPE) three of its 14 years of existence. He is Vice Chairman of the University of Louisiana – Lafayette (ULL) Board of Trustees, as well as on that organization’s Executive Committee. Additionally, Mr. Hanks is a past Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee of the Ragin Cajun Athletic Foundation (RCAF). Mr. Hanks is on the Board of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), serving as past Chairman and current member of LABI’s Energy Council, since 2018. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, as well as two terms on the Board of Directors at the Lafayette Petroleum Club. Mr. Hanks currently serves as Chairman and is on the Executive Committee of the Board of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
Shane Hilton oversees the commercial areas of the business including Marketing, Economic Development,Governmental Affairs, MISO Operations, Energy Management, Transmission Operation and Policy & Compliance.
Hilton assumed his current leadership role in January 2024. He began his career with Cleco in April 1989, holding numerous positions of leadership with increasing responsiblities, including director of resource operations, general manager of resource and fuels, general manager of transmission strategy, vice president of MISO operations and president of Cleco Power LLC.
From 2011 to 2013, Hilton led a project team that successfully transitioned Cleco’s operating assets in to the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) regional market which is comprised of utilities across 15 states from the gulf coast to Canada. In 2018, Hilton led the regulatory initiative to successfully purchase NRG’s south central utility business. This was a $1,000,000,000 acquisiton and the largest in Cleco’s history, essentially doubling the company’s size and footprint.
Hilton is a past board member of the Christus Cabrini Hospital Foundation and led various fund raising efforts for the hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit for over 12 years. Hilton is currently serving on the Central LA Chamber of Commerce executive board and past board chair, Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital Advisory Board and various other utility working groups.
Hilton holds a degree in business administration from Louisiana State University of Alexandria and also completed various LSU and Idaho State executive courses including Leadership and Finance.
Dr. Li is a Professor at Louisiana State University, where he has spent more than 20 years on teaching and research. With training in Atmospheric Physics and Physical Oceanography, his work focuses on the interactions between weather systems and the coastal ocean, particularly storm surge and estuary-shelf exchange in the Northern Gulf.
As the Director of the Wave-Current-Surge Information System (WAVCIS) and a GCOOS member since 2011, Dr. Li supports the region's observational infrastructure through the maintenance of real-time stations and long-term offshore moorings. His research methodology integrates theoretical modeling, numerical simulations, and observations. Through numerical simulations and dozens of intensive tidal cycle surveys across the continental shelf and estuaries - spanning the East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Arctic lagoons - he has led the efforts to quantify the fluxes of water, salt, carbon, and nutrients. Recently, his work has included a collaborative effort on the installation of High-Frequency Radars along the Louisiana coast.
He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and a monograph textbook on ocean data analysis published by Cambridge University Press. This background in modeling, data processing, and instrumentation informs his commitment to ensuring that regional observing systems provide high-quality data for scientific research, practical applications, and education.
Scott R. Patton is a Managing Member of Patton Law Firm, LLC, and focuses his practice in the areas of oil, gas, and energy law. His experience includes oil & gas title examination; unitization; carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); regulatory consultation; transactions; intrastate pipeline regulation; and litigation. Mr. Patton frequently represents operators before the State Mineral and Energy Board on State lease issues and the Office of Conservation on various regulatory matters.
Mr. Patton has drafted drilling and division order title opinions for oil and gas companies and mineral owners on acreage across the State Louisiana, including resource plays such as the Haynesville Shale, Cotton Valley, Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Austin Chalk, as well as conventional Louisiana prospects and has handled numerous curative projects involving complex title issues. Mr. Patton frequently prepares unitwide division orders for operator clients.
Mr. Patton has represented various energy companies in the creation of drilling and production units across the State of Louisiana, including the establishment of reservoir wide units and secondary recovery projects, along with obtaining approval of alternate unit wells and cross unit alternate unit wells.
Mr. Patton also advises companies seeking to establish carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects in the State of Louisiana, including representation before the Office of Conservation, State Mineral and Energy Board, and Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. He has been involved with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Ad Hoc Committee on Carbon Capture and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association (LMOGA), Carbon Committee.
In 2007 and 2008, Mr. Patton served as Executive Counsel for the Office of Mineral Resources at the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, where he provided legal counsel to the Office of Mineral Resources and the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board.
Mr. Patton is admitted to practice in the State of Louisiana, the State of Texas, the United States District Court for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Patton received his undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University in 2002 and his Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Civil Law Degrees from Louisiana State University in 2006.
George C. Plauché is a partner at Bullen & Plauché, LLC, a Lafayette, Louisiana firm focusing on corporate matters in the oil and gas and maritime industries. He represents operators, oilfield and marine service companies, and landowners in both transactions and litigation, including the negotiation and drafting of master service agreements, operating agreements, and related risk-allocation and insurance provisions that govern Gulf Coast energy work.
His practice regularly involves the Louisiana Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Act, the Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act, and the interplay between Louisiana law and general maritime law in oilfield contracts. He counsels clients on allocating contractual risk before a project begins and on enforcing those allocations when disputes arise. George received a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1991 at Millsaps College and his law degree in 1994 from LSU Law School. He is admitted to practice in state and federal courts in Louisiana and Texas.