Mr. Burton is a senior member of the FisherBroyles Litigation and Oil & Gas Sections. Since 1987, Mr. Burton has litigated a wide variety of disputes, with a primary focus in the oil and gas industry where he represents numerous US and International E&P and Energy Service clients. He is a frequent author-lecturer on Commercial Agreements, International Contracts, the Oilfield AntiIndemnity Acts, and the Protection of Trade Secrets. In addition to his upstream litigation experience, Mr. Burton has extensive experience handling disputes over midstream energy contracts including processing agreements and NGL allocation disputes and TENORM litigation arising out of the radioactive contamination of pipelines and processing facilities. Over the course of his career, Mr. Burton has also handled a wide array of environmental matters and worked closely with a variety of federal, state, and local enforcement offices.
He began his legal career as a successful prosecutor at the Harris County DA’s Office, where he was Chief of the Family Crimes Division. He has been chosen for inclusion in the Who’s Who in Energy from 2011-2014. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, an honor reserved for less than 1% of Texas attorneys. He has received international recognition for his pro bono work on behalf of abused children for which he was named the “Outstanding Young Lawyer of Houston,” by the Houston Young Lawyers Association. He has been a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas for the past 30+ years and On July 16, 2014, he was awarded the degree of Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Swansea University, UK for his work on behalf of children and youth. In 2018, Mr. Burton received the “Lead Counsel” Rating in Business Law. Mr. Burton received the Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020