Matthew J. Fantaci is a member of the firm. Mr. Fantaci's practice involves a variety of energy, real estate, business litigation, and business transactional issues. His practice covers a variety of industries.

Energy: Mr. Fantaci represents both renewable and traditional energy companies, and landowners, in energy related litigation and transactions, such as solar and wind utility scale power generation projects, exploration, production, and transportation contracts and disputes, mineral rights and mineral titles, and royalty disputes.

Real Estate: Mr. Fantaci assists clients with a wide range of real estate issues, such title insurance and title opinions, commercial real estate transactions, property development, leasing, and expropriation.  Mr. Fantaci is a licensed title insurance producer in the State of Louisiana and is authorized to write title policies for Stewart Title Company, First American Title Company, and Fidelity Title Insurance Company.  

Business Litigation and Transactions: Mr. Fantaci also handles general commercial litigation and transactional issues, business disputes, contracts and agreements for and between businesses, master service agreements, operating agreements, and general business structures and formations.

Mr. Fantaci was an associate at the firm from 2004-2009, he then spent one year as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, practicing in the Civil Division defending suits filed against the United States. He received his Bachelors of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia in 1998. In 2002, Mr. Fantaci received his law degree from Louisiana State University. While at L.S.U. he served on the Board of Editors of the Louisiana Law Review and was a member of Order of the Coif. Following graduation, Mr. Fantaci served two years as a judicial law clerk, first with Justice Jeffrey P. Victory of the Louisiana Supreme Court and then with Judge W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

 

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AREAS OF PRACTICE

Year Admitted to Practice

  • 2002

Education

  • University of Georgia, A.B.J. 1998
  • Louisiana State University, J.D., 2002

Affiliations

  • Member, Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Energy Bar Association
  • Professional Landmen's Association of New Orleans
  • American Bar Association

Bar Admissions

  • All Louisiana state and Federal courts

Honors

  • Appointed to Emerging Energy Codification Task Force
  • Order of the Coif
  • Board of Editors, Louisiana Law Review
  • David L. Herman Award for Civil Law Property
  • Best Lawyers in America - Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law, Energy Law, and Oil & Gas

Publications

  • Digital Dilemma: Could the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Have Inadvertently Exempted Napster and Its Progeny From Liability?, 62 La. L. Rev. 643 (2002).

BLOG ARTICLES

Representative Cases

Harvest Operating, LLC v. The Harvest Group, LLC, et al, No. 635143, 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, represented Harvest Operating in breach of contract suit against pipeline owner. Arbitration; award rendered in favor of Harvest Operating in the amount of $3,307,050.00; confirmed by the 19th JDC.

Jeanerette Lumber & Shingle v. Gulf South Pipeline, No. 71346, 16th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Martin, State of Louisiana, successfully represented landowner in securing judgement that mineral lease had expired by non-use and forcing lessee to remove all pipelines at lessee's sole cost. Obtained summary judgement in favor of client.

Eula Lee Dean v. United States of America, EDLA, No. 09-0140, represented the United States in malpractice action against the St. Helena Community Health Care Center in Kentwood, Louisiana. Case tried on the merits; judgment rendered in favor of the United States.

Royal Oldsmobile Company, Inc. v. Heisler Properties, LLC, et al., No. 607-345, 24th Judicial District Court, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Represented lessee of property to enforce a right of first refusal contained in the lease against a subsequent purchaser of the property. Following trial on the merits, judgment was rendered in favor of lessee and subsequent purchaser ordered to sell property to lessee for same price he bought it from the original lessor. Affirmed on appeal at Royal Oldsmobile Company Inc., v. Heisler Properties, et al., 58 SO.3d 483 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2010). 

Total E&P USA, Inc., et al. vs. Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corp., et al., represented defendant individual overriding royalty owners in dispute of interpretation of instrument creating the overriding royalty. See Total E&P USA, Inc., et al. vs. Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corp., et al., 719 F.3d 424 (reversing summary judgement in favor of plaintiffs).

Wiggins v. United States of America, EDLA, No. 08-00008, successfully represented the United States in a slip and fall tort action originally brought against United States Postal Service. Obtained summary judgment in favor of the United States. See Wiggins v. U.S., 2009 WL 2176043 (E.D.L.A. 2009)