Yetter Coleman congratulates John Tobola, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, of Freeport LNG, and his entire legal team, in connection with receiving the 2014 Leadership Award from Texas Lawyer magazine as part of its annual Legal Departments Of The Year awards.
John, with assistance of his outstanding legal team that includes Anne Rappold, Shaw Ottis, Matt Salo, Barry Primes, and Elicia Waggener, has guided Freeport LNG in navigating the complex legal issues associated with dramatic change in business direction from LNG regasification to LNG liquefaction. His work establishing Freeport as both a leader in this emerging energy sector and as a major employer in the Houston area follows the industry’s 180-degree reversal of market conditions for gas that have occurred as the technology of hydraulic fracturing radically changed the natural gas market and Freeport’s business plan.
Yetter Coleman’s managing partner, Paul Yetter, has worked closely with John and his team representing Freeport over the years, noting, “Freeport’s transformation has been nothing short of amazing when you consider the short time frame it has taken place in, and the sheer complexity of detail it has required.” “John and his legal team have worked tirelessly to attend so many critical details that were brought together at the same time including financing, regulatory, legal, political, joint venture partners, construction, vendors, and most importantly, customers for their new product.” Paul adds, “The complexity of transformation that John is leading Freeport through is truly impressive – we were very happy to nominate him and his team to the Texas Lawyer for its annual awards. Their visionary planning and execution is now culminating into construction of a world-class and market-leading natural gas liquefaction facility that will greatly impact southeast Texas and allow them to export LNG around the world.”