Houston Corporate Transactions and Advisory Associates (Oil & Gas)

The role

The Houston office of Clifford Chance is seeking an experienced associate to join its Corporate Transactions & Advisory group with a primary focus on upstream, midstream, and broader oil and gas transactions. The position will support the growing Houston-based team led by Global Co-Head of the Energy & Resources Sector and Head of the Oil & Gas practice, David Sweeney, and Joclynn Marsh. The successful candidate will work on sophisticated domestic and international energy transactions across the full oil and gas value chain, including acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, project development, infrastructure transactions, and other complex commercial arrangements.

The ideal candidate will have at least three years of recent law firm experience representing energy companies, private equity sponsors, infrastructure investors, and other market participants in transactional matters. Candidates should have meaningful experience advising on upstream and midstream acquisitions and divestitures, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, development projects, farmouts and farmins, joint operating agreements, gathering, transportation and processing agreements, produced water and related infrastructure arrangements, and other energy-sector commercial contracts. Experience working on cross-border transactions and large-scale strategic deals involving oil and gas assets is strongly preferred.

The successful candidate will be a proactive and collaborative lawyer who combines strong transactional execution skills with a deep understanding of the energy industry. The candidate should be able to independently manage significant portions of transactions, coordinate with specialists across multiple practice areas, communicate effectively with clients and opposing counsel, and provide practical, business-oriented advice. Candidates should be comfortable working directly with clients and should possess strong drafting, negotiation, issue-spotting, and project management skills. Familiarity with the commercial and operational aspects of the energy industry, including upstream, midstream, LNG, offshore, and infrastructure projects, will be viewed favorably.