| J. Robert Goldsmith, Jr. is a partner in Goldsmith & Bogisch. Mr. Goldsmith was born in San Antonio on November 19, 1950. He grew up in an oil industry family in Williston, North Dakota and Tyler, Texas. Mr. Goldsmith majored in the Plan II Honors program at the University of Texas and earned a B.A. degree in 1973. After graduating, he began working as an independent petroleum landman on projects in Missouri and East and Central Texas and continued to work as a landman on a part time basis after being admitted to law school. In 1976, Mr. Goldsmith graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with honors.
After graduation from law school, Mr. Goldsmith was hired by the Midland oil and gas law firm Lynch, Chappell, Allday & Aldridge. Until 1980, he worked in Midland for Lynch, Chappell almost exclusively on oil and gas projects including writing title opinions and preparing exploration and production documents. In 1980, Mr. Goldsmith and another attorney founded Lynch, Chappell's Austin office which grew to over a dozen attorneys. In 1982, Mr. Goldsmith passed the Louisiana bar exam and expanded his practice to include representation of companies acquiring properties in Louisiana. In the middle 1980's, economic crisis struck the oil and gas industry and the Texas economy as a whole, and Mr. Goldsmith formed a bankruptcy section for Lynch, Chappell. The combination of oil and gas and bankruptcy expertise led to cases such as the takeover by a creditor of bankrupt MGF Oil Corporation, at the time one of the largest Chapter 11 cases ever completed in the United States and a subject of several scholarly papers.
The Lynch, Chappell firm began a drastic retrenchment in the early 1990's which led to the closing of its branch offices in both Austin and Dallas. Mr. Goldsmith and several of the attorneys from Lynch, Chappell's Austin office formed Hall, Goldsmith, Black, Sproull & Osborne, and Mr. Goldsmith became increasingly involved in oil and gas litigation. In 1994, he became a partner in Goodall, Davison & Goldsmith in order to have access to increased litigation support. Karen Bogisch also joined the firm in 1994, and they successfully litigated a number of oil and gas and mining cases. Mr.Goldsmith and Ms.Bogisch also began representing executives and consultants whom they felt had been treated unfairly by their employers and have helped many clients navigate these difficult situations. In 1998, Mr. Goldsmith and Ms. Bogisch founded Goldsmith & Bogisch which has continued their traditional energy, bankruptcy and employment law practices while adding the ability to serve local businesses.
Mr. Goldsmith writes and speaks frequently on legal topics. He has written numerous published papers and has presented the papers for organizations such as the State Bar of Texas, the Permian Basin Landman's Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the University of Texas School of Law, South Texas College of Law, and the University of Houston Law Center. He taught oil and gas law as an adjunct professor at Baylor University School of Law in 1995-1996, and was a member of the first group of attorneys to become board certified specialists in oil, gas and mineral law in Texas.
Mr. Goldsmith is admitted to practice law before Texas and Louisiana state courts, before Federal courts in the Western and Northern Districts of Texas, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Mr. Goldsmith is active in civic affairs and has been a director of the Midland Jaycees and President and Rotarian of the Year of the Rotary Club of North Austin. He is an avid sailboat racer and is currently (2008) the Commodore of the Austin Yacht Club.
A partial list of Mr. Goldsmith's published articles is as follows: "Pooling In Texas," State Bar of Texas, Oil and Gas Leases Seminar, 1982; "Fieldwide Unitization in 1983," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Course, 1983; "An Overview of Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights in Relation to the Texas Oil & Gas Industry," State Bar of Texas Advanced Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Course, 1986; "Creation, Perfection and Priorities of Liens on Oil & Gas," The University of Texas School of Law 13th Annual Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Institute 1987; "Everyday Drafting Problems in Reserving and Conveying Oil, Gas and Mineral Interests," University of Houston Law Center Seminar on Real Estate Documents, Workouts and Closings, 1989; "The Application of Bankruptcy Law to Landlord-Tenant Relationships," State Bar of Texas Advanced Real Estate Law Course, 1989; "The Mechanics of Finding and Producing Oil and Gas: A Technical and Practical Approach," State Bar of Texas, Oil, Gas and Mineral Law for Lawyers and Legal Assistants, 1990; "When Operators and Non-Operators Disagree-Problems Inherent in the Model Form Operating Agreement," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Course, 1991; "Pooling for Horizontal Wells," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Course, 1992; "Selected Title Examination Issues," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Course, 1994; "Oil and Gas Liens," Dallas Bar Association Review of Oil & Gas XII, 1997; "Sun Operating v. Holt: The Force Majeure Clause in the Computer Age," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Course, 1999; "Controlling Bankruptcy Risks in Oil and Gas Transactions", University of Houston Law Foundation, Advanced Oil and Gas Short Course, 2003, "Sex, Race and Other Harassment in the Workplace", Sterling Education Services, Inc., Practical Applications of Employment Law, 2004. |
