Christopher J. Haselhoff

Christopher J. Haselhoff is a Partner in the Pittsburgh office of GRSM and a member of the firm’s Energy, Real Estate, and Commercial Litigation groups. He serves as Director of Upstream Asset Development and Title for the firm’s Energy Group and concentrates his practice in both litigation and transaction-based oil and gas and real estate matters.

Christopher has successfully litigated and defended complex oil and gas title issues, title insurance claims, commercial and residential real estate disputes and commercial contract cases.

Christopher is a founding partner of the firm’s transactional Energy practice and has substantial experience handling transactional matters, including high volume certified title opinion projects acquisitions and divestitures, lease swaps, acreage trade agreements, joint ventures, joint operating agreements, and purchase and sale agreements.  Additionally, He regularly represents commercial lenders, buyers and sellers in real estate transactions and has extensive experience negotiating and drafting commercial loan documents, SNDAs, security agreements, commercial leases and subleases, and subordination agreements.

Christopher is also a licensed title agent in Pennsylvania and has served as the closing/escrow agent in a wide range of oil and gas and real estate deals, including multi-million dollar oil and gas asset acquisitions, $65 million construction loan refinance and $14 million USDA refinance.
Representative Experience
 

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• West Virginia 
• Ohio
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania

Memberships

• Allegheny County Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Pittsburgh Technology Council

Community Involvement

• Pirates Charities Miracle League of the South Hills - Buddy Program Volunteer

Representative Matters:

• Obtained Judgment on the Pleadings for International E&P Company in a case involving complex title and tax sale issues affecting Marcellus Shale well pad site;
• Successfully litigated and settled bet-the-company partnership dispute involving ownership of oil and gas interests by prevailing at evidentiary hearing and partial summary judgment on key issues in case;
• Managed Energy Client’s acquisition of over 10,000 mineral acres in Appalachia, including negotiation of PSA and amendments, preparation of conveyance documents, due diligence and closing;
• Successfully prosecuted quiet title/declaratory judgment cases involving well plugging, validity of oil and gas leases, right of way and various title curative matters in furtherance of E&P Client’s drilling program;
• Established firm’s certified title opinion practice and managed multiple large scale certified title, due diligence and heirship projects for E&P clients and mineral buyers;
• Counseled E&P Client on building code requirements for midstream compressor station and assisted in defense of OSHA violations;
• Achieved favorable results for mineral buyers against landowners in breach of contract and specific performance cases;
• Successfully defended and mediated million dollar breach of contract/bad faith title insurance cases involving: (1) coverage dispute related to oil and gas interests under title policy, (2) undisclosed restrictive covenants encumbering a large, residential development and (3) validity of an easement restricting company’s use of commercial property;
• Won summary judgment in high-exposure product liability lawsuit arising out of an allegedly defectively designed and manufactured roofing system installed on a medical center in Texas;
• Represented corporate buyer in acquiring acreage position from bankrupt debtor through free and clear sale in Chapter 12 bankruptcy proceeding;
• Drafted surface use agreements, surface purchase agreements and handled closings for prominent midstream company
• Negotiated purchase and sale of commercial office buildings, industrial buildings/warehouses and commercial lease agreements;
• Represented one of the nation’s largest title insurance carriers, including litigation involving survey matters, lien priority, deed and mortgage reformation, and general title clearance.

Education

J.D., cum laude, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 2009

• Senior Topics Editor, Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law
• Member, Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity
• Member, Sports and Entertainment Law Society
• Participant, Health Law Clinic
• Recipient, CALI award in Judge Wettick's Pennsylvania Practice
• Recipient, The Robert Maxwell DeBroff Prize (annually presented by the faculty to the student who has shown the greatest motivation, interest, and achievement in the area of corporate law)

B.A., summa cum laude, History, Duquesne University, 2006