Scott Gaille

Scott Gaille

Gaille speaking at the 2012 Namibia Oil & Gas Conference

Shelby Scott Gaille (born October 2, 1969) is an American petroleum executive and academic. He is the Chief Compliance Officer & General Counsel of ZaZa Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: ZAZA)[1] and is on the faculties of Rice University’s Graduate School of Business[2] and the University of Chicago Law School.[3] Gaille is the author of five books [4] and an influential figure on the topic of energy law. Having traveled to more than 100 countries, Gaille has built business relationships with a culturally diverse range of partners from around the globe.

Early life and education

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Gaille graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (B.A., 1992, High Honors and Phi Beta Kappa), majoring in Government and minoring in Philosophy, and from the University of Chicago Law School (Doctor of Law, 1995, High Honors and Order of the Coif). Gaille was an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago, where he was elected to the University of Chicago Law Review and served as Executive Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Through various economic workshops at the University of Chicago, Mr. Gaille participated in the analysis of certain issues with Nobel Laureates Ronald Coase and Gary Becker, and worked as a research assistant to The Honorable Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Legal and energy sector career

Following law school, Gaille accepted a Judicial Clerkship with the Honorable Chief Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit (1995-1996) and afterwards joined the law firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he practiced in the firm’s Energy Section. At Vinson & Elkins, Gaille represented energy companies in a range of transactional, regulatory and litigation matters implicating issues in the energy industry.

In October 2001, Gaille joined Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s Dubai, United Arab Emirates office, where he managed a range of legal and business development matters for the corporation’s eastern hemisphere subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Libya, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. He received the President’s Award from the corporation for his innovative structuring of the Oman Gas Project. In 2004, Gaille became Director – Business Development for Occidental Oil & Gas Corporation, where his principal responsibilities were acquiring exploration concessions in Africa and South America and managing the companies’ relationships with oil ministries in those regions.

In August 2007, Gaille departed Oxy with private equity backing to found the Gaille Group (www.gaillegroup.com), which has launched and incubated a series of businesses in the energy and financial services sectors. The Gaille Group’s ventures have included the founding of Sequent Asset Management, LLC ($400 million in assets raised from 2008-2010) and the acquisition of petroleum concession rights in several African nations. Gaille has frequently served as an executive and/or a member of the Board of Directors of both public and private companies, including as Managing Director & General Counsel of Sequent Asset Management.

In January 2011, Gaille began working with ZaZa Energy Corporation. After ZaZa completed its public offering on the NASDAQ in 2012, he was appointed to serve as the corporation’s Chief Compliance Officer & General Counsel. As the chief legal officer for ZaZa, Gaille is responsible for the corporation’s transactional, securities, litigation and regulatory matters.

Academic career

In 2007, Gaille joined the faculty of Rice University’s Graduate School of Business, where he has focused on delivering practical energy expertise to business students. The course developed by Gaille, International Energy Development, provides students with a framework for acquiring, managing and divesting international energy projects. Gaille was subsequently appointed chairman of the Part-Time Faculty Committee at Rice, where he advocates the inclusion of practical experience in the school’s curriculum. In 2012, Gaille published the textbook International Energy Development, which is based on his teachings at Rice. The book was used by Gaille as the basis for designing an energy law course at Agostinho Neto University in Luanda, Angola.

In 2013, the University of Chicago Law School appointed Gaille a Lecturer in Law. Gaille teaches the Energy Law Seminar, which exposes law students to current issues facing energy law practitioners. He also serves on the Law School’s Visiting Committee.

Outside of his academic appointments, Gaille regularly speaks on a variety of energy topics. Among other venues, Gaille has lectured on energy issues at the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Symposium, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business’ Emerging Markets Summit, Marathon Oil Corporation’s executive training program, the Namibian Oil & Gas Conference and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.

Bibliography

Selected books

• 2001 The Law Review, ISBN 978-0887393778 [5]

• 2010 The Unmerciful Lawyer, ISBN 978-1456356859 [6]

• 2011 International Energy Development, ISBN 978-1466439474 [7]

• 2013 The Camel Spider, ISBN 978-1480278523 [8]

• 2014 Shale Energy Development, ISBN 978-1499220605 [9]

Selected articles

• Publishing by U.S. Court of Appeals Judges: Before and After the Bork Hearings, 26 Journal of Legal Studies 371 (University of Chicago 1997)[10]

• The Use of Quantity Terms to Improve Efficiency and Stability in International Gas Sales & Purchase Agreements (Energy Law Journal 2008)[11]

• The Allocation of International Petroleum Licenses to National Oil Companies: Insights from the Coase Theorem (Energy Law Journal 2010)[12]

• Mitigating the Resource Curse: A Proposal for a Microfinance and Educational Lending Royalty (Energy Law Journal 2011)[13]

• The ABA Task Force Report on the Future of Legal Education: The Role of Adjunct Professors and Practical Teaching in the Energy Sector (Energy Law Journal 2014)[14]

References

  1. ↑ "ZaZa Energy Corp". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Scott Gaille". Rice University. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Scott Gaille". The University of Chicago Law School. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "S. Scott Gaille". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Law Review". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "The Unmerciful Lawyer". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "International Energy Development". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Camel Spider". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Shale Energy Development". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  10. ↑ Gaille, S. Scott (June 1997). "Publishing by United States Court of Appeals Judges: Before and After the Bork Hearings". The Journal of Legal Studies 26 (2): 371–376. doi:10.1086/468000. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Gaille, S. Scott (2008). "The Use of Quantity Terms to Improve Efficiency and Stability in International Gas Sales & Purchase Agreements". Energy Law Journal 29 (2): 645–666. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Gaille, S. Scott (2010). "Allocation of International Petroleum Licenses to National Oil Companies: Insights from the Coase Theorem". Energy Law Journal 31 (1): 111–124. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  13. ↑ Gaille, S. Scott (2011). "Mitigating the Resource Curse: A Proposal for a Microfinance and Educational Lending Royalty Law". Energy Law Journal 32 (1): 81–98. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Gaille, S. Scott (2014). "The ABA Task Force Report on the Future of Legal Education: The Role of Adjunct Professors and Practical Teaching in the Energy Sector". Energy Law Journal 35 (21): 199–213. Retrieved 27 May 2014.

External links