Sarah Y.
Dicharry
- Position
- Partner
- Office
- New Orleans
Sarah Dicharry is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. She counsels energy-industry clients regarding compliance with federal statutes and regulations, represents clients in administrative and judicial appeal proceedings, and represents clients in response to government-initiated enforcement actions.
Sarah is a member of the firm’s Energy and Natural Resources Industry Team, where she advises exploration and production companies regarding their rights and obligations under the complicated legal framework governing federal oil and gas leases. With the recent focus on offshore wind energy development in the United States, Sarah also has developed extensive knowledge regarding the regulatory framework governing offshore wind leases.
Sarah regularly counsels federal lessees regarding the complicated federal leasing framework, including concerning issues arising under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act, the Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Indian Mineral Leasing Act, the False Claims Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Within the context of these various statutes and their implementing regulations, Sarah advises companies regarding the scope of their rights and obligations, limitations on agency authority, responding to agency-initiated audits, etc. Sarah also helps clients develop comments on proposed rulemakings that affect federal leases. In addition to providing regulatory advice, Sarah advises and represents clients in corporate transactions, including asset acquisitions and divestitures (e.g., acquisition of offshore leases, sale of offshore pipeline segments).
To date, Sarah has represented numerous clients in dozens of administrative and judicial appeal proceedings, including royalty disputes involving the Marketable Condition Rule, civil penalties, vented and flared production, and refund demands; lease maintenance issues such as suspensions of operations and suspensions of production; and compliance with operational and safety regulations. Sarah is a highly effective litigator whose laser focus on the facts and ability to develop and present novel legal arguments have led to several precedent-setting victories that have benefited her clients and the industry as a whole. Recent rulings have, among other things, allowed federal lessees to collect interest on certain royalty overpayments, precluded the federal government from enjoying a royalty windfall at the industry’s expense, and more generally reaffirmed federal agencies’ obligation to comply with the APA’s rulemaking requirements.
Sarah also regularly represents clients in response to a variety of governmental investigations and enforcement actions, including matters arising under the federal leasing statutes (e.g., civil penalty assessments), investigations initiated by the Department of Interior’s Office of Inspector General under the Inspector General Act, proposed debarments, and investigations initiated by the Department of Justice under the False Claims Act. Throughout these representations, Sarah’s careful approach to detailed factual development, coupled with her comprehensive understanding of the federal leasing framework, has resulted in frequent favorable resolutions.
Sarah has been recognized by numerous industry groups for her quality client service, legal scholarship, and leadership. For instance, she was recognized by Chambers USA in 2020 and 2021, she was recently appointed as a trustee-at-large for The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, and she was selected as a member of the Institute for Energy Law’s 2020–2021 Leadership Class. She also regularly publishes articles and presents on a range of energy-law topics, including those relating to both the federal oil and gas leasing program and the federal wind leasing program.
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