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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.

Noteworthy

  • Chambers USA, Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas (2022); "Up and Coming," Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas (2021); "Associates to Watch," Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas (2020)
  • Institute for Energy Law, Leadership Class, 2020–2021
  • Louisiana Super Lawyers, "Rising Star," Energy & Natural Resources (listed annually since 2016)

Experience

  • BP Exploration & Prod. Inc. v. United States, 147 Fed. Cl. 623 (Ct. Cl. 2019), held that the Department of Interior erroneously applied the six-year “adjustment period” under the federal royalty statutes and unlawfully applied the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act to deprive a lessee of millions of dollars in overpayment interest to which it was entitled. Appeal No. 20-1832 (Fed. Cir.) dismissed on September 25, 2020
  • W&T Offshore, Inc. v. Bernhardt, 946 F.3d 227 (2019) (argued), held that Interior’s method of resolving royalty-in-kind delivery imbalances violated the Administrative Procedure Act. It established a precedent authorizing a federal lessee to receive credit for royalty overpayments based on the doctrine of equitable recoupment
  • Represents an oil and gas trade association in litigation challenging the Well Control Rule
  • Represents an oil and gas trade association in litigation challenging Interior’s decision to hold offshore lease sale
  • Represents an international oil and gas company in the acquisition of federal offshore oil and gas properties

Publications

  • "Marching Toward Increased Investment in Offshore Wind and Related Vessel Support," Windpower Engineering & Development, August 2, 2021
  • "Special report: Regulatory roadmap can facilitate approval process for offshore wind projects," Offshore Magazine, August 2, 2021
  • "Coastal Zone Management Act and its Impact on Offshore Wind Development," Jones Walker LLP Offshore Wind Client Alert, July 27, 2021
  • "Louisiana Wind Week 2021," Jones Walker LLP Offshore Wind Client Alert, July 15, 2021
  • "Presidential 'Pause' on Sale of New Oil and Gas Leases Is a No-Go," Jones Walker LLP Maritime Client Alert, June 30, 2021
  • "The Vineyard Wind ROD: Another Step Forward for Offshore Wind Energy in the United States," Jones Walker LLP Offshore Wind Client Alert, May 13, 2021
  • "DOI's Regulation of Offshore Wind Leases Coming Into Clearer Focus With Recent MOA," Jones Walker LLP Offshore Wind Client Alert, April 29, 2021
  • "Biden's Power to Change Oil and Gas Leasing Faces Limits," Law 360, April 9, 2021
  • "BOEM Sets the Stage for Development of Commercial-Scale Offshore Wind Farms in the United States," Jones Walker LLP Environmental Client Alert, March 11, 2021
  • "Navigating BOEM’s Regulatory Framework for Commercial Wind Leases," Jones Walker LLP Maritime Newsletter - Special Offshore Wind Edition, October 2020
  • "Offshore Regulatory Update: A Busy May for the Department of Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement," The Energy Dispatch, Institute for Energy Law, July 2019
  • Comment: "Wind Energy Production Compensation Scheme: Oil-Like Royalties or Oyster-Like Rent?" 58 Loy. L. Rev. 179, 2012
  • Case Note: "Cimarex v. Mauboules: The Concursus Crisis," 57 Loy. L. Rev. 407, 2011

Presentations

  • "Current Trends in Renewable Project Development," Louisiana State University, Mineral Law Institute, March 31, 2022
  • "Lease Suspensions – Suspensions of Operations and Suspensions of Production," The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy, Federal Offshore Oil & Gas Leasing and Development, February 2022
  • "A Time of Transition for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations," Louisiana State University, Mineral Law Institute, April 16, 2021
  • "Annual Oil and Gas Law Update," 65th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, July 2019
  • "ONRR's Tools for Compliance I: Data Mining, Compliance Reviews, Audits, and Orders," Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Special Institute on Federal and Indian Oil & Gas Royalty Valuation and Management, October 2018
  • "What Happened to Fair Notice? Federal Oil and Gas Lessees, Due Process, and Retroactive Changes to the Rules of the Game," 65th Annual Oil and Gas Law Conference of the Institute of Energy Law, February 2014

Memberships

  • The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, Trustee-at-Large, 2021–Present
  • Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Young Professionals Committee, September 2016–2018
black and white headshot of Sarah Y. Dicharry
New Orleans
201 St. Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70170-5100
D: 504.582.8490
M: 504.931.5350
F: 504.589.8490
Emailsdicharry@joneswalker.com

Education

  • Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
    JD, magna cum laude, 2012
    Print Managing Editor of the Loyola Law Review; Law Excellence awards in Legal Research and Writing, Moot Court, Evidence, Community Property, and Environmental Law; Loyola Law Review, Editorial Board Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Law Review Member or Candidate (2010–2011); Loyola Law Review, Editor-in-Chief Award (2010–2011) 
  • Louisiana State University
    BS, Psychology, 2009

Bar Admissions

  • Louisiana

Court Admissions

  • US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
  • US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
  • US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
  • US Court of Federal Claims

Related Practices

  • Energy & Natural Resources Practice
  • Energy Litigation
  • Energy Regulatory
  • Maritime Regulatory and Government Relations
  • Oil & Gas
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