BIOGRAPHY

Jessica C. Tully is a transactional attorney whose practice centers on real estate, property, energy, and oil and gas title matters.  Ms. Tully has represented hotels, resorts, financial institutions, oil and gas companies, mineral purchasers, commercial developers, natural resources developers, law firms, title insurance companies, conservation groups, land trusts, non-profit businesses, and private property owners.   Her corporate clients range in size from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies.   Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Tully practiced law in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where she was also a licensed title agent and a professor with the National Business Institute.  Ms. Tully frequently authors law review articles and other academic papers on historical property law and complicated title issues.

Ms. Tully’s real estate and property law practice is focused on resolving issues affecting title to the use or transfer of real property.  Her practice includes property abandonment, boundary disputes, eminent domain, easements and rights-of-way, adverse possession, and environmental restrictions affecting the use of land. Her energy and oil and gas title practice centers on upstream development issues related to the exploration and production of oil and gas.  She has drafted and reviewed title opinions covering hundreds of thousands of acres in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations and has orchestrated large-scale due diligence projects for the acquisition of hundreds of thousands of leasehold acres across fifty-four counties throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Ms. Tully earned a B.A. in Political Science and History from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 2005 and a J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2008, where she served as the Executive Editor of the Duquesne Law Review and published an article on international law therein.  She began her career in 2008 as assistant in-house counsel for a mid-sized oil and gas company in Pennsylvania.  In 2010, Ms. Tully joined the Business Services Department of a prominent Pittsburgh law firm, where she was the first oil and gas title attorney hired to form the Energy and Natural Resources Practice Group.  In 2012, Ms. Tully joined the Energy Transactions and International Energy Practice Group of a prominent national law firm, where she represented global leaders in oil and gas exploration and production.  Ms. Tully founded the law firm Tully & Barry in 2014 and represented a variety of clients on matters of business, energy, estate planning, oil and gas, and property law issues.

Though Ms. Tully has a long history of community service, she more recently worked alongside local and state politicians on community revitalization projects in targeted rural Pennsylvania communities.  Ms. Tully was awarded the “2014 Top 40 Under Forty Award” in Shenango Valley for her professional and personal contributions to this effort.

Professional Articles, Awards, and Presentations

“Oil & Gas Title Law A-Z,” presentation at National Business Institute Seminar in Pittsburgh, PA (Jun. 2016)

“Basics of Oil & Gas Title Law,” presentation at 2016 Pennsylvania Land Conservation Conference in State College, PA (May 2016)

“Preparing Oil and Gas Title Opinions for Complex Title Projects,” presentation for National Business Institute “Ultimate Guide to Oil and Gas Title Law” seminar in Harrisburg, PA (Dec. 2015)

“Conducting Due Diligence: Drilling, Division Order, and Leasehold Purchase Title Examination,” presentation for National Business Institute “Ultimate Guide to Oil and Gas Title Law” seminar in Harrisburg, PA (Dec. 2015)

“Shale Gas and Oil: Tomorrow’s Dominant Energy Source Today,” presentation at Miami University, Oxford OH, February 2015.

“The Joys of Title Law,” Virginia State Bar Real Property Section newsletter, The Fee Simple (Jun. 2014); republished in AAPL Landman Magazine (July/Aug. 2014).

“Pennsylvania Title Washes Upheld” Energy Alert (June 2014)

“Top 40 Under Forty Award” Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce (Apr. 2014)

“Shale Gas and Oil Prospects Loom Large for Argentina,” International Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the International Law Section of the ABA newsletter (Mar. 2014)

“Horrors of a Record Room,” presentation for the Northern Appalachian Landman’s Association (NALA) regional chapter of AAPL (Mar. 2014)

“2014 Survey on Oil and Gas: Illinois Oil and Gas Update,” Texas A&M Law Review, Vol. 1 (Mar. 2014)

“Steptoe & Johnson 2013 Energy Leadership Summit,” presentation on litigation-resistant mineral title (Sep. 2013)

“Act 13 in 3D: Drilling, Doctors, and Disclosure,” presentation on the chemical disclosure provision in Act 13 (Feb. 2013)

“Conducting Business in Conflict Zones,” International Bar Association newsletter (Dec. 2012)

“PA Law Opens More State Lands for Energy Resource Development,” S&J Energy Alert (Oct. 2012)

“A Call to Young Lawyers: Be Kind to Your Secretary,” Young Lawyer’s division of the Allegheny County Bar Association newsletter, At Issue (Mar. 2013)

“2013 Survey on Oil and Gas: Illinois Oil and Gas Update,” Texas Wesleyan Law Review, Vol. 19 (Mar. 2013)

“Military Commissions Are Governed by Military and International Law: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld,” Duquesne Law Review, Vol. 45 (Jun. 2007)