Tommy Smart is a shareholder with Onebane Law Firm, where he has practiced for over 40 years, and heads up its Energy Law Section. He received a Bachelor of Science degree and Juris Doctorate from the Louisiana State University.
Tommy has a general oil and gas transactional and regulatory practice serving operators, producers, and interest holders engaged in onshore and offshore operations in Louisiana, Texas and the OCS. His practice consists of Title examination, the structuring, drafting and negotiation of complex agreements, including for the acquisition, sale and/or financing of oil and gas properties, due diligence for property acquisition, serving as local counsel for purchase and financing transactions, 3-D seismic permit and license agreement advice, as well as general advice. More recently he has been extensively involved in rendering legal advice on several carbon sequestration (CCUS) projects.
Tommy is licensed to practice law in both Louisiana and Texas. He is a member of several bar associations, including the Louisiana State Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas. He is on the Executive Committee of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA), where he serves as its General Counsel. He is a member of AAPL, LAPL, PLANO, along with other industry and land associations.
Tommy is a frequent speaker at various legal industry and land seminars, including the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute, and has been a guest lecturer for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette PLRM Program. He was involved in giving industry input on the recently revised Louisiana State Mineral Lease Form. He served on the 2022 Risk Charge Commission, which resulted in revisions to the Risk Charge Statute in 2022. In recent years, he has been highly involved with providing industry input to the Louisiana legislature on CCUS matters, even testifying before the Louisiana legislature on CCUS matters, including the 2024 session authorizing CCUS unitization.
In his spare time, Tommy can be found pulling for his LSU Tigers in baseball, football, and men’s and women’s basketball, and attending as many games as possible.
