Julia E. Rhine

Julia E. Rhine

Shareholder

Background

Natural resources litigator with proven record of success in the courtroom. Expertise in regulatory frameworks governing oil and gas, land use and local government. Known for skillful navigation of highly contentious and political issues.

Julia Rhine helps her clients traverse Colorado’s complex oil and gas landscape with political savvy and collaborative problem solving. She focuses her practice on cases involving state and local government regulatory frameworks, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other matters subject to review under state and federal administrative procedure statutes. She frequently handles oil and gas permit hearings, enforcement proceedings and rulemakings before the the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (formerly the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission) and local governments throughout Colorado.

Julia represents clients in energy and land use matters involving sensitive or contentious stakeholder issues. She also routinely advises energy firms and investors on issues affecting Colorado’s oil and gas industry, including impacts from litigation, statewide ballot and legislative measures, state and local regulations, and the potential impacts of state and local political elections.

In an energy environment fraught with political uncertainty, Julia considers every stakeholder at the table and keeps long-term goals in view while working on short-term solutions. She has built a reputation for finding opportunities for compromise in difficult situations and creating resolutions that withstand regulatory volatility.

Representative Matters

Recent Experience

  • Brownstein’s team worked for nearly two years to successfully secure on a behalf of our client, Civitas Resources, Inc, an Operator Agreement with the City of Thornton for the first new oil and gas development in the jurisdiction in almost a decade. The project includes 10 wells and innovative safety and sustainability terms that exceed local and state requirements, including water quality testing programs, monitoring, the plugging and abandoning of existing wells within and nearby to the city, and financial reimbursements, as well as higher financial assurance and insurance requirements.

  • Successfully represented Extraction Oil and Gas, Inc. in Boulder District Court against Boulder County’s challenge to Extraction’s development plan involving creating a large drilling and spacing unit and pooling multiple leases. The Court ruled against Boulder’s theory that pooling restrictions in the leases precluded Extraction from establishing a drilling and spacing unit or from  pooling the leases contained in that unit and held for Extraction on all points of law.

  • Won a major ruling in Adams County District Court on behalf of client, Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). COGA and API jointly filed suit in October to overturn a number of oil and gas regulations adopted by the City of Thornton. Colorado District Court Judge Edward Moss ruled that many of Thornton’s regulations, including its setback regulations, were illegal and operationally preempted by state law.

  • Has represented clients in all major oil and gas rulemakings in Colorado since 2017, including the metamorphic “Mission Change” Rulemaking required by Senate Bill 19-181.

  • Has successfully litigated the validity of several approved oil and gas development permits, vindicating the state's right to relax the rules of evidence in administrative proceedings and not to respond to non-substantive, irrelevant public comment.

  • Obtained favorable settlement agreement for client in Denver District Court in oil and gas lease dispute involving several thousands of mineral acres.

Insights & Publications

Credentials

Education

  • J.D., 2012, University of Michigan Law School, cum laude
  • B.A., 2008, University of Colorado at Boulder, with distinction

Admissions

  • Colorado

Memberships

Colorado Bar Association

Denver Bar Association

Community Involvement

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:

Board of Directors, Presenting Denver, 2020–present

Board of Trustees, Wonderbound, 2017–present

Past Attendance Mediation Workshops, Denver Public Schools, 2012–2013

Recognition

AWARDS:

5280 Top Lawyers, 2024

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America, 2023-2025

Who's Who in Energy, Denver Business Journal, 2019

Former Co-founder and co-chair, The Michigan Energy Law Association

Former Founder and co-chair, National Cultural Heritage Law Moot Court Competition