LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) Expert Witnesses: 9

Dr. John N. O’Brien has over 45 years of experience in Energy Markets, Technology, and Regulation as a thought leader and as an expert in the analysis of energy economics, promulgation of energy laws and regulation. 

Before he began providing litigation support services, Dr. O'Brien spent 10 years as a Full Scientist at the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in its Department of Nuclear Energy (1976-1985),13 years as founder and CEO of several significant energy companies (1985-1998), 25 years as a high-level energy consultant and advisor with several nationally recognized consulting firms advising substantial corporate entities (1998-Present), and 20 years providing energy-related expert litigation support.

Litigation Support - Dr. O'Brien is a highly experienced litigation support expert having been engaged as a primary expert witness and subject matter expert in over 25 different judicial actions as well as numerous administrative regulatory proceedings involving energy-related matters. His extensive prior history as a high-level advisor in the energy sector has contributed to the success of numerous judicial matters in which he has been engaged resulting in well over $3.5 in judicial recoveries for his clients.

Dr. O'Brien possesses a very broad and deep level of expertise and extensive experience in the energy industry. He fully understands the details of energy regulatory economics as well as adherence to the applicable procedural and evidentiary requirements of judicial and regulatory litigation.

Areas of Expertise:

Cassandra K. Moody, MS, PE, the President and Principal Engineer of Time For Change, LLC., is a professional engineer with nearly 15 years of Pipeline Engineering and Operations experience encompassing Integrity Management Program (IMP) responsibilities.

Litigation Support - As a proficient expert in the midstream pipeline industry, Mrs. Moody has represented both plaintiffs and defendants on a variety of cases, both by testimony and through expert opinion reports. In-the-ditch pipeline operator expertise sets her apart from other desktop “experts.” Mrs. Moody’s retained engagements as an independent engineering expert have resulted in favorable resolutions for 100% of her clients to date.  Mrs. Moody is an effective communicator who excels at presenting complex information simply, both written and verbally.

Subject Matter Expertise:

Background Experience - Prior to establishing her own consultancy firm, she served in various regional operations engineering capacities, leading people and managing projects for a midsize North American pipeline operator as an Operations Engineer. Mrs. Moody has performed practical operations analysis of new and existing pipeline systems and facilities, of both natural gas and hazardous liquid product types, from operability optimizations, cost consciousness, and regulatory compliance perspectives throughout her career. She offers innovative solutions to achieve safe and efficient operations while communicating visionary changes in processes and procedures through training and encouragement across all levels of organizations to result in lasting, favorable change.

Mrs. Moody's company maintains national and local certifications as a Women’s Owned Small Business (WOSB), Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), and is recognized as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) in the state of Texas. She was a founding leadership team member of Young Pipeline Professionals, USA (YPP USA) and is active with the Society of Women Engineers – Houston Section (SWE) where she enjoys encouraging the next generation through activities such as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day outreach events. 

Mrs. Moody attributes her ability to support a wide variety of projects to her broad education foundation where she earned undergraduate Bachelor of Science degrees in Biochemistry and Genetics from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering through the University of Houston. She is registered with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors as a Mechanical Engineer.

Reese Energy Consulting (REC) has a suite of energy expert consultants with over 250 years of experience in all phases of the Oil, Gas, NGL, and LNG Space. The Reese brand is globally recognized, and the team has worked in virtually every US oil and gas basin, with clients ranging from small independents to major energy firms.  

Litigation Support - The team at REC has decades of experience in expert testimony, contract negotiations, and commodity marketing. Services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant and include document / site review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Steve Reese, CEO - As President of Reese Energy Consulting, Steve Reese leads his executive team from offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Houston and Austin. He offers more than 40 years of experience in Upstream and Midstream Processes, Energy Marketing, and Energy Research Projects, and is one of the industry’s leading authorities in Crude Oil, Natural Gas, NGLs, and LNG.

Steve's expertise spans every major U.S. producing basin and is sought out by the nation’s leading independent producers and midstream firms. He has managed literally thousands of natural gas transactions involving hundreds of million dekatherms in the Mid-Continent, Permian and Rockies basins and South Louisiana.

Steve also is President of Reese Energy Training, a nationally recognized energy education firm. His courses in Natural Gas Basics, Gas Midstream and NGL Basics, and Gas Processing Agreements have been shared with more than 10,000 industry professionals. Prior to launching Reese Energy Consulting and Reese Energy Training, Steve held positions with Getty and Texaco. He is an in-demand speaker and lecturer with recent engagements for The Oklahoma Marginal Well Commission, The National Royalty Association, the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association, The Natural Gas Society of Oklahoma, the Desk and Derrick Club, The Oklahoma Law Review, and The Permian Basin Gas Society. 

Phil Nickle, Director – Producer Services - Phil brings a wealth of expertise and talents to his role at REC that include all phases of the Value Chain in Natural Gas, Oil, and NGLs in all major producing basins. As Director-Producer Services, he offers a proven track record of successes across the energy spectrum.

Phil's knowledge and know-how are industry recognized in the areas of oil and gas marketing, midstream contract negotiation, gas gathering and processing, business development, and all phases of producer services. Phil’s career-scape includes positions with Candor Midstream, Cimarex Energy, ONEOK Field Services, and DCP. 

Rick O'Bannon - Chief Commercial Officer - Rick’s experience and knowledge of Oil and Gas Producers and Midstream Companies are widely known in the energy industry and include more than 40 years of successes throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and North Louisiana. His impressive career comprises numerous high-profile positions with Enbridge, Coastal Corp, KN Energy, Texaco and Union Texas Petroleum.

Rick offers a breadth of expertise in a wide range of capacities to our Texas-wide clients, including marketing and transportation, acquisitions and divestitures, asset development, auditing, contract reformation, hedging, and gas accounting. 

View REC's Business Consulting Profile.

Harold E. McGowen, III, PE, is a proven authority in Oil and Gas exploration and development. As an engineer and businessman with 40+ years of experience building and leading oil and gas companies, he provides technical acumen, clear communication, and industry knowledge in cases involving trade secrets, patents, securities, operational failures, and safety. 

Expertise in Trade Secrets and Patents

• Harold has testified in numerous intellectual property disputes involving downhole tools, hydraulic fracturing, and drilling technologies.
• His ability to evaluate technical designs and assess claims of patent infringement or trade secret misappropriation is grounded in decades of hands-on industry experience and as an expert on numerous patent cases.
• He links technical insights to business and legal outcomes, delivering fact-based conclusions that resonate with courts and juries.

Securities Litigation Proficiency

• Harold’s expertise includes evaluating whether companies accurately represented reserves, operational performance, and development strategies to investors.
• His testimony has been instrumental where overstated reserves or misleading economic projections were alleged, focusing on adherence to reasonable claims and industry best practices.

Broad Litigation Experience

• Harold has provided expert testimony and litigation support in over 40 cases, addressing issues such as operational failures, safety lapses, and intellectual property disputes.
• He consistently ties technical findings to best practices and organizational responsibilities, ensuring clarity and relevance for legal audiences.

Leadership and Innovation

• As CEO of oil and gas operating companies, Harold led multimillion-dollar projects, optimizing drilling and completion strategies and ensuring compliance with industry standards.
• He has authored technical papers and presented on topics including hydraulic fracturing, drilling optimization, and project management.

Harold’s unique combination of technical expertise, hands-on experience, and litigation support experience ensures clear communication with attorneys, judges, and juries. For trade secrets, patents, securities disputes, or operational safety cases, Harold E. McGowen III, PE, delivers clarity, credibility, and results.

View Harold McGowen's Business Consulting Profile.

Florida Office:
Andrew Avalon, PE, PSP
Chairman & CEO
8633 Willow Kane Court
Orlando, FL 32835
aavalon@long-intl.com
T: (407) 445-0825     F: (407) 650-3399

Long International provides expert engineering and construction claims analysis, expert testimony, project management consulting, and insurance claims analysis services. We focus on projects in the following industries: building and construction; gas, gasification, GTL, LNG, and NGL; industrial and manufacturing; mineral and mineral processing; offshore oil and gas; oil sands; pipelines and utilities; power; refineries, petrochemical, and chemical; transportation; and water, wastewater, dams, and marine. We analyze claims, not limited to, disputed change orders, schedule delay, acceleration, time extensions, liquidated damages, loss of productivity, defective specifications, and deficient project management performance.

Richard J. Long, P.E., P.Eng., Founder of Long International, has over 50 years of U.S. and international consulting experience involving construction contract disputes analysis and resolution, arbitration/litigation support and expert testimony, project management, engineering/construction management, cost and schedule control, and process engineering. As an internationally recognized expert in the analysis and resolution of complex construction disputes for over 35 years, Mr. Long has served as the lead expert on over 300 projects having claims ranging in size from US$100,000 to over US$2 billion. He has presented and published numerous articles on claims analysis, entitlement issues, CPM schedule and damages analyses, cumulative impact claims, and claims prevention.

Rod C. Carter, CCP, PSP is President of Long International and has over 20 years of experience in construction project controls, contract disputes and resolution, negotiations, mediation, arbitration support, and expert testimony on scheduling, loss of productivity, and quantum issues.  He has experience in entitlement, schedule, and damages analyses on over 30 construction disputes ranging in value from US$100,000 to US$7 billion, related to oil and gas, oil refinery, LNG, heavy civil, nuclear, environmental, chemical, power, industrial, commercial, and residential construction projects. Mr. Carter specializes in loss of productivity, cumulative impact, and quantum calculations, and had a lead role in assessing damages on more than a dozen major disputes.  In addition, Mr. Carter has developed cost and schedule risk analysis models using Monte Carlo simulations to address the uncertainty of estimates and claims.

Scott M. Francis, P.E., PSP is a Vice President of Long International and has over 20 years of experience in project management, contract disputes analysis and resolution, CPM schedule preparation, execution, and analysis, productivity analysis, contract administration, design engineering, construction management, and government contracting.  He provides schedule development and assurance services, cost estimating, and claims analysis services on projects for both owners and contractors.  Specific responsibilities include CPM development and reviews, CPM schedule delay and acceleration analyses, change order impact analysis, issue identification, correlation of impacts to schedule activities, and productivity evaluations.

Joseph A. LaRovere, CEM, has over 35 years of experience as a contractor, owner/operator, technician, and consultant to the construction industry with specialties in HVAC, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Energy Management and Control Systems. Licensed PE, Project Manager, Design Professional, Construction Manager on staff.

Project Types - Health care facilities, Clean Rooms, Operating Suites, Apartments and Condominiums, Medical Office Buildings, K-12 Schools, Higher Education, Commercial Office Buildings, Highrise Buildings, Casinos, Hospitality, Assisted Living Facilities, Military Facilities, Manufacturing and Semi-Conductor Facilities

Litigation Support - Mr. LaRovere is a Forensic Expert Witness for cases involving HVAC, Mechanical, Plumbing, Construction Defects and Project Management for a variety of clients. He has worked in Arizona, California, Texas, Colorado, and Hawaii as an expert

Areas of Expertise:

Certifications:

• C.E.M. - Certified Energy Manager
• Honeywell Tridium Niagara AX
• Honeywell Tridium Niagara 4
• Johnson Controls Facility Explorer
• LEED AP BD&C (Inactive)

View Joseph LaRovere's Consulting Profile.

Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc. (DDPSI) is a Construction Consulting and Expert Witness Firm that Specializes in Supporting Litigation and Representing Clients for Renewable Energy, Power, Heavy Civil, Underground Utilities, Building and other related Construction Specialty Projects. They are a diverse team with construction claims and project management expertise who value the importance of relationships and continue to distinguish themselves by showing clients that Experience + Talent + Strategy = Results.

Litigation Support - DDPS understands the complexities of dispute resolution and work extensively with attorneys to identify documents, prepare computerized document databases, establish document shared files, support witness statements, and prepare expert reports. Their construction and engineering litigation expert witnesses participate hands-on in all projects. They develop the methodology of analyses, analyze the relevant documentation, and develop support for opinions.

• Renewable Energy - Utility Scale Wind, Utility Scale PV Solar, Utility Scale Concentrated Solar Power, Biomass and Battery Storage
• Heavy Civil - Earthwork, Roads, Bridges Highways and Airports
• Power - Transmission, Distribution and Substation / Switching Yards
• Underground Utilities - Water, Reclaimed Water, Storm Drainage, Sanitary Sewer/Lift Stations, and Force Main
• Buildings - Commercial, Institutional, Industrial, and Heavy Civil
• Construction Specialties - Dewatering, Directional Drilling/Jack and Bore, Low Pressure Sewer, Fiber Optic Systems, Reinforced Earth Wall, Sound Barrier Wall, Telecommunication Infrastructure, Transformer – RCA of failures and Transmission Line Pole Remediation

Nicholas Fiduccia is President and Co-Founder of Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc. a Florida based expert witness service, construction claims specialist and project management consulting firm that focuses its practice on law firms, owners, engineering, construction firms, and contractors performing renewable energy, power, heavy civil, underground utilities, building and other related construction specialties.

Mr. Fiduccia has over 30 years of U.S. and Canadian construction experience involving construction contract disputes analysis and resolution, arbitration/litigation support and expert testimony, project management, engineering/construction management, cost and schedule control, and value-engineering.

Before co-forming Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc, Mr. Fiduccia had corporate-wide responsibility for technical management and oversight for the preparation and resolution of construction claims for 11 years for a utility-scale renewable energy and heavy civil infrastructure contractor, plus over 19 years of hands-on experience to ensure that profit, cost, schedule, scope, quality, and safety objectives were achieved for renewable energy, power, heavy civil, underground utilities, building and other related construction specialty projects.

Ron Ritter, Vice President and Co-Founder of Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc. has been responsible for on-site project management for Wind, Solar, Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Projects, Heavy Civil Projects, and Underground Utility Projects over the last 25 years. 

Mr. Ritter’s expertise in a full array of self-perform and key subcontractor oversight has allowed him to execute multiple EPC contracts successfully and safely. 

Before co-forming Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc, Mr. Ritter successfully built a career in the construction industry that consisted of 45 years of hands-on, field experience.  Twenty (20) years of that field experience has been spent building and supervising the construction of renewable energy facilities.  Seventeen (17) years of his construction career have been spent as the senior field representative, directly responsible for the safe, timely, profitable and quality construction of 15 wind farms in the USA totaling 2,465 megawatts.  Mr. Ritter has also worked on and supported the construction of wind farms and solar farms in Canada.  

View Due Diligence Professional Services, Inc.'s Consulting Profile.

Robert F. Jalnos is currently a Managing Partner, CEO, and Responsible Master Plumber (RMP, 45 Years) for Dr J Plumbing Contractors, LLC. He has over 45 years of experience as a Licensed Master Plumber in the State of Texas. Mr. Jalnos also currently holds a Master Medical Gas Endorsement, and a Master Multipurpose Fire Sprinkler Endorsement with the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. He is licensed and certified with the Texas Railroad Commission on the installation of LPG Gas Systems.

Qualifications:

• The installations of PEX, PROPRESS, Copper, Steel, Duriron, CPVC Piping. PVC and Cast Iron DWV below and above the foundation, Plumbing site preparation, Sewer, Septic Tanks, Potable Water, Natural and LPG Gas, Medical Gas, Multi-Purposed Fire Sprinkler systems and CSST systems. 
• All types of plumbing installations including Rough In, Slab Water Pulls, Top Outs, Fixture Setting, Sewer installation, Water Service installation, Underground and Above Ground Gas lines, Plumbing Service and Repair, as well as operating machinery for plumbing installations
• Expert Forensic Analysis of system failures
• U.S. Patent Laws pertaining to Plumbing Products
• Uniform and International Plumbing Codes 
• Certified Bathroom Designer (CBD) certified by the National Kitchen and Bath Association
• Certified Green Plumber

Litigation Support - Mr. Jalnos has provided expert plumbing analysis and forensic investigations for the past 20 years. His cases include all aspects of plumbing, materials, installation, workmanship, and problem solving. Mr. Jalnos has been retained in over 75 cases and offers services to attorneys for plaintiff and defendant.

Chet  Sandberg, P.E. received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. He is a professional engineer in the state of California and an IEEE Fellow.

Background Experience - Litigation Support - Mr. Sandberg is an Expert Lithium Ion Battery  and Heat Transfer Expert with successful litigation in Lithium Ion Battery Failure.  He has court room experience, including testifying before the ITC in Washington DC. Mr. Sandberg is available to attorneys for both plaintiff and defendant. Mr. Sandberg joined the Chemelex Division of Raychem Corporation where he managed technology projects for 30 years. He held various positions at Raychem culminating as Chief Engineer.

For the next 6 years, Mr. Sandberg managed the development of a downhole, self-regulating electrical heater technology for Shell Oil. In 2009, he founded C L Sandberg & Associates, a consultancy specializing in Energy Projects, including managing customer engineering for Altairnano, a lithium ion battery manufacturer.

Mr. Sandberg has been associated with Electrical Energy Storage at EPRI, ESA, Sandia, and PNNL, as well as providing due diligence expertise for venture capital and private equity companies on their technical prospective investments. He has been granted 30 United States Patents and has authored over 70 technical papers on energy usage, electric heat tracing, ground fault technology, fiber optics, sensor technology, and personal computers as design tools. 

 Areas of Expertise: