Erland Modesto

A Partner in the Firm’s Houston office, Erland Modesto focuses on financing, credit and other corporate matters. Erland represents lenders and borrowers and has experience in a wide variety of debt financing and other general corporate matters. His clients have included JPMorgan, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, First Reserve Corporation, KKR, Wells Fargo, Bank of Montreal and Sunpower.

Erland has represented clients in a variety of industries, including in the oil and gas exploration and production, midstream and oilfield services sectors. He has served as Senior Counsel in the legal department of Energy Transfer, which owns and operates one of the largest portfolios of energy assets in the United States, where he focused primarily on debt financing and other general corporate matters.

Recently ranked in The Legal 500 United States, Erland is described as “commercial, knowledgeable and creative…always eager to help find elegant solutions for clients.” He was recognized by Law360 as a 2023 “Energy Rising Star." He has also been ranked by Chambers USA and was named a “Lawyer on the Rise” by Texas Lawyer earlier in his career.

Erland is Co-Hiring Partner for the Firm’s Houston office and serves on the Firm’s Opinion and Recruiting committees.

Recent transactions include the representation of:

• The joint lead arranger and administrative agent in the financing for DT Midstream’s $1 billion term loan B and $750 million revolving credit facility
• Citibank, N.A., as administrative agent, with Vencer Energy's reserve-based financing used, in part, to finance Vencer’s previously announced acquisition of Midland Basin assets from Hunt Oil Company
• Citibank, N.A., as administrative agent, with Validus Energy’s reserve-based revolving loan to finance the acquisition of Ovinitiv’s Eagle Ford assets for $880 million
• JPMorgan, as joint lead arranger, in Venture Global LNG’s $500 million term loan
• Goldman Sachs, as administrative agent and lender, in EPIC Crude’s original $1 billion Term Loan B and subsequent incremental upsize and its new Term Loan C
• Essential Utilities (f/k/a as Aqua America) in its bridge and acquisition financing for its acquisition of Peoples Natural Gas in a transaction with an enterprise value of $4.275 billion
• JPMorgan, as administrative agent under HighPoint Resources’ prepetition credit facility, in HighPoint’s Chapter 11 restructuring
• Bank of Montreal, as administrative agent for the prepetition RBL lenders and DIP lenders, in Lilis Energy’s Chapter 11 cases
• Arsenal Resources in credit facilities related to its financial restructuring and its second prepackaged Chapter 11 proceeding
• Wells Fargo Bank in the $1.5 billion reserve-based exit credit facility in Legacy Reserves Inc.’s financial restructuring and emergence from bankruptcy
• Bank of Montreal, as administrative agent and lead arranger, in the $750 million exit facility in Halcón Resources Corporation’s (now Battalion Oil) financial restructuring and emergence from bankruptcy
• Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC, as administrative agent, in connection with providing GIP II Stetson Holding I, L.P. and GIP III Stetson Holdings II, L.P., portfolio companies of Global Infrastructure Partners, financing for their acquisition of Devon Energy’s interest in publicly traded entities EnLink Midstream Partners LP and EnLink Midstream LLC for $3.12 billion
• First Reserve Corporation and its portfolio company Templar Energy LLC in the financings related to its $1 billion acquisition of oil and gas assets from Forest Oil Corporation and its $588 million acquisition of oil and gas assets from Newfield Exploration Company

Erland received his J.D., with Honors, from University of Texas School of Law in 2010 and his B.A. from Boston College in 2007. He is admitted to practice in Texas and New York.