James P. Tuite's practice focuses on complex civil and regulatory litigation, with a particular emphasis on issues affecting the energy industry.

Mr. Tuite has represented energy, natural resource, transportation, telecommunications and health care companies in federal district court trials and before federal and state agencies. He has handled cases involving administrative law, antitrust, business torts, constitutional law, consumer class actions, federal preemption, energy and transportation regulation, royalties and natural resource valuation, the False Claims Act, patents, trade secrets, Medicare contracts, and federal and state taxation. Many of Mr. Tuite’s cases have had substantial economic issues at their core; as a result, he has worked with some of the nation's foremost economists in the development and presentation of expert testimony. Mr. Tuite is also an experienced appellate advocate, having argued more than a dozen cases before the U.S. courts of appeals and prepared numerous briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Tuite has handled many cases for energy companies. He thus has extensive experience with the types of legal issues that arise in connection with the exploration, production, refining, transportation and marketing of crude oil and petroleum products and with the production and transportation of natural gas.

Representative matters include—

• leading counsel for large Russian oil company defendant in an antitrust action brought by direct purchasers of refined petroleum products in the U.S., alleging collusion with companies owned by or affiliated with members of OPEC; obtained dismissal of all claims by the district court, affirmance by the Fifth Circuit, and denial of certiorari by the Supreme Court
• leading trial team representing Indian tribe in suit against the United States for failure to collect full royalties due on oil and gas production on reservation lands and for other breaches of trust responsibilities; after a series of successful trials, the tribe received a $380 million settlement payment
• defense of a large regional marketer of gasoline and diesel against alleged violations of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act and breach of contract/fiduciary duty claims; claims rejected on summary judgment
• defense of large refiner and marketer in consumer class action MDL alleging that the failure to adjust price or volume when selling motor fuel warmer than 60°F is a deceptive practice in violation of state consumer protection statutes
• ongoing defense in federal district court of large international holding company against claims of breach of contract and fiduciary duty, promissory estoppel, and misappropriation of trade secrets arising out of failed proposed business venture involving an investment of more than $200 million
• on behalf of four major refiners, successfully petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to bring an antitrust action challenging Unoca’ls deception in standard-setting process to gain monopoly power over the reformulated gasoline market in California; represented the four refiners in resulting pre-trial and trial proceedings which culminated in a consent decree prohibiting enforcement of Unocal’s patents
• defense of an affiliate of a major integrated oil company in a federal court action by the commonwealth of Puerto Rico alleging that the three largest gasoline marketers on the island had overcharged consumers by hundreds of millions of dollars; after trial, district court rejected all claims, and First Circuit affirmed
• defense of a major North Slope producer in an action by the state of Alaska seeking approximately $1 billion in production and severance taxes; lead responsibility for a $325 million issue; after trial, no liability found on that issue.

Mr. Tuite received his A.B. in economics from Duke University in 1970 and his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1973. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the majority of the federal courts of appeals, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Tax Court. He is a board member of the Council for Court Excellence, a nonprofit civic organization that works to improve the administration of justice in the local and federal courts in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Tuite has spoken and authored articles on civil litigation. In March 2005 he spoke at the annual Petroleum Marketing Attorneys meeting on the FTC’s Antitrust Challenge to Unocal’s Reformulated Gasoline Patents. He is the author of "Evidence, Jurisdiction, and the Internet: New Issues, Traditional Principles," Corporate Legal Times (March 2000); "A Primer on Multidistrict Court Litigation," Corporate Legal Times (August 1999); "Business Methods Can Be Patented," Corporate Legal Times (October 1998); and "False Claims Act Liability – Not for Government Contractors Only," Corporate Legal Times (February 1998).