Back to top

Bonnie Cantwell Fraase

Associate

Bonnie is a litigator with a preference for high stakes and hard issues.

Her professional experiences in commercial litigation include trial and pretrial practice for energy, entertainment, and telecom clients. Whatever the legal matter, though, Bonnie studies the fine details to distill a simple, persuasive argument.

Before beginning practice, Bonnie graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 2019, where she led the Virginia Environmental Law Journal as Editor in Chief. Thereafter, she clerked for the Honorable Jeremy D. Kernodle in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and Justice Jimmy Blacklock of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Read More

Representative Experience

  • Secured a $100 million settlement mid-trial in California state court for a bankruptcy trustee suing for harm to an oil producer put out of business by a rupture, spill, and shutdown of the pipeline transporting its oil.
  • Represented a mineral interest owner in a royalty dispute and successfully argued a motion for summary judgment resulting in an expedient, favorable resolution for the client.
  • Represented an oil and gas operator and successfully recovered amounts owed on a purchase and sale agreement.
  • Pro bono: Represented an inmate in a Section 1983 religious liberties case and obtained meaningful injunctive and monetary relief for the client.

Presentations & Publications

  • “Texas v. New Mexico: Upstream from Here,” 16 Tex. J. Oil Gas & Energy L. 33, 2021
  • “The Un-Zoned City and Unplanned Disaster: A Case Study of Hurricane Harvey’s Impact on Houston, Texas,” 38 Va. Envtl. L.J. 232, 2020
  • “A Little Birdy Told Me: The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter,” Austin Lawyer, June 2021
  • “Practice Pointers: Work Smarter – How to Fully Utilize Your Smart Phone,” Austin Lawyer, June 2020
  • “The Downstream Effects of Texas v. New Mexico,” Austin Lawyer, December/January 2020