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Comprehensive coverage of the Texas Business Court

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Dallas, Texas  ·  Complex Commercial Litigation

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Portrait of Hon. Stacy Sharp

Hon. Stacy Sharp

Judge · Seat 4B

Texas Business Court · Fourth Business Court Division (San Antonio)

Biography

Stacy Rogers Sharp sits in the Texas Business Court’s Fourth Division, which covers 22 counties in South Texas extending from the border south of Laredo to coastal Aransas County. Judge Sharp’s background in commercial litigation derives from her private practice as an appellate lawyer and trial-litigation consultant in civil suits that included contractual breaches, unfair competition, banking disputes, corporate-governance and fiduciary litigation, energy matters, employment law, and intellectual-property matters. She has long served on the faculty of the University of Texas School of Law, having most recently taught advanced writing for litigation. Her publications and papers cover the topics of fraudulent transfers, trade secrets, oil and gas litigation, business torts, rhetorical techniques for handling counterarguments, and the Texas Civil Participation Act. She is former president of the Federal Bar Association’s Austin Chapter and sits on its San Antonio Chapter’s executive board. A 2006 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, she was a Chancellor, a Teaching Quizmaster, and member of the Texas Law Review. She began her appellate practice at Baker Botts LLP after clerking in the Western District of Texas for the Honorable Lee Yeakel. Before practicing law, she attended Vanderbilt University and served as a math and science teacher. More recently, she served her community on the Board of Trustees for Alamo Heights Independent School District and on the State Bar's Child Abuse & Neglect Committee. After years of serving as a foster parent, she now enjoys volunteering with the National Charity League and Young Men's Service League.

Source: txcourts.gov

Opinions by Judge Sharp (1)

Farmout Agreement Interpretation ×
2026 Tex. Bus. 14 Summary Judgment March 27, 2026

Fee Simple Determinable in Farmout Agreements: Business Court Construes Eagle Ford Shale Contracts as Upfront Conveyance, Not Conditional Assignment

In May v. INEOS USA Oil & Gas, the Business Court of Texas Fourth Division addressed whether a 2009 farmout agreement conveyed Eagle Ford Shale leases upfront as a fee simple determinable or merely granted the right to earn property later, and whether earned-acreage provisions operate as special limitations affecting property rights or as covenants creating only breach-of-contract claims. The court's partial grant of summary judgment resolves fundamental ambiguities in farmout structure and reversion mechanics that frequently generate disputes in shale-play development agreements.

Mem. Op. Oil & Gas Summary Judgment Contract Interpretation Farmout Agreements Fee Simple Determinable Opinion PDF ↓