Effective legal counsel starts with a clear view of the business behind each transaction. I work closely with clients to understand their commercial objectives, risk tolerance and key value drivers, crafting legal strategies that are fully aligned with and advance their broader business goals.
Gunner West represents public and privately held companies and private equity sponsors in middle-market acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, commercial agreements and general corporate matters. His practice focuses on the energy and energy services sector, with additional work across industrial and manufacturing, distribution and logistics, homebuilding and tech-enabled services.
Before law school, Gunner earned his BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. During law school, he served as editor in chief of the Energy Newsletter for the Harry L. Reed Oil & Gas Law Institute and was a member of the South Texas Law Review. Gunner regularly competed in the school’s nationally recognized moot court program and in negotiation competitions and joined Gray Reed full time after starting as a summer associate and law clerk.
Representative Experience
-
Assisted Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE: TPL) in the acquisition of oil and gas mineral and royalty interests spanning approximately 17,306 net royalty acres across the Permian Basin for $474.1 million in cash.
-
Assisted the shareholders of EverLine, a provider of mission-critical infrastructure services, in its sale from First Reserve to Cogenuity Partners. Click here for the press release.
-
Assisted a midstream energy company in its joint venture with another midstream operator to develop and operate a crude oil terminaling and logistics facility.
-
Assisted the shareholders of a specialty services provider focused on crankshaft repair, cylinder block repair, and chrome plating for the refining and petrochemical industries in its sale to a strategic buyer.
-
Assisted the owners of an oilfield pipe services company in the sale of the company’s membership interests to a strategic buyer.
- Assisted the members of a process engineering firm specializing in industrial, refining, and energy markets in the sale of the company to a strategic buyer.
- Assisted an oil and gas company in the $35 million divestiture of its East Texas producing assets to a royalty company.
- Assisted an oilfield water services provider in negotiating commercial agreements with major upstream operators covering water transfer, treatment, disposal, and recycling services.
- Assisted an aerospace manufacturing company with post-acquisition corporate restructuring, including entity reorganization and operational integration.
- Assisted IRISNDT, a global provider of non-destructive testing and inspection services, in its sale from First Reserve to Apave Group, an international technical risk management firm. Click here for the press release.
Honors
- Named a Top Author in JD Supra's Reader's Choice Awards (2026)
- Lylene Pilkenton Award, which is awarded annually to the law student who demonstrates “superior academic performance and outstanding leadership ability” in law school initiatives (2023)
- CALI Academic Awards (for earning the highest grade in class):
- Agency & Partnership
- Constitutional Law
Organizational Involvement Professional Organizational Involvement
- Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Houston
- Committee Member, Young Professionals (2026 – present)
- Houston Young Lawyers Association
- Committee Co-Chair, Golf Committee (2025 – present)
- Committee Co-Chair, Clay Shoot Competition (2023)
-
Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors, Houston Chapter
-
Young Professional in Energy, Houston Chapter
- The Garland R. Walker American Inn of Court, Associate Member
Community Organizational Involvement
- Texas Horse Society, Board Member (2025 – present)
When I Feel Most At Home
- Trying (and failing) to out-walk Winston, my golden retriever
- Building a wine collection under the guise of “long-term investing”
- Donating a steady supply of golf balls to Memorial Park
|