The plan was to be a landman, but Chesapeake wasn’t hiring. So, Cale Curtin went to law school. Now, instead of negotiating with individual property owners to acquire mineral rights, Curtin is negotiating billion-dollar credit deals to acquire competitors.
In just two years at Matador Resources Co., Curtin has helped the Dallas-based oil and natural gas company raise $2.5 billion through debt and equity offerings while expanding the company’s credit facility to $2.25 billion from $775 million.
Curtin joined Matador in November 2022, just as negotiations with Advance Energy Partners began. The company closed that $1.6 billion acquisition in April 2023. In September 2024, Matador closed the $1.9 billion acquisition of Austin-based Ameredev.
“In just two years, Cale has been part of more significant transactions and financings than most experience in 10 years,” said Preston Bernhisel, corporate partner at Baker Botts. “In addition to taking the legal lead on Matador’s filings, he assisted on the company’s largest transactions to date and led the credit facility amendments and debt offerings to fund the transactions. Cale has an excellent grasp of the technical side of practicing law, as he leads the securities and compliance work, capital markets transactions and participates in M&A transactions.”
“However, he also sees the bigger picture and has a great business sense to work with business teams — and Matador’s top leadership — to navigate disclosure and transactions in a practical way to find the best approach for the company,” Bernhisel said.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook congratulate Curtin for being selected as one of two finalists for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel of the Year Award for Rookie of the Year.
ACC-DFW and The Lawbook will honor the finalists at the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards ceremony on Jan. 30 at the George W. Bush Institute.
“The past two years have been transformational for Matador, and it has been really exciting to be a part of the team,” Curtin said. “These transactions have created a lot of excitement and momentum for the company, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for us.”
He said that during one week in March 2024, Matador accomplished a “triple crown” by amending its credit facility, completing a $350 million equity offering and another $900 million notes offering all in the same week.
Bernhisel nominated Curtin for the Rookie of the Year award, highlighting how he has been principally responsible for Matador’s Exchange Act reporting, including 10-Ks, 10-Qs, proxy statements, Section 16 reporting for the complicated trust structures of Matador’s CEO, NYSE compliance, corporate governance, as well as Matador’s capital markets transactions and credit facility.
“While relatively early in his career, Cale has demonstrated the incredible ability to learn and apply technical SEC rules while also being able to work with accountants and outside auditors, the operations team and finance team to coordinate the company’s disclosure, both in SEC filings and press releases, and managing capital markets and credit financing processes,” Bernhisel said.
Bernhisel said that Curtin has a “particular strength in understanding business principles and concepts in addition to legal implications.”
“Cale has demonstrated confidence and capabilities beyond his years of practice in fulfilling a multifaceted need for the company,” Bernhisel said. “He has transitioned well to the in-house world by applying the variety of his outside counsel experience and his experience in co-founding a startup company, while understanding and thriving in the in-house environment with its different challenges of autonomy and internal client service.”
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Cale Curtin discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
Matador corporate leaders say that Curtin’s “relational intelligence” skills make him a true leader and a great general counsel.
“Cale quarterbacked those transactions from the legal side,” said Matador Resources Corporate and Midstream Counsel Derek Gabriel. “From coordinating diligence to reviewing documents and managing internal and external teams, Cale played a crucial role in the success of those transactions. His demeanor, attentiveness and the appropriate stress level given the circumstances gave everyone comfort that we had everything covered.”
“He is a very effective communicator that builds meaningful relationships with co-workers, comes up with creative solutions to problems that result in win-wins and is adaptable and capable of navigating uncertainty or unexpected developments with confidence,” Gabriel said.
Curtin grew up with a large, extended family in Guthrie, Okla., and attended a small Christian school in Edmond, Okla., for junior high and high school before heading to Norman to study finance and energy management at OU.
“I had grandparents, great-grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins all in Guthrie growing up,” Curtin said. “My mom was a journalist while my dad was in law school and then stayed home after I was born. She homeschooled me and my little sister until I was in junior high. I’m the oldest of three with a sister, Addy Kate, and a brother, Blake.”
His father, T. Shane Curtin, spent 23 years in private practice in Oklahoma City, specializing in workers’ compensation defense, before becoming the chief administrative law judge of the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission in May 2015.
Curtin said he had always considered being a lawyer, but it wasn’t until his senior year at OU that he decided to take the LSAT and apply to law schools.
“As a little kid I would sit at the table after dinner and do coloring books or homework while my dad billed files or dictated memos,” Curtin said. “And while I did mock trial in high school, I interned as a landman at Chesapeake Energy and planned to be a landman. But Chesapeake wasn’t hiring. So, I decided to go to law school instead. I made the right choice, and my three years at the University of Virginia are some of my best memories and were instrumental in shaping the way I think and approach problems.”
Curtin says Matador was a natural fit with his background in oil and gas and considering that the Dallas company was one of the first clients he worked with at Baker Botts as a summer associate.
“It was a great time to join Matador, as we were just about to kick off several major M&A and capital markets transactions that have kept the legal team busy the past two years,” he said. “As outside counsel, you don’t necessarily see all the teamwork and coordination going on at the client during and especially following a major transaction. A couple of lawyers on the in-house team will be the main point of contact for outside counsel, but there are many different groups within the company they are coordinating with to execute and then integrate a transaction. You take a broader view and work with all of the disciplines in the company to move towards the same goal.”
Having worked at Baker Botts and Kirkland & Ellis, Curtin understands that maintaining strong relationships with outside counsel is integral to his success as an in-house corporate attorney. And when hiring outside counsel, he’s looking for subject matter expertise and excellence in execution, of course, but also looking for someone he’d like to take hunting or fishing. He also prefers informal communication, such as texts or phone calls over email.
“And you don’t need you to have the final answer right away. I like talking it out and being a part of finding the solution,” Curtin said.”
Just like most of us, Curtin’s life and career have been impacted by the pandemic.
“The lockdowns, negative oil prices and time working from home contributed to me getting back into horses and discovering polo, launching a startup, moving from Uptown to Oak Point and a lot of awesome relationships and experiences that came from those decisions I might not have made without a forced break from the office,” he said.
During those stay-at-home times, Curtin formed a technology startup with his friend, Wirt Dunbar, that was initially built to improve the efficiency of cold conversations for professionals and social media influencers but found a niche focusing on NIL — name, image and likeness — virtual events for college athletes.
He said it was Dunbar’s idea to build an online platform connecting professionals with students for video chats.
“A student would be able to book time directly on a professional’s calendar to get career advice, cutting out all the email or LinkedIn back-and-forth,” Curtin said. “We had been talking for a while about doing something entrepreneurial and decided to take the leap and run with this one. As the product grew, we found the most success in an unexpected niche, NIL, with college athletes hosting group Q&As with fans. In hindsight, a lawyer and accountant attempting to launch a tech startup was probably all the evidence we needed there was a bubble. Ultimately, we decided to pursue other things, but we both learned a lot about building a business, sales and marketing, website design and dealing with uncertainty.”
This experience dovetails nicely with Curtin’s current role as corporate counsel for a company executing some of the largest deals in its history.
“Matador encourages you to continue to add new tools to your toolbox,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work on several types of projects I’d never done before. I love the variety in the work, and there’s always a fresh challenge and new things to learn.”
Curtin said preparing for the Matador annual meeting is a big part of his role with the company, and he looks forward to creating a successful event each year.
“I enjoy Matador’s annual meetings. A lot of public companies see these as a hassle, but Matador takes advantage of the opportunity to show off what we’re doing with exhibits and demonstrations and encourages shareholders to attend in person,” he said. “It’s one of the few times you’re able to see most of the company together in one room along with our directors, shareholders, outside counsel, auditors, etc.”
When not working on billion-dollar deals, Curtin’s biggest passions are his faith and horses. He’s an avid polo player, and he has traveled to South America to play.
“I’m a member at the Village Church in Flower Mound and strive to pursue Christ daily and glorify God in everything I do, both personally and professionally,” he said.
“I’m also an amateur polo player at Prestonwood Polo Club in Oak Point. My best friend and I are building a polo team and eventual horse breeding operation under the brand name GUSTO. The word has a lot of significance for me. My grandfather taught me how to ride and instilled in me a love for horses. Gusto was the name of his favorite horse. More importantly, it captures how I want to approach all aspects of my life — with joy.”
FUN FACTS: Cale Curtin
- Favorite book: The Count of Monte Cristo. I read it for the first time as a kid and was blown away. It’s one of the few I reread every couple of years.
- Favorite music group: I listen to podcasts or audiobooks more than music. Favorite podcast is probably the Tim Ferris show.
- Favorite movie: It’s a tie between Gladiator (the first one) or The Patriot.
- Favorite restaurant: Fajitas at Escondido.
- Favorite beverage: Whiskey by a campfire.
- Favorite vacation: I spent the summer before I started at Matador in Bliss, Mich., a tiny town on Lake Michigan about as far north as you can go. There’s a polo field and not much else but great people and horses.
- Hero in life: My parents. They shaped me more than anyone and have been great examples and friends.