As head of the firm�s technology practice group, Phillip Schmandt brings a broad range of experience representing clients in a variety of corporate transactions in the U.S. and Europe. His commitment to client service and long-term client relationships give him detailed knowledge of many issues and areas of law across industries including technology, e-commerce, real estate and energy.

In technology, e-commerce and energy, Phillip has significant experience serving as general counsel to an e-commerce marketplace for the oilfield services industry. For seven years he has provided expertise in structuring, negotiating, and drafting electronic data agreements, software licensing agreements, licensing and marketing agreements, joint ventures and strategic alliances. He has represented technology companies that serve the upstream oil and gas industry including U.S.-based and multi-national oil companies.

In real estate, he has more than 20 years of diverse experience representing developers, governments and non-profit entities. Phillip has extensive experience in all aspects of the development process, from entity formation and financing, acquisition, due diligence and entitlements, and sales and leasing. He has worked with residential, commercial and industrial developers and represented them before governmental agencies and governing bodies including municipalities, counties and state and federal agencies. Phillip is also experienced in special district laws, including utilities and taxing districts. He has also represented governmental entities in preparing their own development regulations, which enables him to bring a balanced and practical approach to issues that arise in the development process.

Phillip has practiced in state and federal courts and in international arbitration tribunals.

Representative Experience

Activities

• State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee, District 9A (Travis County)
• Chair, City of Austin Electric Utility Commission (Commissioner, 2006-2008; Chair, 2008-present)
• Co-Chair, Electronic Commerce Subcommittee, Cyberspace Committee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section
• Board of Directors, Central Texas Sustainability Indicators Project
• Chair, City of Austin Mayor�s Task Force: Energy Conservation, Audit and Disclosure Ordinance (2008)
• Appointed, City of Austin Mayor�s Task Force on Zero Energy Capable Homes
• Chair, Mayor's Task Force on Generation Resource Planning (advising Austin City Council on energy resource planning through 2020), July 2009 - present
• Technical Expert for European Committee for Standardization (Comite' European de Normalisation, or CEN) Electronic Invoicing Workshop, 2009 - 2012, responsible for drafting and editing Code of Practice for Electronic Invoicing in the European Union and contributing author to Model Interoperability Agreement for Transmission and Processing of Electronic Invoices
• Recipient, Texas C-Bar Community Leader Award 2007 for Common Ground Health Clinic

Presentations & Publications

• Author, �Commercial (B2B) Electronic Commerce Law," Chapter 15 of Internet Law for the Business Lawyer, Second Edition, edited by Juliet M. Moringiello, American Bar Association, August 2012
• Speaker, Recent E-invoicing Developments in the EU, State Capital Group 2012 International Meeting, Utrecht, The Netherlands, June 26, 2012
• Speaker, Protecting Your Client�s Commercial Data on the Internet, American Bar Association Business Section Spring Meeting, Denver, Colorado, April 2010
• Co-author, How CEN E-Invoicing Compliance Guidelines Impact Your Company, E-Commerce Times, February 2010
• Co-author, Op Ed, Why the Proposed Generation Plan is the Right Path Forward for Austin, Austin American Statesman, February 9, 2010
• Co-author, Single Field Encryption of Electronic Invoices, published by OFS Portal, LLC, July 14, 2009
• Moderator, Electronic Marketplaces and Exchanges - Antitrust and Commercial Prospectives, American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Vancouver, Bristish Columbia, April 17, 2009
• Author, EU Commission Proposed New Rules Streamlining Use of Electronic Invoices in Europe, ABA Business Law eNewsletter, March 2009
• Speaker, Compliance Framework for B2B Marketplaces (and Their Customers), Open Network for Commerce Exchange Conference, Dallas, Texas, March 2009
• Author, News Bulletin: E-Invoicing in Europe
• Speaker, Ten Lessons Learned in Negotiating International E-Commerce Agreements, American Petroleum Institute's 2008 PIDX Latin America Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 2008
• Moderator, Hot Cyberspace Issues, American Bar Association Business Law Section Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 2008
• Speaker, Electronic Business Data at Risk � It�s 10:00 pm, Do You Know Where Your Electronic Data is?, Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association, March 2008
• Author, Is Your Electronic Data Agreement Your Supply Chain's Weakest Link?, E-Commerce Times, February 2008
• Moderator, Top Ten Challenges in Clean Tech Venture Funding, Clean Energy Venture Summit, Austin Texas, May 2007
• Author, Move to Electronic Transactions Easier with Data Agreement, Austin Business Journal, July 2006
• Author, E-commerce meets Sarbanes-Oxley, Business Edge, February 2006

Professional Background

• The University of Texas School of Law, J.D. 1990 (Order of the Coif)
• John Hopkins University, B.A. 1983 (Phi Beta Kappa)
• Admitted to Practice: Texas; United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• Other Language: French