Ilya Batikov

Ilya is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the firm’s energy, finance, and real estate group.  His practice focuses primarily on oil and gas litigation, including disputes concerning leases, royalties, title and upstream contracts.  Ilya also counsels clients in matters involving oil and gas development and operations.  He also has experience representing clients in proceedings before the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Career highlights include:

• Defeating class certification in federal action concerning the deduction of post-production costs
• Successfully representing operator in dispute concerning JOA operating rights over a $1.0+ billion project in the Gulf of Mexico
• Successfully defending appeal involving the constitutionality of Ohio’s statutory unitization law and its interplay with private lease rights
• Defending producer in suit alleging breach of an oil and gas lease purchase and sale agreement where damages sought exceeded $130 million
• Successfully obtaining reversal on appeal involving the Ohio Dormant Mineral and Ohio Marketable Title Act
• Defending appeals involving well permitting and unitization before the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission
• Serving as amicus counsel to the Ohio Oil and Gas Association in cases before the Supreme Court of Ohio
• Serving as Ohio counsel to E&P company in $300 million sale

Ilya authored three chapters for the LexisNexis treatise, Hydraulic Fracturing Law and Practice.  He is also a co-author of Equitable and Statute of Limitations Defenses to Lease Expiration Claims, 38 Energy & Min. L. Inst. 4 (2017).  Ilya also regularly presents on oil and gas issues and contributes to the Vorys Energy & Environmental Law Blog.  He is a member of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation and the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation).  Ilya is a graduate of The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s Oil and Gas Law Short Course.  Ilya also serves on the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s virtual education committee.

Ilya received his J.D. summa cum laude from Cleveland State University College of Law and his B.A. cum laude from John Carroll University.

Honors & Recognitions

The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, Oil and Gas Law, 2023-2025

Chambers and Partners, Leading Lawyer in Energy & Natural Resources, 2025

Columbus CEO Top Lawyers, Energy Law, 2024