Dana S. Hardy

Dana S. Hardy is a partner in the Santa Fe office of Hinkle Shanor and a member of the firm’s executive committee.

Ms. Hardy’s experience includes the representation of energy companies, oil and gas operators, investor-owned utilities, and multi-national corporations. She represents oil and gas operators in compulsory pooling actions, and clients who seek drilling approvals for both vertical and horizontal, salt water disposal, and acid gas injection wells before the N.M. Oil Conservation Division and N.M. Oil Conservation Commission. She also has extensive experience representing clients in public utility commission proceedings (rate cases, regulatory approvals, location approvals), district court litigation, appeals, and administrative proceedings. Over her two-decade legal career, Ms. Hardy has successfully practiced before the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, United States District Court, and all levels of the Courts of New Mexico, including the New Mexico Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.

Ms. Hardy is a native of New Mexico and second-generation Santa Fean. When she isn’t in the office, Ms. Hardy enjoys spending time with her family and is often found embracing the outdoors while skiing or hiking.

Natural Resources
Utilities
Administrative Law
Civil Litigation
Civil Appeals

Honors and Awards

Editor in Chief, New Mexico Law Review
Raymond Showers Prize for Achievement in Legal Writing
West Award for Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship
Order of the Coif
Phi Beta Kappa

Ms. Hardy’s peers have recognized her as an AV Preeminent rated attorney via Martindale-Hubbell. She has served as a board member of the Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of New Mexico and was selected to lead the group as chair in 2018. She is a member of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, State Law Resources, the New Mexico State Bar, and the First Judicial District Bar Association, where between 2004 and 2007, Ms. Hardy served on the Board of Directors and ultimately as the board’s President. She obtained her Juris Doctorate, magna cum laude, from the University of New Mexico and while in law school was Editor in Chief of the New Mexico Law Review, publishing the casenote Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District – The Supreme Court Determines the Standard of Liability Under Title IX. Ms. Hardy also serves as a mentor for new attorneys through the New Mexico State Bar Association’s Bridge the Gap mentoring program.

Education

University of New Mexico School of Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- J.D. magna cum laude – 2000
Colorado State University
- B.A. magna cum laude – 1996

Bar Admissions

New Mexico
United States District Court for the District of New Mexico

Professional Associations and Memberships

New Mexico State Bar Association
First Judicial District Bar Association, Board of Directors, 2004 – 2007
New Mexico Women’s Bar Association, Board of Directors, 2002 – 2003
New Mexico’s State Bar Membership Services Committee Board of Directors, 2007 – 2011
New Mexico State Bar Appellate Practice Section Board of Directors, 2016-2019
New Mexico State Bar Association Bridge the Gap Mentor

Published Works

Casenote: Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District – The Supreme Court Determines the Standard of Liability Under Title IX, New Mexico Law Review, 1999

Ms. Hardy has represented clients such as Southwestern Public Service Company and Xcel Energy in both regulatory proceedings and appeals, and in 2017 participated in the successful approval of the largest wind generation facility in the State of New Mexico.

Ms. Hardy has prevailed in appellate proceedings before the New Mexico Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, with notable opinions that include Attorney General v. N.M. Public Regulation Commission, 359 P.3d 133 (N.M. 2015), Baker v. Hedstrom, 309 P.3d 1047 (N.M. 2013), Montano v. Frezza, 393 P.3d 700 (N.M. 2017), and Cahn v. Berryman, 408 P.3d 1012 (N.M. 2017).