Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
AUSTIN – It may have been “reprehensible” to sell as “new” a $19.85 million Bombardier Challenger 300 with a used and troubled engine, but when the contract limits liability then liability is limited, the Texas Supreme Court ruled last week. The decision snuffs a $5.39 million of an $8 million jury award, as Janet Elliott explains.
Anadarko has emerged the winner in a coverage clash with its surplus liability insurers as the Texas Supreme Court ruled last week that the underwriters are contractually obligated to pay Anadarko’s $112.5 million defense costs related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The Lawbook's Janet Elliott has the details.
After spending $22 million on some dry holes in North Texas, Barrow-Shaver Resources Co. jumped at a $27.7 million offer for its development rights. But one of 32 parties blew up the deal by asking $5 million for its approval. Now the Texas Supreme Court is being asked to resolve a question of industry use vs. oil and gas tradition. Janet Elliott explains.
In yet another show of support for mandatory arbitration, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that a duly assigned arbitrator has the power to decide a dispute, even when it involves conflicting court orders. The Lawbook's Janet Elliott explains.
When Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and another investor bought a new aircraft for $19.85 million in 2010, they apparently expected it to be...well, new. When they discovered two years later it had been equipped with a used left engine with a troubled history, they sued. Now the SCOTX is weighing whether the evidence supports their $8M verdict.
Amid a flurry of amicus briefs from property rights advocates, business groups and municipal planners, the Texas Supreme Court heard arguments last week in an eminent domain dispute from Rowlett. The case is a test of a Texas statute designed to protect private property rights following Kelo v. City of New London.
AUSTIN – Vietnam veteran Phil Johnson was in mid-career as a military pilot when a distinguished law career intervened. These days, however, the Texas Supreme Court jurist is focused on the legal needs of today's military men and women, and those interests were noted last week at the annual Texas Access to Justice luncheon.
For nine years Burlington Resources deducted post-production costs from royalties paid to Amber Harvest for development in the Eagle Ford. Then came the 2015 Chesapeake v. Hyder decision, and now Amber Harvest is asking SCOTX to make Burlington reimburse them. Janet Elliott details their arguments before the court.
A 46-year-old property tax case was finally settled by the Texas Supreme Court. Their ruling in the inter-county dispute, often compared to Dickens' famously epic litigation, was settled in favor of San Patricio County.
The dispute involves high-risk surplus lines insurance commonly purchased by drillers, and is being closely watched for its impact on that market.
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