Updated – Dallas Appeals Court: ‘No partnership between Enterprise and ETP’

© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.

By Mark Curriden

(July 19) – The Dallas Court of Appeals has reversed the 2014 landmark Texas jury verdict that legally established a business version of common law marriage and resulted in a $535 million judgment against Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners.

In a unanimous 20-page opinion, the three-judge panel ruled that Dallas-based pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners “did not prove as a matter of law” that Enterprise’s actions with ETP as part of a planned joint venture superseded prior written agreements between the two companies that there would be no actual business partnership unless certain conditions were met.