A trial team from Norton Rose Fulbright won a jury verdict Monday in Houston for Shell Trading Co., which had been accused of tortious interference in a business deal to supply crude oil to a refinery in Nixon, Texas.
GEL Tex Marketing, represented by Rusty Hardin & Associates of Houston, sued Shell Trading in 2019, claiming Shell sold crude to the refinery, owned by Lazarus Energy, even though GEL had what it said was an exclusive contract with Lazarus “related to the refurbishment of – and provision of crude oil to” the refinery and the sale of refined products produced there.
After hearing from nine witnesses during a trial of nearly four weeks in state district court in Houston, jurors deliberated for nearly two days before rejecting in their entirety the claims by GEL Tex, a subsidiary of Genesis Energy.
GEL Tex initially sought more than $35 million in actual damages from Shell Trading, as well as punitive damages.
Shell Trading argued in court filings that it was exercising its legal right to do business with Lazarus; that Lazarus, if anyone, breached its contract with GEL Tex; and that GEL Tex had already separately recovered damages from Lazarus, which was not a party to the suit.
Rusty Hardin did not respond to a message seeking comment on the verdict or on whether his firm plans an appeal. In addition to Hardin, GEL Tex was represented by Joe Roden and Leah Graham of Hardin & Associates, and Brett Solberg of DLA Piper’s Houston office.
The Norton Rose Fulbright trial team included Reagan Brown, Carter Dugan, Kate Ergenbright, Patrick Doyle and Warren Huang, all from the firm’s Houston office.
Shell Trading Co. is a Houston-based branch of Royal Dutch Shell.
The case was tried before District Judge Christine Weems.