Oil-and-Gas Law Update: July 11, 2017
Our energy law podcast is back from a brief hiatus for the Independence Day holiday with a quick look at the legal developments in oil-and-gas law that July has brought us so far.
Blogs
Class Action Certification In the Oil Patch: Red Herrings Often Abound
Increasingly, class actions are—for all intents and purposes—won or lost at the certification stage. After all, if a class is certified, especially under the heightened standards for class treatment that have been articulated by the United States […]
Drilling on Federal Lands: Department of Interior Issues Order to Curb Delays
Yesterday, the Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, signed an order that seeks to tamp down on delays in the permitting of federal land for oil-and-gas exploration and production activities. The Interior Department's press release is available here […]
Dangerous Premises Condition or Negligent Activity: Texas Supreme Court issues stern warning to plaintiffs using general-negligence jury instructions to prove premises liability claims
On June 30, 2017, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in United Scaffolding, Inc. v. James Levine, ___ SW3d ___ (Tex.2017) (No. 13-14-00377-CV; 6-30-17) (http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1438062/150921.pdf), overturning a seven-figure judgment for […]
Seeing Double: Operator Must Pay Royalties To Multiple Units, Says Texas Supreme Court
Late last week, the Texas Supreme Court told a cautionary tale for operators with its unanimous opinion in Samson Exploration LLC v. T.S. Reed Properties Inc., which addressed the circumstance in which a well is situated within not just one pooled unit […]
Jury Returns Defense Verdict for Operator That Deducted Affiliate Fees from Royalties
In this week's edition of our energy law podcast, you'll learn about multiple decisions that came out of the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, which can directly impact your operations in the oil patch, as well as one of the first jury verdicts […]
Texas Supreme Court Upends Traditional Rules of Construction for Mineral Deeds
On Friday, a deeply divided Texas Supreme Court—in a surprising turn of events—disturbed long-standing rules for interpreting mineral conveyances in its 5-4 decision in Wenske v. Ealy. There, when the Wenskes bought property in Lavaca County in 1998 […]
In Judge Gorsuch's first opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that an entity that purchases debt and then collects that debt is not a "debt collector."
On June 12, 2017, Judge Gorsuch issued his first written opinion since taking the bench on the Supreme Court. In Henson vs. Santander Consumer USA, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a company that purchases defaulted loans and then attempts […]
Texas Appeals Court Issues Decision That Could Undermine Non-Solicitation Agreements In The Oil Patch
Your non-solicitation agreement with your employees in the oil patch may have just been gutted by a new decision from a Texas court of appeals. Join me and employment lawyer Andrea Johnson for the latest episode of the firm's […]
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses To Apply FDCPA To Purchasers Of Debt But Leaves Potential Arguments For Applicability Undecided
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") authorizes private lawsuits and fines to deter abusive collection efforts by "debt collectors"—a term defined under 15 U.S.C. §1692a(6) to include anyone who "regularly collects or attempts to collect […]
National Fast Food Chain Faces Class-Action Lawsuit for Alleged Overtime Violations
On June 7, 2017, Carmen Alvarez filed a Class and Collective Action Complaint with the District Court of New Jersey against her former employer, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., for failing to pay her overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act […]
Can An Unexecuted Loan Modification Coupled With Performance Satisfy The Statute Of Frauds? A Simple Step Can Help Your Financial Institution Avoid Being The First To Find Out In Texas.
No Texas Court has considered whether a written offer to enter into a loan modification satisfies the requirement under Texas law—known as the statute of frauds—that all loan agreements over $50,000 must be in writing and signed by the party to be […]