An appellate team led by Yetter Coleman LLP partner Grant B. Martinez secured a win in the Supreme Court of Texas on behalf of a midstream oil and gas company.
After full briefing on the merits, the court denied review of the case, leaving in place an appellate decision dismissing the $200-million lawsuit against our client for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The appeal involved the complex interplay of the single-action rule and the rules for accrual of claims stemming from subsurface migration, an evolving area of Texas law.
The lawsuit arose after a producer leased the rights to a property next to an injection well operated by our client that disposes of hydrogen sulfide. The producer then attempted to drill 800 feet from the existing injection well, despite warnings from our client about the presence of hydrogen sulfide. When the well failed, the producer blamed the injection well, the hydrogen sulfide, and our client.
In response to the ensuing lawsuit, Bryce L. Callahan and Robert D. Woods from Yetter Coleman moved to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) and for lack of standing. The trial court denied our motion, and we appealed. The appellate court reversed, concluding that the producer indeed lacked standing to sue our client because the claims accrued years earlier to the prior mineral-rights holders, who did not assign their claims.
The producer sought review in the Texas Supreme Court, which has now denied review after merits briefing.
“We are pleased for our client that the Supreme Court decided not to review the case and left the court of appeals’ decision in place,” said Martinez.
In addition to Martinez, the Yetter Coleman appellate team included partners Connie H. Pfeiffer and Reagan W. Simpson, along with associates David J. Gutierrez and Lily E. Hann.