Yetter Coleman LLP secured a unanimous jury verdict on behalf of clients AEP Excluded AssetCo and Advance Energy Partners in a high-stakes commercial dispute involving the purchase of nearly 490,000 feet of oilfield casing.
Following an eight-day trial, the jury unanimously found that Bellanergy breached the parties’ contract by failing to deliver the premium, name-brand pipe connections specified in the work orders and instead supplied a lower-cost knockoff product. The jury awarded Yetter Coleman’s clients the full $10.9 million in damages sought and rejected Bellanergy’s $8.6 million counterclaim in its entirety.
The dispute arose after AEP contracted with Bellanergy for oilfield casing using patented GB Connections products, a premium system with an established testing and performance record, for a total contract price of $18.5 million. AEP submitted more than $10 million in deposits to Bellanergy, which instead ordered and supplied an imitation connection product from a Chinese mill bearing different markings and materially different specifications. When the first shipment arrived, AEP’s field team immediately recognized that the connections were incorrect and rejected the delivery. Bellanergy’s and AEP’s head of procurement testified, however, that they had orally agreed to the knockoff pipe.
At trial, the Yetter Coleman team, led by partner Tim McConn, argued that Bellanergy engaged in a classic bait-and-switch scheme by charging for premium materials while secretly procuring a cheaper substitute. Bellanergy stood to pocket around $7 million in additional profit from the substitution. Evidence presented at trial showed that AEP immediately rejected the nonconforming materials upon delivery and that Bellanergy internally acknowledged the rejection at the time.
The jury unanimously found that Bellanergy failed to procure the specified connection and failed to deliver the correct connections in a timely manner, and that AEP properly rejected the goods under the contract.
McConn delivered opening statement and closing argument and conducted the cross-examination of Bellanergy’s corporate representative, securing key admissions. Senior counsel Katie Tipper-McWhorter successfully argued key pretrial motions and presented multiple critical witnesses, including the inventor and patent holder of the specified connection. Associate Alexander Ades, in his first jury trial, examined fact and expert witnesses and successfully argued a dispositive motion that streamlined the case for trial. Appellate partner Grant Martinez ably assisted with the jury charge.
The Yetter Coleman team also included partner Reagan Simpson and senior counsel Jane Ray and Doug Griffith.