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Yetter Coleman Successfully Defends Valero Energy In Its Ongoing Property Valuation Trade Secret Dispute With Harris County Appraisal District

The Texas Supreme Court denied, without argument or opinion, a petition for mandamus filed by the Harris County Appraisal District which sought to overturn an earlier victory in a mandamus proceeding that Yetter Coleman filed for Valero Energy in the First Court of Appeals.

As we requested in our mandamus petition, the First Court vacated an order compelling the production of highly confidential business and financial information about Valero’s refinery operations in its property valuation dispute with HCAD. The First Court agreed with our arguments that available alternative valuation methods would not necessitate use of Valero’s trade secrets and that necessity is a requirement in Texas for discovery of trade secret information.

Chris Ward took the lead in defending against HCAD’s mandamus petition with assistance from David Hugin and Melissa Ramirez of Popp Hutcheson PLLC.