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Appeals Contract Disputes Texas

Husch Blackwell LLP

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies That Specific Performance Can Include Monetary Relief

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On June 13, 2025, the Supreme Court of Texas delivered a 17-page opinion in White Knight Development, LLC v. Simmons clarifying that monetary damages may be awarded alongside specific performance in real estate contract...more

McGinnis Lochridge

When "Imprudent" Becomes Irrelevant: How Express JOA Language Overrides Operator Discretion

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In this case, Texas Crude Energy, LLC (Texas Crude) and Warwick-Athena, LLC (Warwick) (collectively, the non-operators) sued Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co., LP (Burlington or the operator) after Burlington refused to...more

Bracewell LLP

Texas Supreme Court Affirms Mineral Estate Ownership of Produced Water in Landmark Ruling

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In a significant decision for Texas property and energy law, the Texas Supreme Court has affirmed the Eighth Court of Appeals’ ruling in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC, holding that produced water — a...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Ownership of Salt Caverns

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On May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision ruling that, absent specific contractual language, surface owners retain ownership of the caverns created by salt mining operations. The issue of ownership of salt...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Fifth Circuit Finds ANR Pipeline’s Tariff Does Not Require Simultaneous Delivery for Short-Notice Shipments

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On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) addressed a dispute between ANR Pipeline Company (“ANR”) and FERC. The case centered on the interpretation of ANR’s tariff and whether it...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Decides Who Must Produce to Maintain an Oil and Gas Lease

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In Cromwell v. Anadarko E & P Onshore LLC the Supreme Court of Texas did what it so often does: In order to provide “legal certainty and predictability”, the Court considered the plain language of a contract in order to...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Supreme Court of Texas Washes Out the “Anadarko Washout”

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The so called “Anadarko Washout” involves a washout of oil and gas leases on undivided working interests owned by non-operating mineral cotenants. This particular species of lease washouts is based on two recent cases from...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Limits of Shut-In Payment Notations in Lease Disputes

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In this case (Scout Energy Mgmt., LLC v. Taylor Properties, No. 23-1014, 2024 WL 5249490 [Tex. Dec. 31, 2024]), the Texas Supreme Court held that vague notations on shut-in royalty check receipts cannot modify an unambiguous...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Production Disputes and Estoppel Claims Cloud Lease Termination in Milam County

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In this lease termination case (Pruett v. River Land Holdings, LLC, No. 03-22-00478-CV, 2024 WL 1745652, at *1 [Tex. App.—Austin Apr. 24, 2024, no pet.]), the Austin Court of Appeals was tasked with examining a cessation of...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Texas Supreme Court Reverses Liability Finding Against Franchisor

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A recent Texas Supreme Court decision fully overturned a jury’s finding that a franchisor was liable for the criminal actions of a franchisee’s employee. This decision underscores the importance of a franchisor having clearly...more

Jackson Walker

Business Court of Texas Clarifies “Qualified Transaction” Jurisdiction

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The Business Court of Texas’ recent opinion in Atlas IDF, LP v. NexPoint Real Estate Partners, LLC offers important guidance on the meaning of a “qualified transaction” under Texas Government Code Chapter 25A and the...more

McGinnis Lochridge

All Depths or Just One Formation? Court Clarifies Royalty Conveyance in Rock River v. Pioneer

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This recent case (Rock River Minerals, LP v. Pioneer Nat. Res. USA Inc., No. 08-23-00216-CV, 2024 WL 4528917 [Tex. App.—El Paso Oct. 18, 2024, no pet. h.]) explored whether an assignment of an overriding royalty interest,...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Affirmative Defenses Are Insufficient to Rebut the Van Dyke Presumption

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Under Van Dyke, deeds with double-fraction royalty reservations referencing “1/8” are presumed to reserve a floating royalty interest unless clearly contradicted. Defenses like waiver, ratification, and limitations cannot...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Fifth Circuit: "Manifest Disregard of the Law" Cannot Be Grafted to FAA as a Basis for Vacatur of Arbitration Award

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In affirming a district court’s denial of a petition to vacate an arbitration award, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently rejected the argument “that manifest disregard of the law remains viable as an...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Can "Free of Cost" Term Achieve Point-of-Sale Royalty Base?

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A lessee who halts production for less than 40 days and resumes without drilling or reworking does not terminate the lease. The continuous development clause keeps the lease active, and the cessation clause allows resumed...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Manifest Disregard Discarded: Fifth Circuit Limits Grounds to Vacate Arbitration Awards

“Manifest disregard of the law” is no longer a valid basis to challenge arbitration awards, at least not in the federal courts of Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Rather, according to the Fifth Circuit’s decision in U.S....more

Oliva Gibbs

Reservation or Limitation on Warranty? Navigating the Fine Line — Lessons from Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson

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In Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson1, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana addressed whether the provision, “all Oil, Gas and other Minerals have been excepted and reserved by former...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Tackling Free-Use and At-The-Well Royalties

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This lease royalty case involved a dispute over whether the lessee was permitted to deduct volumes of gas used off the premises to power post-production activities on other gas produced from the same well. Carl v. Hilcorp...more

Jackson Walker

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Fiduciary Duties Between Business Partners

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The Texas Supreme Court has provided clarity on the fiduciary duties between business partners, particularly in the context of limited partnerships. The case, Bertucci v. Watkins, involved a dispute between two business...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Who Can Enforce Surface Provisions in an OGL?

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Unitex WI, LLC v. CT Land & Cattle Co., LLC, No. 07-23-00390-CV, 2024 WL 3249338 (Tex. App.—Amarillo June 28, 2024, pet. filed)...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Winter Storm Uri and Force Majeure: The Legal Battles Continue

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Winter Storm Uri sent shockwaves through Texas, freezing gas supplies at a time of critical need and plunging the state into widespread power outages. In the aftermath, the courts have been flooded with force majeure claims,...more

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