News & Analysis as of

Property Owners TX Supreme Court

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Colored Horses, Toxic Brews and Lithium Too?

Does the Texas Supreme Court’s Decision in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating Provide Guidance About Lithium and Rare Earth Minerals Ownership in Pennsylvania? Lithium demand is expected to continue to increase as...more

Jackson Walker

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Default Ownership of Produced Water in Oil & Gas Leases – Key Questions Remain

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On June 27, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a pivotal decision in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC, holding that under the language of the granting clause found in the standard oil and gas lease, produced...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Ownership of Salt Caverns

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

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

McGinnis Lochridge

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Modification of NPRIs

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this recent case, the Texas Supreme Court resolved whether ratification of a lease or signing of a stipulation agreement could transform a fixed non-participating royalty interest (NPRI) into a floating NPRI....more

McGinnis Lochridge

Tackling Free-Use and At-The-Well Royalties

McGinnis Lochridge on

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

Gray Reed

Ratifications, Stipulations, and Fixed vs. Floating Royalty Interests

Gray Reed on

After four stops at the lower courts, Kenneth Hahn v. ConocoPhillips has been resolved by the Supreme Court of Texas. The Court opined on the effect of two instruments often used to clarify land titles in Texas: ...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Texas Supreme Court Water Law Verdict Highlights Lack of TCEQ Authority Over Water Rights

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The Texas Supreme Court (“TXSC”) recently confirmed what many already know: the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) has only administrative authority related to water rights in Texas. This means that water...more

Gray Reed

Operator Escapes Liability For a Gas Kick and Resulting Fire

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The Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code, Chapter 95, limits a property owner’s liability when an independent contractor hired to construct, repair, renovate or modify an improvement to the owner’s property brings a...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Out with Lonergan, In with Spearin: Texas Legislature Provides Contractors with Limited Protection for Defective Plans and Designs

As of September 1, 2021, in a change to Texas caselaw that had been in place for over a century, Texas contractors now have protection in certain circumstances from liability for defective plans and specifications provided to...more

Gray Reed

Texas Supreme Court Rules on Correction Deeds in a Case of First Impression

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What if you pay good money for a mineral interest and record the deed in the official public records, thereby securing your title? What if your predecessors-in-title decide among themselves they made a material mistake in a...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Expansion of Premises Liability for Construction Owners

A property owner is generally liable for hazards on the property that injure others. On construction projects, this presents a significant risk for owners because there are always multiple hazards present, and the owner,...more

Bracewell LLP

Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Scope of Property Owners' Statutory Protections

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The Texas Supreme Court’s recent decision in Los Compadres Pescadores, L.L.C. v. Valdez provides new guidance regarding a commercial property owner’s protections against liability for injuries occurring on construction sites....more

Gray Reed

“No Obligation” Clause Dooms Oil and Gas Asset Bid

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In Chalker Energy Partners III LLC v. LeNorman Operating LLC, the Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed its belief in the sanctity of the written contract and the freedom of parties to negotiate and agree to contracts as they...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Whose Milkshake is Whose?: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Considers Whether the Rule of Capture Applies to Hydraulic Fracturing

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The Rule of Capture has been a foundational concept of oil and gas prospecting for 150 years. The Rule of Capture exists to provide an affirmative defense to drillers when they tap into oil and gas pockets that cross property...more

Gray Reed

Mass Shootings – Who’s Responsible?

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Last month, a gunman entered an El Paso Walmart, shot and killed 22 people and injured more than two dozen others. A local El Paso attorney filed suit against Walmart claiming that store had insufficient security. Besides the...more

Gray Reed

Option Contract Ruling Reversed by Texas Supreme Court.

Gray Reed on

North Shore Energy v. Harkins interpreted an Option Agreement between landowners and a producer over a 400 acre tract. In football they would say the Texas Supreme Court pancaked the plaintiff. In the law, some would call it...more

Jackson Walker

Texas Supreme Court Affirms Property Owners' Rights Within the Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

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On May 27, 2016, in Town of Lakewood Village v. Bizios, the Texas Supreme Court held that general law municipalities do not have the authority to enforce building codes within their extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs). This...more

Cozen O'Connor

Texas Supreme Court Classifies Mosquitos as Wild Animals, Discharges Liability for Mosquito Bites

Cozen O'Connor on

The Texas Supreme Court handed property owners a major victory on an issue of increasing importance as West Nile Virus and Zika Virus spread around the country. The court held that the doctrine of ferae naturae limits a...more

Williams Mullen

Environmental Notes - March 2016

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U.S. Supreme Court to Decide Whether Jurisdictional Determinations May be Appealed - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determines the presence or absence of wetlands and other “waters of the United States” on a...more

Porter Hedges LLP

Environmental Alert: "Texas Supreme Court Declines to Determine Effect of Permit in Subsurface Trespass Case"

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The Supreme Court of Texas upheld a jury verdict finding that a landowner did not suffer trespass from a wastewater injection well located on adjacent property. Environmental Processing Systems, L.C., v. FPL Farming Ltd.,...more

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