Contract Disputes

Subscribe to Contract Disputes via RSS

Co-author Sonya Reddy

Defendants accused of stealing trade secrets often claim that publicly available information can’t constitute a trade secret. Sometimes yes, but mineral ownership that can be determined from the public record only after lengthy, expensive, and labor-intensive research in the county courthouse can have trade-secret protection, according to Eagle Oil & Gas Co. v. Shale Exploration, LLC.

 It began like a routine exploration venture …
Continue Reading Big Damages in a Texas Trade Secret Case

Co-author Chance Decker

What could go wrong when the well recovers two times its costs in nine months? Plenty, as we see in Dimock v. Sutherland Energy.

In a Seismic Exploration and Farmout Agreement, Dimock farmed out a 15-section area in Hardeman County, Texas, to Sutherland to drill the Hamrick #3.  Project payout was that point when revenues equaled two times Sutherland’s capital costs. The parties disagreed over whether payout occurred. The question was whether a $1 million seismic shoot after the well was drilled was a capital cost.

First, why do I care?

  • “Boilerplate” in contracts is there for a reason.
  • Should important terms be defined? This case suggests yes.
  • Grammar matters. An errant comma cost one of the parties money and time.
  • Defending a fiduciary duty claim will not be an enjoyable experience due to the high standard of behavior required of fiduciaries in Texas. Avoid fiduciary duties if you can. Seek them from the other guy if you can.

Continue Reading Farmout Agreement Worked Over by the Court

Co-author Chance Decker

The ruling from the Supreme Court of Texas in JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., et al v. Orca Assets, G.P., L.L.C. was foreseeable. Experienced energy professionals who pass on the opportunity to examine title for themselves are not sympathetic plaintiffs in a suit claiming reliance on oral statements of the lessor.

How did this happen? 
Continue Reading Fraud Claim Rejected for Unreasonable Reliance

Co-author Chance Decker  

Proving once again that gratitude is the rarest of human emotions, a contract between a landman and his client was deemed unenforceable, leaving the landman with nothing, even though he actually secured oil and gas leases for the client (at least he said that he did). In Moore v. Bearkat Energy Partners, LLC, independent landman Moore signed a contract with the purported agent of Lane.  Lane would pay Moore “$600 per mineral acre for each and every lease [Lane] enter[ed] with [Moore’s] assistance.”  Moore said he helped Lane secure numerous leases, but Lane refused to pay.
Continue Reading Landman Defeated by the Statute of Frauds

Email is the way we communicate these days. Whether  emails create a contract is important if you’re thinking nothing short of scribblings on a piece of old parchment could ever bind anybody or, to the contrary, your goal is to establish an enforceable agreement. Before hitting “send”, consider Bujnoch v. Copano.  Questions of fact precluded a summary judgment denying an agreement. A jury will decide the question. 
Continue Reading Can Emails Establish an Easement in Texas?

Co-author Chance Decker

In the spirit of Halloween, Le Norman Operating v. Chalker Energy Partners III  is about a scary statute: The Texas Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the UETA.

The Facts

A group of sellers led by Chalker went “by the book” in selling oil and gas assets in the panhandle. They set up a formal bidding process and hired Raymond James to advise. When LNO expressed interest, the parties signed a confidentiality agreement providing that Chalker would not be bound, “ … unless and until a definitive agreement has been executed and delivered[.]”
Continue Reading Oil, Gas and the Electronic Transactions Act

Semco, LLC v. The Grand, LTD. is nominally about a $15 million liftboat construction contract and the legal issues one would expect after a long trial and a big verdict. This post is more about how to administer and perform a contract, especially one with a friend:

The lessons

  • Be Ronald Reagan: Trust but verify vague assurances.
  • Contract formalities have a purpose. Adhere to them.
  • “You snuck in that contract revision” = “I didn’t bother to read it”.
  • Didn’t warn of increased costs in writing? Why not?
  • “Money and friends are like oil and water.” Michael Corleone, Godfather Part III.
  • A disgruntled ex-employee is never good for your case.
  • Failure to sign an agreement to clarify increased costs = worse things to come.

Continue Reading Lessons from a Liftboat Contract