Forest Oil Corporation v. El Rucio Land and Cattle Inc. et al deserves your attention for four reasons:
- You won’t see another one involving damage to a rhinoceros pen.
- It confirms that the Texas Railroad Commission does not have exclusive or primary jurisdiction over private claims for environmental contamination. Welcome to the courthouse.
- The South Texas redistributionist approach to civil justice includes arbitrations.
- For once, the Texas Supreme Court declined to eviscerate a multi-million dollar plaintiff victory.
How to distinguish an oil and gas lease from a mineral deed? In 
A phrase currently in common usage begins with “‘cluster” and ends with a vulgarity that has been around for centuries. 
First, a promise: I won’t report on another arbitration case until there is more to say than “business as usual”. Second, an opinion: Arbitration is still the right forum in many situations. Third, remember: An award and a result, not litigation, was what Venoco says it bargained for.
