Justia U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

This appeal arose from a related case currently pending in a United Kingdom Litigation, which arose from contractual disputes related to the exploration, development, and operation of oil blocks in Kurdistan, Iraq. On appeal, plaintiff argued that the district court erred by granting a motion to quash certain discovery subpoenas before plaintiff had an opportunity to respond in opposition and by not providing any reasons on the record for its decision. The court vacated the district court's order and remanded with instructions to allow plaintiff a reasonable period to respond to the motion and, thereafter, to provide written or oral reasons for the basis of its ruling. Otherwise, the district court was fully empowered to resolve these discovery disputes in a manner not inconsistent with this opinion. View "Texas Keystone, Inc. v. Prime Natural Resources, Inc., et al." on Justia Law

Relators filed two qui tam suits against Shell, alleging that Shell had defrauded the U.S. Department of the Interior. At the time their suits were filed, Relators were federal employees who discovered wrongdoing in the scope of their official duties. The district court granted summary judgment to Shell on the ground that two False Claims Act (Act) provisions prohibited the suit: 31 U.S.C. 3730(b)(1), describing who may bring suit; and 31 U.S.C. 3730(e)(4)(A),(B), which contained a public disclosure bar. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding (1) a federal employee, even one whose job it is to investigate fraud, a "person" under the Act such that he may maintain a qui tam action; and (2) the district court used an overly broad conception of the Act's public disclosure bar. View "Little v. Shell Exploration & Prod. Co." on Justia Law

This case arose from an underlying dispute involving three parties related to an alleged breach of an assignment agreement. The three parties disagreed over the appointment of arbitrators to hear their dispute. The agreement to arbitrate seemed designated for a two-party dispute. Notwithstanding that the parties agreed to arbitrate before three arbitrators, the district court ordered the parties to proceed to arbitration before five arbitrators: three party-appointed arbitrators, who would then choose two neutral arbitrators. If the party-appointed arbitrators could not agree, the district court ordered the parties to petition for appointment of the two neutral arbitrators. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed in part and vacated in part the district court's judgment, holding (1) there was a lapse in the naming of the arbitrators in the parties' agreement; (2) the district court was authorized to exercise appointment power under 9 U.S.C. 5; and (3) the district court erred in deviating from the parties' express agreement to arbitrate before a three-member panel. Remanded. View "BP Exploration Libya Ltd. v. ExxonMobil Libya Ltd." on Justia Law

The Stockmans entered into an extension of their mineral lease with Chesapeake Louisiana, L.P. and received a $240,000 bonus. In May 2008, the Stockmans entered into a mineral lease with Petrohawk Properties, L.P. for a $1.45 million bonus. Petrohawk then dishonored the draft and executed a second mineral lease with the Stockmans, paying them a $1.7 million bonus. Chesapeake sued the Stockmans for breach of contract, and the parties settled at trial. The Stockmans then sued Petrohawk for fraud in obtaining the first mineral lease, and Chespeake sued Petrohawk for intentional interference with its contract with the Stockmans. The district court (1) found that Petrohawk procured the first mineral lease by fraud and rescinded the lease, (2) dismissed Chesapeake's tort claim, and (3) dismissed Petrohawk's claim for a return of its bonus money. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (1) Petrohawk obtained the first lease by fraud, and the district court did not err in rescinding the lease, awarding attorney's fees to the Stockmans; (2) the district court did not err in dismissing Petrohawk's counterclaim for the return of the lease bonus; and (3) the district court correctly dismissed Chespeake's intentional interference with a contract claim. View "Petrohawk Props., L.P. v. Chesapeake Louisiana, L.P." on Justia Law

Petitioners, non-profit environmental protection organizations, filed petitions for judicial review challenging sixteen Department of the Interior (DOI) plan approvals, issued between March 29 and May 20, 2010, under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 43 U.S.C. 1331-1356a. The court concluded that: (1) petitioners' OCSLA-based challenges were justiciable, except for four, which have become moot; (2) the DOI's approval of the exploratory and development plans were subject to judicial review by the court under OCSLA, 43 U.S.C. 1349(c)(2); (3) petitioners' failure to participate in the administrative proceedings related to the DOI's approval of the plans as required by section 1349(c)(3) did not oust the court's jurisdiction because that participation requirement was a non-jurisdictional administrative exhaustion rule; but, (4) petitioners have not shown sufficient justification for excusing them from that exhaustion requirement in this case. Accordingly, except for four of petitioners' petitions for judicial review that were dismissed as moot, petitioners' petitions for judicial review were dismissed because of their failure to participate in the administrative proceedings. View "Gulf Restoration Network, Inc., et al. v. Salazar, et al.; Ctr for Biological Diversity v. Salazar, et al." on Justia Law

Defendants appealed their conviction of and sentencing for false reporting of natural gas trades in violation of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA), 49 U.S.C. 1491, and the federal wire fraud statute. The government alleged that defendants violated the CEA and the wire fraud statute by sending false information about natural gas prices to trade magazines that reported natural gas prices in indexes, in an effort to affect and manipulate those indexes, which, in turn, would affect the market for natural gas futures and benefit the company's financial positions. The court held that defendants failed to show clear error in the district court's factual findings, and under those facts, the court found that denial of the motion to dismiss the indictment was proper; the CEA covered no constitutionally protected speech; beyond the issue of whether the means rea applied to the final element of the false reporting offense - which the court was confident was harmless if it was erroneous - the court found no errors in the jury instructions and held that the cumulative error doctrine did not require reversal; defendants' argument that the district court erred by denying their motion for acquittal because they were convicted for answering fundamentally ambiguous questions was rejected; in regards to defendants' claims of evidentiary error, the district court did not err; and because the court found defendants' arguments unavailing, the court affirmed the sentences. View "United States v. Brooks" on Justia Law

Ballard, successor in interest to Kilroy, sued Devon, successor in interest to Wise Oil, for breach of a provision in an American Association of Petroleum Land Men (AAPL) Model Form Operating Agreement (Operating Agreement) that was an exhibit to and incorporated by reference in a May 1971 Farmout Agreement (collectively, Joint Operating Agreement or JOA) between Kilroy and Wise Oil. Ballard's lawsuit turned on the interpretation of one sentence in the multi-paragraph "Area of Mutual Interest" (AMI) provision of the Operating Agreement. The court held that, because the entire AMI provision - including its acquisition provisions and its surrender provisions - expired before the claims asserted by Ballard arose, Devon had not breached its contract with Ballard, and the district court's summary judgment was proper. View "Ballard v. Devon Louisiana Corp." on Justia Law

This case arose when Mirant, an energy company, sought to expand its European operations by acquiring nine power islands from General Electric. When the power island deal fell through, Mirant made payments pursuant to a guaranty and soon thereafter sought bankruptcy protection. Mirant, as debtor-in-possession, sued Commerzbank and other lenders in bankruptcy court to avoid the guaranty and to recover the funds Mirant paid pursuant to the guaranty. After Mirant's bankruptcy plan was confirmed MCAR, plaintiff, substituted into the case for Mirant. Commerzbank and other lenders, defendants, filed a motion to dismiss based on Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The district court subsequently denied defendants' motion to dismiss based on plaintiff's alleged lack of standing. Thereafter, the district court granted summary judgment for defendants. Both sides appealed. While the court agreed that the district court correctly determined that there was standing to bring the avoidance claim, the court vacated the judgment of dismissal because the district court erroneously applied Georgia state law rather than New York state law to the avoidance claim. View "MC Asset Recovery LLC v. Commerzbank A.G., et al." on Justia Law

Appellants appealed from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of TBS. The appeal concerned the construction and application of the Louisiana Oil Well Lien Act (LOWLA), La. Rev. Stat. Ann. 9:4861, et seq., on an issue of first impression. The court concluded that the district court authored a thorough and well-reasoned opinion concerning the substantive issues presented and affirmed the judgment. The district court had concluded that by providing survey and positioning services in Vermilion Block 313 in order to help remove a platform following well depletion, TBS performed "operations" under LOWLA. The work that TBS did was both "on a well site" and involved "abandoning a well" within the meaning of the statute. Accordingly, the lien that TBS had asserted was valid and enforceable.

Plaintiffs appealed the district court's entry of judgment in favor of defendants on defendants' statute of frauds defense to plaintiffs' lawsuit demanding specific performance on three Purchase and Sale Agreements (PSAs) entered between the parties for the sale/purchase of certain oil and gas leases. The court held that the trial court erred in holding that the lack of finality prevented consideration of the exhibits attached to the PSAs as a part of the contract to convey the property. The exhibits were specifically incorporated into the contract, the exhibits contained a sufficient legal description to meet the statute of frauds, and thus, the PSAs were enforceable by specific performance.