Archives: Property Law

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Louisiana’s Third Circuit (Again) Affirms the Applicability of the Subsequent Purchaser Doctrine to Mineral Leases

By Kelly Brechtel Becker, Katie Seegers Roth and Kathryn Zainey Gonski on Posted in Appellate, Contracts, Energy & Natural Resources, Energy Litigation, Environmental, Legacy Litigation, Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Property Law, Subsequent Purchaser Doctrine
While oil and gas company-defendants—and several courts alike—have deemed the applicability of the subsequent purchaser doctrine to mineral leases a settled issue of law, plaintiff-landowners have continued to argue otherwise.  In a unanimous opinion issued July 18, 2018 in Grace Ranch, LLC v. BP America Production Company, et al., the Third Circuit not only provides … Continue Reading

Federal Circuit Holds U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Not Liable for Hurricane Katrina Flood Damage

By Katie Seegers Roth on Posted in Appellate, Business Litigation, Constitutional, Construction, Energy Litigation, Litigation, Mass Tort & Class Action, Property Law
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently issued a significant opinion in a case in which a takings claim was asserted to redress Hurricane Katrina-related flood damage.  On April 20, 2018, it reversed a decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“Claims Court”), which had held the U.S. Army … Continue Reading

Louisiana Supreme Court Upholds Expropriation of Commercial Venture

By Cheryl M. Kornick and Matthew D. Simone on Posted in Appellate, Business Law, Business Litigation, Constitutional, Energy Litigation, Industry News, Litigation, Louisiana Law, Louisiana Mineral Law, Oil & Gas, Pipeline, Property Law
In a decision announced this week, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality and method of compensation for the expropriation by a governmental body of property owned by an ongoing commercial venture.   In St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District v. Violet Dock Port, Inc., LLC, the St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District … Continue Reading

The Dusky Gopher Frog is Heading to the United States Supreme Court

By Mark L. McNamara and Collin R. Melancon on Posted in Environmental, Litigation, Property Law
In July 2017, Weyerhaeuser Company, a Louisiana landowner and timber lessee, filed a Petition for a writ of certiorari asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (“FWS”) designation of private land in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana as “critical habitat” for the endangered dusky gopher frog.  The FWS made … Continue Reading

(Plaintiffs Claiming) Trespass Beware

By Elizabeth S. Wheeler and Erin Bambrick on Posted in Energy Litigation, Pipeline, Property Law
In Chauvin v. Shell Oil Company, the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the trial court granting summary judgment to defendants on Plaintiffs’ trespass action.  In doing so, the Fifth Circuit made clear that to succeed on a trespass claim when the contracts at issue are ambiguous, parole evidence from the … Continue Reading

Federal Court Finds A Continuing Duty Under Louisiana Law To Prevent The Erosion of Pipeline Canals

By Laura Springer Brown and Kelly Brechtel Becker on Posted in Environmental, Legacy Litigation, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Oil & Gas Contracts, Pipeline, Property Law
A recent decision from the Eastern District of Louisiana provides a mixed bag for pipeline companies or others whose operations involve canals.  Significantly, the decision from Judge Milazzo holds that during the existence of a right-of-way/servitude, Louisiana servitude law imposes a continuing duty to prevent canals from expanding and widening over time, unless unambiguous contractual … Continue Reading

Thinking About Improving Your Louisiana Facility? Follow These Steps or Risk Unlimited Lien Liability Under Louisiana’s Private Works Act

By Shannon S. Holtzman on Posted in Construction, Louisiana Law, Property Law
If a subcontractor or supplier on a Louisiana construction project is not paid in full, it can file a lien against the owner’s property and sue the owner for payment even though it did not contract with the owner and even if the owner has fully paid the general contractor.  This can occur on any … Continue Reading

Louisiana Second Circuit Addresses: (1) Creation of Mineral Servitudes Via Notarial Acts of Correction; (2) Obstacles Suspending the Prescription of Nonuse from Running Against Mineral Servitudes; and (3) Payment of Court Costs in Concursus Actions

By Brittan J. Bush on Posted in Exploration and Production, Litigation, Louisiana Mineral Law, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Mineral Servitudes, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Property Law
In Petro-Chem Operating Co., Inc. v. Flat River Farms, L.L.C., the Louisiana Second Circuit addressed issues affecting the creation and preservation of mineral servitudes and payment of court costs in a concursus action.[1] In the case, an operator initiated a concursus action seeking to resolve ownership interest in minerals underlying property on which it was … Continue Reading

The Dusky Gopher Frog Lives to Fight Another Day: Fifth Circuit Denies Rehearing

By Collin R. Melancon on Posted in Environmental, Property Law
On February 13, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Defendants’ Petition for Rehearing En Banc in the case titled Markle Interests, L.L.C., et al. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, et al. The Defendants, who are timber and commercial developers, requested that the Court rehear the June 30, 2016 panel … Continue Reading

Expropriated Servitudes: They Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon

By Catherine Sens Napolitano and Cheryl M. Kornick on Posted in Litigation, Louisiana Oil & Gas Law, Pipeline, Property Law
The Third Circuit recently released an unpublished opinion making clear that when a pipeline company expropriates a servitude, the servitude is “perpetual,” and a Court cannot impose a term on that servitude.  The Third Circuit also held that a landowner must prove any damages over and above the fair market value of the property, and … Continue Reading

Servitudes: Didn’t They Get the Memo?

By Catherine Sens Napolitano, Cheryl M. Kornick, John Wilson and Matthew D. Simone on Posted in Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Pipeline, Property Law
The question often arises whether, in Louisiana, a party can file in the public record a “memorandum of servitude” rather than the full servitude.  If the parties do that, any unrecorded provisions may not be binding on third parties. Other states’ laws may provide that recordation of such a memorandum of easement, the common law … Continue Reading

Louisiana Flooding – Legal Update

By Jackie E. Hickman and Cheryl M. Kornick on Posted in Environmental, Exploration and Production, Industry News, Insurance, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Pipeline, Property Law, Regulatory
The Liskow & Lewis family stands by our friends and neighbors throughout the unprecedented flooding in our community. As we begin the long process of recovery, here is a brief legal update on the response of various courts and state agencies: State courts: Governor John Bel Edwards has issued an executive order which purports to suspend … Continue Reading

All or Nothing: Regulators Strictly Define Pipeline Abandonment

By Catherine Sens Napolitano, Matthew D. Simone and Cheryl M. Kornick on Posted in Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Pipeline, Property Law, Regulatory
On August 16th, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) issued an advisory bulletin to clarify the regulatory requirements that may vary depending on the operational status of a pipeline under 49 C.F.R. Parts 192 and 195 (2016).… Continue Reading

The Dusky Gopher Frog Causes Big Problems for Industrial and Commercial Development in Parts of St. Tammany Parish

By Collin R. Melancon and James E. Lapeze on Posted in Environmental, Exploration and Production, Litigation, Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Contracts, Pipeline, Property Law, Regulatory
In 2010, under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“the FWS”) designated 6,477 acres in Mississippi and Louisiana as “critical habitat” for the Rana sevosa or the dusky gopher frog.  This frog has historically lived in nine counties or parishes across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  Since its 2001 designation … Continue Reading

Regulating the Regulators: Supreme Court Allows Judicial Review of Clean Water Act Determinations

By Laura Springer Brown and Kelly Brechtel Becker on Posted in Environmental, Exploration and Production, Industry News, Litigation, Offshore, Oil & Gas, Pipeline, Property Law, Regulatory
The United States Supreme Court recently addressed whether the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ determination that wetlands are “waters of the United States” constitutes a final agency action that is subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc., 15-290, 2016 WL 3041052 (U.S. … Continue Reading

Failure to Timely Pay Texas Ad Valorem Taxes: Reminders for Taxpayers and Secured Lenders

By John T. Bradford on Posted in Exploration and Production, Industry News, Oil & Gas, Property Law, Tax, Texas
The extended downturn in the oilfield economy is showing up in some taxpayers’ inability to pay their Texas real property and personal property ad valorem taxes when those taxes become due.  This note reminds taxpayers what happens when the ad valorem taxes are not timely paid.  It also reminds lenders with security interests in real … Continue Reading

Texas Court of Appeals Rules on Permission Needed for Off-Lease Horizontal Drilling

By Lauren N. Randle on Posted in Exploration and Production, Industry News, Property Law, Texas
The Fourth Court of Appeals recently held that surface owners control the matrix of the underlying earth; thus, a surface owner can give permission to drill through the subsurface to an adjacent lease. In Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, No. 04-14-00903-CV, 2014 Tex. App. Lexis 8673 (Aug. 19, 2015), Anadarko leased the mineral … Continue Reading

Louisiana Supreme Court Denies Plaintiff’s Writ Application in a Move That Will Impact Oil & Gas Legacy Cases

By Liskow & Lewis on Posted in Industry News, Litigation, Oil & Gas Contracts, Property Law
By: Joe Norman, Kelly Becker, James Lapeze, and Kathryn Gonski Recently the Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a ruling that has significant implications on the oil and gas industry in the state. The Court denied the Plaintiff-landowner’s writ application which sought review of a Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal opinion that affirmed dismissal of the landowner’s claims … Continue Reading

Supreme Court of Texas Revises Opinion in Pipeline Common-Carrier Case

By Liskow & Lewis on Posted in Litigation, Pipeline, Property Law
By Carlos Moreno: The Supreme Court of Texas recently delivered a revised opinion discussing the power of eminent domain exercised by a common carrier CO2 pipeline. In Texas Rice Land Partners, LTD v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, No. 09-0901, 2012 Tex. LEXIS 187 (Tex. Mar. 2, 2012), the Court was asked if a landowner can challenge … Continue Reading

Texas Supreme Court Decides Miesch Case

By Liskow & Lewis on Posted in Exploration and Production, Oil & Gas Contracts, Property Law
By Everard Marseglia: Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas issued decisions in two companion cases, No. 05-1076; Exxon Corp., et al. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co., et al. (“Miesch”), and No. 05-0729; Exxon Corp., et al. v. Emerald Oil & Gas Co. (“Emerald”). Butch Marseglia, counsel in Liskow & Lewis’s Houston office, submitted … Continue Reading

Texas Supreme Court decides Garza case

By Liskow & Lewis on Posted in Exploration and Production, Industry News, Property Law
The Texas Supreme Court this morning issued its long-awaited decision in Coastal Oil & Gas Corp. v. Garza Energy Trust, holding that the rule of capture bars recovery for damages for subsurface trespass caused by hydraulic fracturing. A concurring opinion and an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part were also filed. Copies of … Continue Reading
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