Laura Springer Brown

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The first of 40 coastal permitting lawsuits to proceed to disposition has been dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

In a ruling released today, Judge Enright of the 24th JDC for Jefferson Parish dismissed The Parish of Jefferson v. Atlantic Richfield Company, finding that the statutory scheme at issue provided administrative channels to investigate and resolve alleged permit violations, and thus those remedies must be exhausted before the plaintiffs could pursue civil damages through the courts.
Continue Reading First Parish Coastal Zone Lawsuit to Proceed to Decision Falls for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

In the watershed Corbello[1] decision, the Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed a $33 million award—the cost to restore property valued at $108,000 to its “original condition” after it was damaged by oil and gas operations.  If Corbello pressed the accelerator on “legacy” litigation, Eagle Pipe tapped the brakes.
Continue Reading Tightening the Timeline for Original Condition: the First Circuit Denies Writ from Ruling Applying Subsequent Purchaser Doctrine to Dismiss Claims Against a Mineral Servitude Owner

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.

On February 1, 2016, a federal district court issued a ruling in Moore v. Denbury, — F.3d — (W.D. La. 2016), with important implications for “legacy” lawsuits in Louisiana.  The court interpreted the 2014 amendments to Act 312 (La. R.S. § 30:29) to hold that “a plaintiff cannot directly recover additional remediation damages…