A competitor of Bauer-Pileco Inc., an industrial engineering company that supplies equipment used to drive foundation piles, or poles, into the ground sued the company and its CEO in federal court. The competitor claimed trademark infringement, unfair competition and tortious interference, seeking damages and a permanent injunction. Representing Bauer-Pileco were firm partners Eileen O’Neill, Don Jackson and Wesley Jackson. After the plaintiff rested, defendants moved for judgment as a matter of law on all claims. The case settled shortly afterward on terms favorable to defendants before the court’s ruling and closing arguments.
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Construction and engineering companies see $654.5 million jury verdict in case over non-payment and fraud in downstream gas plant construction.
A Houston jury awarded $654.5 million to firm clients Bay Ltd. and Gulsby Bay Plant Partners after a six-month trial. It was recognized as one of the top U.S. verdicts of the year. The jury agreed that Gulf Liquids and Williams Energy breached a contract and committed fraud in connection with the construction of two downstream gas plants in Louisiana.
Firm attorneys Don Jackson and Dennis Barrow served as co-lead counsel, and Eileen O’Neill was trial appellate counsel. The case subsequently settled for a confidential amount on appeal and Bay Ltd. remains a valued clients. The entire jury verdict was for $699.5 million including other co-plaintiffs.
Clients win energy sector international arbitration involving billions of dollars and government shareholder oppression.
Client Consolidated Energy Ltd. had a large interest in a downstream gas business in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago when its local partner’s business collapsed. The government purchased the shares in what was supposed to be a temporary bailout. Ware Jackson lawyers were successful in every aspect of this extraordinarily complex case to enable their client to take control of the business. The case spanned five years and several continents and was litigated in the International Court of Arbitration in London.
Partner Eileen O’Neill proved there was shareholder oppression by the government and eventually forced the island nation to sell control of the multibillion-dollar business, Methanol Holdings Trinidad Ltd., at a $675 million discount to Consolidated Energy. Trinidad demanded $1.85 billion, but after a series of hearings in London, Consolidated Energy wound up only having to pay $1.175 billion to acquire the shares and gain control of the venture.
Appellate court grants client-requested arbitration in oilfield dispute worth nearly $1 billion.
The firm secured a reversal in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ensuring arbitration for National Oilwell Varco entities in an energy sector lawsuit alleging nearly $1 billion in damages.
Firm partner Eileen O’Neill, representing a group of NOV companies as lead appellate counsel, convinced the appeals court to reverse a Houston federal court ruling denying NOV’s motion to compel an ICC arbitration. The appellate court found the trial court had erred in finding that an arbitration clause in standardized industry terms enclosed with an equipment quote was not part of the parties’ contract. The appellate court also found the trial court erred in finding that NOV Norway’s right to arbitrate was waived just because affiliated co-defendants engaged in discovery before it was served with the suit.
Firm clients win $25 million settlement with Kinder Morgan plus additional confidential settlement in energy sector partnership agreement breach.
The $25 million settlement stemmed from a $44 million jury verdict in DeWitt County, Texas, that was won by firm lawyers Eileen O’Neill and Paul Smith for clients Mel R. Sweatman and Paz Gas Corp. The lawsuit charged that Kinder Morgan and other defendants breached a partnership agreement to share natural gas contract profits, and included allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, tortious interference, and conversion. In reaching their verdict, jurors found that the defendants wrongfully caused gas volumes to be shipped on a pipeline outside of the partnership.
The post-trial settlement included Kinder Morgan’s $25 million payment and additional confidential settlements. Of the public $25 million portion, the client received $17,341,209 after deduction of $7,658,791 for fees and expenses.
Partners Eileen O’Neill and Tim Lee successfully represented oilfield services company in bill of review case to set aside default judgment for over $500,000 in case where summary judgment was eventually obtained on plaintiff’s claim.
Eileen O’Neill and Tim Lee represented a Fortune 500 oilfield services company as appellate co-counsel in a bill of review suit prosecuted by Eileen and appeal simultaneously prosecuted by Tim to set aside a default judgment for $500,000 plus post-judgment interest obtained by plaintiff in a personal injury suit. The trial court granted the bill of review and set aside the judgment and the appeal was dismissed. Ultimately, trial counsel, Phil Griffis obtained a summary judgment that the opposing party take nothing on his claim.
In Shell Trading (US) Company v. Lion Oil Trading & Transportation, Ware, Jackson, Lee, O’Neill, Smith & Barrow, LLP partners win summary judgment of no liability for breach of four crude oil buy/sell agreements defeating claims of nearly $15,000,000. Affirmed on appeal.
Partners Don Jackson and Eileen O’Neill represented our client, an independent oil refiner. Our client entered into 5 buy/sell agreements with Shell Trading to secure crude oil to run in its refinery in September 2008. The basic agreement was that Lion would swap barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude for barrels of Gulf of Mexico crude. Lion delivered the barrels it contracted to deliver, but due to disruptions caused by Hurricane Ike, Shell Trading was unable to deliver its barrels in September. Lion Oil, needing crude oil for its refinery, covered by purchasing crude on the open market. After September, the price of crude dropped dramatically. Shell Trading then took the position that the buy/sell agreements permitted it to deliver the barrels sometime in the future and obligated Lion Oil to take the barrels and to pay the September contract price. Lion Oil offered to accept those barrels at a lower current market price, but refused to accept the late-delivered barrels at the higher contract price. On four of the five contracts the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of our client. That was upheld on appeal. See, Shell Trading (US) Company v. Lion Oil Trading & Transportation, 2012 WL 3958029 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.], 2013, pet. denied). After the judgment was affirmed, the parties settled the remaining contract. Other team members included associate Michelle Meriam.
Partners Eileen O’Neill and Paul Smith obtain a satisfactory settlement and apology letters from KPRC-TV (Houston Channel 2) for Dr. Daniel Dugi in defamation suit.
Eileen O’Neill and Paul Smith were co-trial counsel with Mr. Michael Sheppard of Sheppard & Cain in a case brought by their client Dr. Daniel Dugi against nurse anesthetist Timothy Goosby, KPRC-TV (Houston Channel 2), its parent company, investigative reporter, Mr. Stephen Dean, and the station’s news director and assistant news director for defamatory TV and website news reports that wrongly accused Dr. Dugi of using unapproved medication to experiment on his patients. The KPRC-TV defendants moved for and were denied summary judgment and filed a statutory interlocutory appeal. Eileen successfully defended the trial court’s ruling in the court of appeals and Texas Supreme Court and the claims against KPRC-TV defendants subsequently settled favorably for a confidential amount and apology letters. When Timothy Goosby failed to appear for trial, the trial court entered judgment against him in favor of Dr. Dugi for $3,000,000 in actual damages and $3,000,000 in punitive damages.
Partner Eileen O’Neill assisted National Oilwell Varco in reaching favorable settlement of claim in excess of $10 million for damages to offshore oil and gas platform.
Eileen O’Neill acted as co-counsel representing a group of National Oilwell Varco companies against a suit where a group of BP entities and their insurance company claimed they suffered in excess of $10 million as a result of the loss of the drilling rig on the Mad Dog Spar located on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Ike. The case was favorably settled during discovery pursuant to a confidential agreement.
Ware, Jackson, Lee, O’Neill, Smith & Barrow, LLP obtained a $6,000,000 arbitration award on behalf of a construction company client, and the defendant ultimately paid the full $6,000,000 arbitration award without deduction.
Ware, Jackson, Lee, O’Neill, Smith & Barrow, LLP attorneys, Don Jackson, Dennis Barrow, and Eileen O’Neill, represented a large, multi-national construction company in an arbitration proceeding against a general contractor who refused to pay for work. The general contractor also sued our client for $5,000,000 in damages. The claims proceeded to arbitration. In the arbitrator’s award, our client received their $6,000,000 plus arbitration claim in the award down to the last penny. The defendant received nothing on its $5,000,000 claim.