A helicopter ditched in the Gulf of Mexico due to engine failure. The pilot escaped unharmed, but the helicopter did not fare as well – it sank to the bottom. 

It is no secret the state of Texas has experienced its fair share of foul weather and property damage claims within the last five years. In 2016, the state experienced one of, if not its most expensive hail and storm season in recent memory with an estimated half-a-million hail-damage claims alone. 

Appellant, Crystal Seafood Company, Inc. appealed an order of the lower holding the seafood processing company and two of its officers jointly and severally liable for a $1,034,228.42 payment received pursuant to a settlement of the company’s claim arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010. 

In this case, Hess Corporation’s predecessor conducted oil operations on property located in Louisiana until 1971 and its oil and gas leases expired in 1973

Anadarko wished to produce minerals beneath the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area controlled by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which, though possible, was subject to considerable restrictions and expensive. 

This dispute arose out of Exxon’s attempt to obtain coverage as an additional insured under the umbrella policy issued to one of its contractors for its exposure arising from the April 2013 Exxon refinery fire which resulted in injuries to at least ten people, two of whom subsequently died. Exxon sued Lexington, as the umbrella carrier of Brock Services, who had three employees injured in the fire, for coverage. Lexington responded by moving to compel arbitration based on the arbitration clause in their policy. The trial court instead ruled the coverage dispute was easily determined “by a factual analysis requiring no interpretation of the policy itself,” and denied arbitration.

In Aldous v. Darwin Nat’l Assurance Co., he plaintiffs, Charla Aldous and her law firm Charla G. Aldous, P.C. d/b/a Aldous Law Firm, sued their professional liability insurer, Darwin National Assurance Company, regarding defense costs Darwin owed, where plaintiffs’ attorney in the underlying malpractice suit also pursued claims for the insured and against the former client. 

In Ledet v. Parker Drilling Offshore USA, L.L.C., et al., following de novo review, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal found the trial court committed reversible error in resolving disputed factual issues and granting summary judgment in Defendants’ favor.

“California has a strong public policy in favor of arbitration,” and therefore, courts generally enforce arbitration clauses unless it is clear that the language of the clause does not cover the asserted dispute. 

In a much-watched decision involving the hotbed issue of consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that consent may not be revoked when it was originally provided as a term of a contract.