On June, 23, 2023, in the decision In re First Reserve Management., L.P., No. 22-0227, 2023 WL 4140454 (Tex. June 23, 2023), the Texas Supreme Court analyzed when a corporate parent’s control over its subsidiary’s operations might give rise to the parent’s liability under a “negligent undertaking” theory.  The Texas Supreme Court held that, in order to sustain a negligent undertaking theory against a corporate parent for its role in its subsidiary’s operations under Texas law, a plaintiff must have proof that the parent engaged in affirmative, direct control of the aspect of the operations of the subsidiary that gave rise to the alleged injury.  It is not enough that the parent appoints directors of the subsidiary, or that it owns a controlling stake in the subsidiary.  The decision emphasizes that a corporate parent’s liability for the actions of its subsidiary is the exception, and not the general rule, and it is a plaintiff’s obligation to plead facts in support of any exception to the general rule that it intends to rely upon. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Multi-District Litigation, Negligence, Texas

On August 3, 2021, in the Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (“MTBE”) MDL the Court ruled that while the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's alter ego allegations were sufficient to pierce the corporate veil as between defendants Lukoil Americas Corporation and its subsidiary Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. for jurisdictional purposes, they were not sufficient to pierce the veil for liability purposes, nor was there successor liability, resulting in the dismissal of all claims against LAC. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Alter Ego, Corporate Veil, Insurance Coverage, Multi-District Litigation, Nuisance, Pennsylvania, Spill Act, Storage Tank, Successor Liability, Water

With increasing frequency, courts around the country are using their inherent power to control the proceedings before them in order to structure environmental and toxic tort cases in such a way as to reduce, as much as possible, cases to their essence and, more importantly, ensure that the time and resources of parties are not needlessly wasted on discovery or lengthy proceedings when spurious claims are brought.  And that’s exactly what has happened in the case of Strudley v. Antero Resources Corp., No. 2011 CV 2218 (Denver Co. Dist. Court  May 9, 2012), where the Court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims against companies involved in drilling natural gas wells when the plaintiffs failed to show, prior to the initiation of discovery, that there was a prima facie basis for associating their personal injury claims with the defendants’ activities. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Decisions of Note, Drilling, Marcellus Shale, Medical Monitoring, Multi-District Litigation, Oil and Gas, Procedure, Real Estate, Toxic Torts

On September 29^th, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia handed down the first significant ruling of many expected to come out of the Multi-District Litigation involving contaminated drinking water at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base.  Judge J. Owen Forrester, who is presiding over what may end up to be thousands of lawsuits alleging illness or death associated with the tainted water, held that the United States could not rely on North Carolina’s 10-year statute of repose to obtain dismissal of a plaintiff’s claims – even though the contamination occurred well more than 10 years prior to the filing of suit. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Camp Lejeune, Cases to Watch, CERCLA, Decisions of Note, Multi-District Litigation, Statute of Repose, Tolling, Toxic Torts