Archives: Texas

Fifth Circuit Rules Texas Choice-of-Law Provision Cannot Save Indemnity Agreement from Wyoming Anti-Indemnity Act

By Tom Donaho on January 5, 2022 Posted in Oil and Gas, Texas

Throughout the oil patch, it has become common for parties to enter into agreements that contain Texas choice-of-law provisions, regardless of where the work is being performed or the extent of the parties’ sometimes tenuous relationship to the state of Texas. In Wyoming, parties will occasionally use Texas choice-of-law provisions as a vehicle to bypass … Continue Reading

The Right Way to Obtain Multi-Line Rights in a Right-of-Way Transaction in Texas

By Zach Bernard on October 1, 2021 Posted in Energy, Oil and Gas, Texas

There are many misconceptions about how multi-line rights are created in Texas. Contrary to popular belief, a multiple pipeline right-of-way cannot just be created by changing “pipeline” to “pipelines” in the granting provision.[1] In fact, if there is not an express provision in the easement granting the right to lay additional lines, a court will … Continue Reading

No Takebacks: Consequences of Choosing the Path of Litigation

By Aidan Slavin on June 28, 2021 Posted in Texas

A Houston oil and gas consulting firm waived its right to compel arbitration in a long-standing dispute given its “persistent pursuit of litigation,” the Fifth Circuit held last month in Int’l Energy Ventures Mgmt. L.L.C. v. United Energy Grp., Ltd., 2021 WL 2177062 (5th Cir. May 28, 2021). International Energy Ventures Management (IEVM) first sued United … Continue Reading

The Importance of Knowing The Right Way to Prepare Legal Descriptions in a Right-of-Way Transaction in Texas

By Zach Bernard on May 17, 2021 Posted in Texas

Under Texas law, a blanket easement is “[a]n easement without a metes and bounds description of its location on the property.”[1] It is also considered an easement that covers the entire servient estate.[2] Although some states require that the easement area be smaller than the entire servient estate, Texas does not.[3] For that reason, blanket … Continue Reading