In a first-of-its-kind ruling, the Dallas Division of the new Texas Business Courts remanded an oil and gas dispute between Energy Transfer and RM clients Culberson Midstream and Moontower Resources back to its original venue in the 193rd District Court of Dallas County, which had been overseeing the lawsuit since 2022.
The Oct. 30, 2024, ruling marked the first time for a Texas Business Court to weigh in on which cases the courts have jurisdiction over, a hot-button issue since Texas’ five new business courts opened Sept. 1, 2024.
After Energy Transfer removed the case to the business court on Sept. 30, 2024, Reese Marketos filed a motion to remand the case back to the original court, arguing that the plain language of the statute that created the Texas Business Courts establishes that only cases that began on or after Sept. 1, 2024 can be removed to the business courts.
“This case is a prime example of why the Legislature included language applying these statutory changes prospectively rather than retroactively,” Reese Marketos wrote in an Oct. 21, 2024 brief, also pointing out that keeping the case in its original venue also makes the most practical sense since the original judge, Bridgett Whitmore, has already ruled on substantive issues in the two-and-a-half year case.
“Removing this case from a trial court judge who is familiar with the case and has made multiple substantive rulings just months before the scheduled trial setting is inefficient and unreasonable,” the brief said. “This is the precise result the Legislature sought to avoid in limiting the Business Court to actions filed on or after Sept. 1, 2024.”
Energy Transfer has appealed the ruling to the new Fifteenth Court of Appeals.
The Reese Marketos legal team on this matter includes Joel Reese and Tyler Bexley.
To learn more about the case, read coverage from Law360 and The Texas Lawbook (subscription required).