It was an interesting week for BLM’s hydraulic fracturing rule first finalized and then immediately challenged on March 26, 2015. On Monday (June 20, 2016), the BLM filed its final brief in the Tenth Circuit arguing that the Wyoming Federal District Court erred when it issued a nationwide injunction of the rule on September 30, […]
On April 1, 2016 the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a significant opinion in the personal injury case Amber Nicole Lompe, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Sunridge Partners, LLC and Apartment Management Consultants, LLC, Defendants-Appellants, 10th Cir. No. 14-8082, vacating and reducing significant punitive damages awards against the owner and property manager, respectively, […]
Colorado House Bill 16-1310 was introduced on March 2, 2016, by State Senator Morgan Carroll (D) and State Representative Joseph Anthony Salazar (D). Under current Colorado law, to prevail on a claim against an oil and gas operator, the surface owner must present evidence that the operator’s use of the surface “materially interfered” with the […]
It goes without saying that use of electronically stored information constitutes a fundamental component of any modern, successful company, but state and federal courts have only recently adjusted their rules of discovery to reflect that. For example, the federal courts recently revised their Rule 37, which concerns sanctions for failing to preserve or produce documents […]
So, you have a bad apple as a member of your Wyoming limited liability company (LLC), how do you get rid of them? The best option is usually to reach an agreement for the company or a specific member to purchase the troublemaker’s membership interest. If, however, an amicable solution cannot be reached, the company […]
In condemnation actions in Colorado, the condemning party must take great care to satisfy legal prerequisites prior to initiating suit and, in most cases, moving for immediate possession of the subject property. By statute, immediate possession will only be granted upon a showing that: 1) a public agency with condemnation power has properly determined that […]
Last week, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered new guidance as to the type of conduct that can support a hostile work environment claim in Macias v. Southwest Cheese Co.,(10th Cir. August 24, 2015) (https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/14/14-2109.pdf). Hostile environment claims require discriminatory conduct that is severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive working environment. When […]
On August 19, 2015 the Fourth District Court of Appeals in San Antonio, Texas, ruled that, because the surface estate owner controls “the matrix of the underlying earth,” it could grant an oil and gas operator the right to site wells on the surface owner’s property and drill through the earth within the […]
On June 1, 2015, in an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Abercrombie & Fitch and for a Muslim job applicant, Elauf, who had been rejected for employment because her headscarf would conflict with the store’s “Look Policy” which prohibited the wearing of caps on the sales floor. E.E.O.C. v. Abercrombie & Fitch […]
On April 27, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari to review a Colorado rancher’s attempt to prevent oil development and related access on his ranch. Petitioner Stull Ranches had requested that the high court review and reverse a 2014 decision of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided […]