(June 21)
Louisiana parishes shouldn’t count on seeing money from lawsuits against oil companies any time soon. Indeed, they may never see the money — and they may not deserve it.
As I have argued for years, there’s a way that is better than lawsuits to get energy-exploration companies to contribute to wetlands preservation. My way is predictable. Dubious lawsuits aren’t.
First, though, let’s understand the current state of play.
Alas, an absurdly long-running set of legal battles now will get even longer, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 16 accepting a procedural challenge from Chevron that may essentially block April’s $745 million jury verdict against the oil giant in Plaquemines Parish. The high court case also could hobble 42 similar lawsuits trying to recover for Louisiana wetlands damage partially caused by energy-company pipelines and drilling.
OK: Bear with me, because this could sound more complicated than it really is.
The only question directly before the Supreme Court is whether this case should be adjudicated in federal court rather than in a state court’s jury trial. In practical terms, a federal court with a judge relying strictly on written law, “free from local interests or prejudice” (quoting the relevant statute), is thought to give more of a fighting chance to the energy company. A local jury, by contrast, may be susceptible to the emotional attraction of securing hundreds of millions of dollars from a wealthy entity blamed for destroying the state’s marshlands — no matter what the law actually says.
Chevron’s legal argument, in plain language, is that because some of the pipelines at issue were laid specifically to fulfill contracts with the federal government, federal courts rather than state courts have jurisdiction over the case.
The high court will hear Chevron’s appeal on this procedural issue at some point during its 2025-2026 term that begins in October. If Chevron wins, the case starts all over again in federal court, which could undercut the Plaquemines jury verdict….. [The full column is at this link.]
