Articles of Interest
LOGAN SIMMONS HIRED BY FORT WORTH COURT OF APPEALS
Curnutt & Hafer, LLP is proud to announce that Senior Associate Attorney Logan Simmons was recently hired by the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, Texas. He will work as Staff Attorney for Justice Sue Walker. The firm will miss Logan but knows that he will...
Curnutt & Hafer Wins Appeal for Oil and Gas Client
This week the 10th Court of Appeals issued a unanimous opinion for the firm’s client, Devon Energy, reversing a trial court order and rendering a take nothing judgment for the client. Kelly Curnutt and Adam Alexander successfully argued for the firm that the...
Obamacare: Did the Supreme Court get it wrong? You be the judge.
In King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court upheld a provision of the Affordable Care Act making subsidies available for all, whether they used a state or federal exchange. The ruling also affirms the mandate that employers may be subject to potential penalties with respect...
Bicycle safety laws may finally be taken up in Texas during the next legislative session
Millions of Texans are bicycle enthusiasts, and it is hard for them to find places to ride safely. Unfortunately every year, hundreds of bicyclists are injured or killed while riding on Texas’s streets and highways. Positive changes to the law may be on the way for...
The dangerous intersection of indemnity provisions and insurance requirements: Is your company at risk?
The Texas Supreme Court recently handed down a decision, In re Deepwater Horizon, which illustrated dangerous holes that companies should actively seek to avoid regarding indemnity and insurance provisions. In the Deepwater decision, BP was left with a lot of...
Local Fracking Bans Banned
On May 18, 2015, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 40, which pre-empts regulation of oil and gas activity at the municipal and local levels, and places that duty and power with the State. In addition, the newly enacted law requires that any local...
Spoliation of Evidence: The Texas Supreme Court’s Recent Decision in Brookshire Brothers, LTD. v. Jerry Aldridge
The Texas Supreme Court recently handed down its long-awaited decision concerning the spoliation of evidence in Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Jerry Aldridge, 2014 Tex. LEXIS 562 (Tex. 2014). Spoliation concerns the improper destruction of evidence, proof of which may...
Adverse Possession: An Overview
Adverse possession refers to a process through which a person can gain legal title to real property belonging to another by possessing it for a certain length of time. While this doctrine may seem harsh at first glance (it essentially allows property to be taken away...
Doug Hafer to Present Royalty Mispayment Webinar
Along with Daniel Mathis of Devon Energy, Doug Hafer will be speaking at an upcoming Strafford live webinar; the topic will be “Mineral Royalty Mispayments: A Discussion of Common Mispayment Scenarios and Applicable Law.” It is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 21,...
Victory Obtained in First District Court of Appeals for Oil and Gas Client
The Houston-based First District Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgement ruling obtained by Kelly J. Curnutt and Logan W. Simmons on behalf of their oil and gas client. The plaintiff, a surface owner, sought over $500,000 in damages, alleging a purported...
Firm Recovers for Injured Truck Driver
Curnutt & Hafer, LLC recently concluded settlement for a truck driver injured in a wreck that occurred when another driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel, and struck the client’s front wheel from the opposite direction on a rural highway. The client...
Settlement Obtained for Client in Breach of Contract Case
Douglas R. Hafer and Logan W. Simmons represented a small business owner who had sold his company. Significant disputes arose over what was acquired and the parties’ obligations. The small business owner sought over a million dollars in damages relating to the buyer’s...