Attorney Larry R. Veselka's Legal Cases

Oil and gas

Talisman Energy USA Inc. and Statoil Texas Onshore Properties, LLC v. Enduring Resources, LLC

Feb 12, 2013

OUTCOME: Dismissal

Mr. Veselka and partner, Ty Doyle, won a complete victory at trial in February 2013 for their client, Enduring Resources, LLC. The court awarded $4.35 million on SKV’s client’s counterclaim and a take ... nothing judgment for plaintiffs. The case concerned whether special payments to the lessors on a lease triggered by the sale of all of Enduring Resources’ assets in the Eagle Ford were an obligation assumed by the purchaser or retained by Enduring Resources as seller. The ruling is important to most asset and sale agreements used in the oil and gas industry today. Mr. Veselka and Mr. Doyle have a petition for review pending before the Texas Supreme Court.

Securities offerings

Somers ex. Rel. EGL, Inc. v. Crane

N/A

OUTCOME: Dismissal

Mr. Veselka defended the members of a special committee of the Board of Directors in direct and derivative claims brought by shareholders when the CEO made an offer to take the public company private. ... The trial court dismissed both the direct class and derivative claims, allowing a $2 billion offer to take the company private and paying the shareholders $47.50 per share when the first bid was $36.00 per share. With Mr. Veselka and other SKV partners handling the briefing and argument, the ruling was affirmed by the First Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court denied review. The ruling clarified important questions of Texas law on shareholder litigation.

Contracts and agreements

United States of America v. Jack Stanley

N/A

OUTCOME: Reduced Sentence

Mr. Veselka represented Mr. Stanley, the former chairman of KBR, in the FCPA prosecution regarding the award of the engineering, design, and construction contract for the Bonny Island LNG project in Ni ... geria. Mr. Stanley was the first cooperator in a prosecution that led to multiple felony guilty pleas, deferred prosecution agreements, and fines or restitution approaching $1.7 billion dollars for multiple multinational corporations and individuals. After pleading guilty under an agreement to serve seven years, SKV convinced the Court to give him the benefit of his cooperation and other factors in reducing the sentence to only 30 months.

Oil and gas

Hosford, et al. v. Stroud Production, LLC, et al

N/A

OUTCOME: Won

In 2014, Larry Veselka and Land Murphy prevailed in the Texas Supreme Court in a closely-watched oil and gas dispute. The litigation arose out of an oil and gas lease termination in the High Island Fi ... eld in Galveston County in 2004. The plaintiffs owned overriding royalty interests in the lease and argued that they were injured when the lease terminated for lack of production, extinguishing their overriding royalty interests. The Supreme Court's denial of the plaintiffs' petition for review kept in place the First Court of Appeals’ opinion that SKV's clients owed no duty to the overriding royalty interest owner plaintiffs and reversed a judgment entered by the District Court against Stroud Production LLC, et al. The Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiffs' theory that the Stroud entities owed the plaintiffs special or fiduciary duties arising out of the assignment of overriding royalty interests. SKV partners Larry R. Veselka and Land Murphy tried the case and briefed and argued the appeal and briefed the petition for review in the Texas Supreme Court. Plaintiffs were asserting claims unrecognized in Texas and which would have disrupted well-established concepts of Texas oil and gas law.

Securities offerings

Criminal/Civil/Regulatory Investigation and Litigation

N/A

OUTCOME: Settled

Mr. Veselka represented former head of exploration and production for a Fortune 500 energy corporation in a four-year criminal/civil/regulatory investigation and litigation arising from the corporation ... 's $1 billion write-down of reserves. The federal criminal investigation resulted in no indictments. The civil class action shareholder and derivative cases settled with no contribution by our client. The SEC case settled with a consent decree neither admitting nor denying charges but with SEC agreement to allege only claims based on negligent conduct and not fraud.

Securities offerings

Publicly Traded Healthcare Company

N/A

OUTCOME: Dismissal

Obtained dismissal of a multimillion dollar securities class action in federal district court and a related derivative action in state district court for the same publicly traded healthcare company. T ... he class action plaintiffs ultimately dismissed their appeal of the class action dismissal two weeks before the argument before the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Intellectual property

Lanham Act Violations

N/A

OUTCOME: Deferred Prosecution

Successfully obtained a resolution by deferred prosecution agreement in Department of Justice investigation of alleged Lanham Act violations in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon.

Construction and development

NL Industries

N/A

OUTCOME: Summary Judgment

Obtained successful summary judgment for NL Industries, dismissing case seeking tens of millions of dollars in remediation of lead paint in school district buildings. SKV got the summary judgment affi ... rmed by the Court of Appeals. The basis of summary judgment - lack of proof of causation - led to voluntary dismissals of four other cases around Texas in addition to two other cases in Harris County.

Larry R. Veselka's Legal Cases (8)

Talisman Energy USA Inc. and Statoil Texas Onshore Properties, LLC v. Enduring Resources, LLC

Somers ex. Rel. EGL, Inc. v. Crane

United States of America v. Jack Stanley

Hosford, et al. v. Stroud Production, LLC, et al

Criminal/Civil/Regulatory Investigation and Litigation

Publicly Traded Healthcare Company

Lanham Act Violations

NL Industries