From Texas Lawyer
When wealthy people ask jurors to settle their battles, their lawyers run the risk of running headlong into popular sentiment against the “one percent.”
Those were the circumstances last month at a trial that pitted T. Boone Pickens against three Texas oil companies before a Reeves County jury. The litigants wanted to resolve a 10-year-old contractual dispute and after three weeks the trial concluded with the jury issuing a $146 million damages award to Pickens’ company.
But before that, Pickens’ lawyer worked hard to make sure the jury could empathize with him despite his well-known wealth.
“The disparity in economic circumstances between the jurors and all of the parties involved presented some unique considerations,” said Chrysta Castañeda of The Castañeda Firm in Dallas, who served as lead lawyer representing Pickens’ Mesa Petroleum Partners.
“The jury was informed that it had a valuable and important role to play in enforcing the terms of the agreements, which are the ground rules for how companies decide to invest and to conduct their business in the Permian Basin,” Castañeda added.
At the trial, Castañeda argued that the three oil companies failed to abide by an agreement, which would have allowed the Mesa Petroleum founder to acquire and drill more than 160 wells in West Texas.
“It was beneficial that T. Boone Pickens had a well-known reputation for fair dealings in the industry and spoke with conviction and expertise about the importance of enforcing the agreements,” Castañeda said.
“It was also beneficial for the jury to hear about his philanthropy,” she added.
The oil company defendants were represented by Stuart Hollimon, a partner at Andrews Kurth, and Geoff Bracken, a partner at Gardere, both who are from Houston and did not return calls for comment.
The defendants are expected to appeal the verdict.
