Enterprise Products Partners Victory Over ETP Dubbed “Stern Justice”

A Texas Lawyer story on the jury victory of Houston-based Enterprise Products Pipeline LP  over rival Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP began :  “A group of Houston jurors recently doled out stern justice to a natural gas pipeline operator they determined to be shirking its contractual duties.”

The story noted the jury found “Energy Transfer breached its contract with Enterprise by failing to properly maintain the Old Ocean natural gas pipeline so Enterprise could service its broad customer base in the Gulf Coast area . . . (and)  awarded Enterprise $2.2 million in lease payment reimbursements and $1.5 million in legal fees after the four-week trial.”

Rusty Hardin, the partner and founder of Rusty Hardin & Associates in Houston, tried the case along with firm partners Jeremy Monthy,  Andy Drumheller and Joe Roden and senior attorney Carolyn Courville. Texas Lawyer quoted Mr. Hardin saying: “A pipeline operator cannot ignore its responsibility to maintain a pipeline just because it’s not to its economic benefit when others have a right to flow through the pipeline.”

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