Crosstex Energy Services, LP, Crosstex LIG, LLC and Crosstex Processing Services, LLC v. Texas Brine Company, LLC ( 2023 )

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL
FIRST CIRCUIT
2022 CA 0782
CROSSTEX ENERGY SERVICES, LP, CROSSTEX LICA LLC,
AND CROSSTEX PROCESSING SERVICES, LLC
VERSUS
TEXAS BRINE COMPANY, ZURICH AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY &
AMERICAN GUARANTEE AND LIABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY
Judgment Rendered: FEB 17 2023
On Appeal from the 23rd Judicial District Court
In and for the Parish of Assumption
State of Louisiana
Trial Court Docket Number 34202
Hon. Thomas J. Kliebert, Jr. Judge Presiding, Ad Hoc
James M. Garner Counsel for Appellant/
Leopold Z. Sher Third -Party Plaintiff,
Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Texas Brine Company, L.L.C.
Jeffrey D. Kessler
Christopher T. Chocheles
Darnell Bludworth
New Orleans, Louisiana
and
Royce I. Duplessis
New Orleans, Louisiana
and
Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux
Lake Charles, Louisiana
and
Travis J. Turner
Gonzales, Louisiana
and
Robert Ryland Percy, III
Gonzales, Louisiana
He5f") : 5,
e\
Roy C. Cheatwood Counsel for Appellee/
Kent A. Lambert Third -Party Defendant,
Colleen C. Jarrott Legacy Vulcan, LLC
Adam B. Zuckerman
Matthew C. Juneau
Leopoldo J. Yanez
Lauren Brink Adams
New Orleans, Louisiana
BEFORE: HOLDRIDGE, PENZATO, AND HESTER, JJ.
2
PENZATO, J.
This dispute is one of many arising out of the August 2012 sinkhole that
appeared near Bayou Come in Assumption Parish. In this appeal, Texas Brine
Company, LLC challenges a January 18, 2022 judgment that granted Legacy
Vulcan, LLC' s " Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Dismissing Texas Brine' s
Claims Under the Amended Operating Agreement" and dismissed Texas Brine' s
claims against Legacy Vulcan under the parties' Amended Operating Agreement.
After review, we dismiss the appeal and remand the matter to the trial court. The
motion to dismiss the appeal filed by Legacy Vulcan is denied as moot.
In a related appeal, this court recently considered a substantially similar
judgment rendered by the same trial court, on the same day, in a different trial
court docket number. See Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v Texas Brine
Company, LLC, 2022- 0738 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 12129122), So. 3d 2022 WL
17983139 ( No. 34, 265, 23rd Judicial District Court, Assumption Parish). The
judgment at issue in Pontchartrain, So.3d 2022 WL 179831391, * 2- 3, also
granted a " Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Dismissing Texas Brine' s Claims
Under the Amended Operating Agreement" filed by Legacy Vulcan and dismissed
Texas Brine' s contract claims against Legacy Vulcan under the parties' Amended
Operating Agreement. Like the judgment in Pontchartrain, So. 3d 2022
WL 17983139, * 3, the judgment before us in this appeal was designated as a final
judgment pursuant to La. C. C.P. art. 1915.
The appeal in Pontchartrain, So. 3d , 2022 WL 17983139, at * 4, was
dismissed after a different panel of this court determined that subject matter
jurisdiction did not exist. Specifically, this court concluded that the January 18,
2022 partial summary judgment did not meet the requirements of an appealable
final judgment under La. C. C. P. art. 1915( B) and R.J. Messinger, Inc. v.
Rosenblum, 04- 1664 ( La. 312105), 894 So. 2d 1113, 1122. Although Texas Brine
C
and Legacy Vulcan entered into several interdependent contracts, the issue on
appeal was limited to Texas Brine' s claims against Legacy Vulcan for breach of
the parties' Amended Operating Agreement. Therefore, any decision by this court
on these limited claims, " without consideration of the remaining interdependent
contracts and claims thereupon, would merely result in inefficient, piecemeal, and
possibly conflicting resolution of only a minor part of the parties' related contract
claims." Pontchartrain, So. 3d 2022 WL 17983139, at * 4. See La. C. C. P.
art. 2053 (" A doubtful provision [ in a contract] must be interpreted in light of the
nature of the contract, equity, usages, the conduct of the parties before and after the
formation of the contract, and of other contracts ofa like nature between the same
parties.") ( Emphasis added.)
After a thorough review of the record in this appeal, we find no material
distinctions between the judgment and issues presented in this appeal and those
presented in Pontchartrain, So. 3d , 2022 WL 17983139. For the reasons
set forth in Pontchartrain, So. 3d 12022
WL 17983139, we find the January
18, 2022 judgment at issue in this appeal does not meet the requirements of a final
appealable judgment under La. C. C. P. art. 1915( B) and R.J. Messinger, Inc,, 894
So.2d at 1122. Therefore, we lack subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal.
We dismiss the appeal and remand the matter to the trial court for further
proceedings consistent with this opinion-' Considering our disposition of this
matter, the motion to dismiss the appeal filed by Legacy Vulcan is denied as moot.
All costs of this appeal are assessed equally between Texas Brine Company, LLC
and Legacy Vulcan, LLC.
MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL DENIED AS MOOT; APPEAL
DISMISSED; CASE REMANDED.
1 We issue this summary disposition in accordance with Uniform Rules— Courts of Appeal, Rule
2- 16. 2( A)( 1), ( 2), ( 4), and ( 6).
M