Comer v. Murphy Oil U.S.A.

Citation598 F.3d 208
Decision Date06 February 2010
Docket NumberNo. 07-60756.,07-60756.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
PartiesNed COMER; Brenda Comer; Eric Haygood, husband of Brenda Haygood; Brenda Haygood; Larry Hunter, husband of Sandra L. Hunter; Sandra L. Hunter; Mitchell Kisielweski, husband of Johanna Kisielweski; Johanna Kisielweski; Elliott Roumain, husband of Rosemary Roumain; Rosemary Roumain; Judy Olson; David Lain, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. MURPHY OIL USA; Universal Oil Products (UOP); Shell Oil Company; Exxonmobil Corp.; AES Corp.; Allegheny Energy, Inc.; Alliance Resource Partners LP; Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.; Arch Coal, Inc.; BP America Production Company; BP Products North America, Inc.; Cinergy Corp.; Conocophillips Company; Consol Energy, Inc.; The Dow Chemical Company; Duke Energy Corp.; Eon AG; E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co.; Entergy Corp.; Firstenergy Corp.; Foundation Coal Holdings, Inc.; FPL Group, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; International Coal Group, Inc.; Massey Energy Co.; Natural Resource Partners LP; Peabody Energy Corp.; Reliant Energy, Inc.; Tennessee Valley Authority; Westmoreland Coal Co.; Xcel Energy, Inc.; Chevron USA, Inc.; The American Petroleum Institute, Defendants-Appellees.

F. Gerald Maples (argued), Carl Dwight Campbell, III, Machelle Rae Lee Hall, F Gerald Maples, P.A., Carlos A. Zelaya, II Maples & Kirwan, L.L.C., New Orleans LA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Kerry J. Miller, Benjamin Melvin Castoriano, Paul C, Thibodeaux, Frilot, L.L.C. New Orleans, LA, Shellye V. McDonald Richard Patrick Salloum, Franke & Salloum, P.L.L.C., Gulfport, MS, for Murphy Oil USA, Universal Oil Products and Honeyell Intern., Inc.

Michael Raudon Phillips, Louis Matthew Grossman, Anthony Michael Williams, Kean, Miller, Hawthorne, D'Armond, McCowan & Jarman, L.L.P., New Orleans, LA, for Universal Oil Products and Honeywell Intern., Inc.

Mary S. Johnson, Johnson Gray McNamara, L.L.C., Mandeville, LA, Daniel Paul Collins, Munger, Tolles & Olson, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, David Lee Martindale, Cypress, TX, Thomas M. McNamara, Johnson, Gray, McNamara, L.L.C., Lafayette, LA, for Shell Oil Co. and Chevron USA, Inc.

Richard L. Forman, Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz & Taedy, L.L.P., Jackson, MS, John F. Daum, O'Melveny & Myers, Los Angeles, CA, Thomas Lynn Carpenter, Carr, Allison, Pugh, Howard, Oliver & Sisson, P.C., Gulfport, MS, Rick Richmond, Brent L. Caslin, Kenneth Kiyul Lee, Kelly Marie Morrison, Jenner & Block, L.L.P., Los Angeles, CA, for ExxonMobil Corp.

William Lee Watt, Christopher Ray Fontan, Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, P.L.L.C., Jackson, MS, for Allegheny Energy, Inc. and Reliant Energy, Inc.

Kathleen Taylor Sooy, Tracy Roman, Scott L. Winkelman (argued), Crowell & Moring, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Robert Donald Gholson, Gholson, Burson, Entrekin & Orr, P.A., Laurel, MS, for Alliance Resource Partners, LP, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., Arch Coal, Inc., Consol. Energy, Inc., Found. Coal Holdings, Inc., Intern. Coal Group, Inc., Massey Energy Co., Natural Resource Partners LP, Peabody Energy Corp. and Westmoreland Coal Co.

Michael B. Gerrard, Nancy Gordon Milburn, Arnold & Porter, L.L.P., New York City, John Gwin Wheeler, Mitchell, McNutt & Sams, P.A., Tupelo, MS, for BP America Production Co. and BP Products North America, Inc. Peter D. Keisler, Quin Mikael Sorenson, Sidley Austin, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Cinergy Corp. and Duke Energy Corp.

Kenneth W. Barton, Benjamin McRae Watson, Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada, P.L.L.C., Ridgeland, MS, for ConocoPhillips Co.

Timothy S. Bishop, Justin Bishop Grewell, Herbert L. Zarov, Mayer Brown, L.L.P., Chicago, IL, Ronald G. Peresich, Michael Edward Whitehead, Page, Mannino, Peresich & McDermott, P.L.L.C., Biloxi, MS, Charles, Stephen Kelley, Mayer Brown, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Dow Chemical Co.

Raymond Michael Ripple, Donna L. Goodman, DuPont Legal, Wilmington, DE, Lawrence E. Abbott, Abbott, Simses & Kuchler, Covington, LA, for E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co.

Charles Edwin Ross, William B. Lovett, Jr., Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway, P.A., Jackson, MS, for Entergy Corp.

Edwin Warren Small, Asst. Gen. Counsel, TVA, Knoxville, TN, for TVA.

Thomas E. Fennell, Michael L. Rice, Jones Day, Dallas, TX, John G. Corlew, Kathy K. Smith, Corlew, Munford & Smith, P.L.L.C, Jackson, MS, Kevin Patrick Holewinski, Jones Day, Washington, DC, for Xcel Energy, Inc.

Robert E. Meadows, Jonathan Lawrence Marsh, Tracie Jo Renfroe, King & Spalding, L.L.P., Houston, TX, for Chevron USA, Inc.

Robert Allen Long, Jr., Covington & Burling, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for American Petroleum Institute.

Raymond Bernard Ludwiszewski, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, L.L.P., Washington, DC, Ellen J. Gleberman, Ass'n of Intern. Auto. Mfrs., Arlington, VA, for Ass'n of Intern. Auto. Mfrs., Inc., Amicus Curiae.

Edgar Robert Haden, Michael David Freeman, Balch &...

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6 cases
  • Freeman v. Grain Processing Corp.
    • United States
    • Iowa Supreme Court
    • June 13, 2014
    ...question doctrine. See, e.g., Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc. (Comer II), 585 F.3d 855, 869–76 (5th Cir.2009), reh'g granted, 598 F.3d 208, 210 (5th Cir.), dismissed on reh'g for lack of quorum, 607 F.3d 1049, 1055 (5th Cir.2010); Connecticut v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 582 F.3d 309, 321–32 (2d C......
  • Abecassis v. Wyatt
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas
    • March 31, 2010
    ...cite in support of their attenuated theory of causation, has been vacated and the motion for rehearing en banc granted. Comer v. Murphy Oil, 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir.2010). 9. The amount of money at issue here is apparently less than in Rothstein, in which UBS was forced to pay a $100 million ......
  • De Venezuela v. John Deere Thibodeaux, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • December 13, 2012
    ...and Venezuela, U.S.-Venez., art. XIII, Jan. 20, 1836, 8 Stat. 466, 1836 WL 3643. 3.Vacated on other grounds on grant of rehearing en banc,598 F.3d 208,en banc appeal dismissed for lack of quorum,607 F.3d 1049 (5th Cir.2010). 4. Servicios also asserts a theory of recovery pursuant to the Lou......
  • Comer v. Murphy Oil U.S.A.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • May 28, 2010
    ...en banc. The nine active circuit judges who were not recused at that time granted rehearing en banc by a vote of six to three. 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir.2010). Then, in April 2010, one of those nine judges became recused, leaving eight out of sixteen active judges still able to participate in t......
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2 firm's commentaries
  • Cooling Off Public Nuisance Claims
    • United States
    • Mondaq United States
    • October 15, 2012
    ...USA, 585 F.3d 855 (5th Cir. 2009). The Fifth Circuit granted rehearing en banc, which vacated the panel opinion. Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir. 2010). "After the en banc court was properly constituted, new circumstances arose that caused the disqualification and recusal of ......
  • Agricultural Management Committee Newsletter
    • United States
    • Mondaq United States
    • February 26, 2013
    ...Electric, the Fifth Circuit reached a similar conclusion in Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 585 F.3d 855 (5th Cir. 2009), reh'g en banc granted, 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir. 2010), on reh'g en banc, 607 F.3d 1049 (5th Cir. 2010). The plaintiffs in Comer filed a class action against a group of energy, fo......
7 books & journal articles
  • Litigating Climate Change in National Courts: Recent Trends and Developments in Global Climate Law
    • United States
    • Environmental Law Reporter No. 47-2, February 2017
    • February 1, 2017
    ...ordered a rehearing en banc, but lost the necessary quorum to proceed; it nonetheless vacated the judgment. Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir.), on reh’g en banc , 607 F.3d 1049, 40 ELR 20147 (5th Cir. 2010). he Supreme Court refused to issue a mandamus order, and the plaintifs......
  • Climate of Confusion: Climate Change Litigation in the Wake of American Electric Power v. Connecticut
    • United States
    • Georgia State University College of Law Georgia State Law Reviews No. 29-3, March 2013
    • Invalid date
    ...103 (1972).60. Milwaukee II, 451 U.S. at 332. 61. See, e.g., Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 585 F.3d 855 (5th Cir. 2009), reh'g en banc granted, 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir. 2010), vacated, 607 F.3d 1049, 1054 (5th Cir. 2010) (en banc); Native Vill. of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corp., 663 F. Supp. 2d 863 ......
  • From Climate Change and Hurricanes to Ecological Nuisances: Common Law Remedies for Public Law Failures?
    • United States
    • Georgia State University College of Law Georgia State Law Reviews No. 27-3, March 2011
    • Invalid date
    ...Washington University School of Law. 1. See, e.g., Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 585 F.3d 855 (5th Cir. 2009), vacated, reh'g granted en banc, 598 F.3d 208 (5th Cir. 2010), appeal dismissed, 607 F.3d 1049 (5th Cir. 2010); Connecticut v. Am. Elec. Power Co., 582 F.3d 309 (2d Cir. 2009); In re Kat......
  • The misuse of public nuisance law to address climate change.
    • United States
    • Defense Counsel Journal Vol. 78 No. 2, April 2011
    • April 1, 2011
    ...(153) Id. at 873-874. (154) Id. (155) 451 U.S. 304. (156) Comer, 585 F.3d at 878. (157) Id. at 878-879. (158) Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 598 F.3d 208, 210 (5th Cir. (159) Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, 607 F.3d 1049 (5th Cir. 2010). (160) Id. at 1054. (161) Id. (162) Toyota Motor North America, Inc......
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