Stockdale v. Ellsworth

• Citation: 407 P.3d 571
• Decision Date: 18 December 2017
• Docket Number: Supreme Court Case No. 16SC798
• Parties: Ruby D. STOCKDALE; Clara Cardwell, individually and as personal representative of Kenneth Ray Cardwell; Jennifer Lynn Lake; and Patricia Ann Rider Jones, a/k/a Patricia Ann Jones, Petitioners v. Chester J. ELLSWORTH, Respondent and Concerning: XTO Energy, Inc.
• Court: Supreme Court of Colorado

407 P.3d 571

Ruby D. STOCKDALE; Clara Cardwell, individually and as personal representative of Kenneth Ray Cardwell; Jennifer Lynn Lake; and Patricia Ann Rider Jones, a/k/a Patricia Ann Jones, Petitioners

v.Chester J. ELLSWORTH, Respondentand Concerning: XTO Energy, Inc.

Supreme Court Case No. 16SC798

Supreme Court of Colorado.

December 18, 2017

Attorneys for Petitioners Ruby D. Stockdale, Clara Cardwell and Patricia Ann Jones: Law Office of John C. Seibert, LLC, John Seibert Durango, Colorado.

Attorneys for Petitioner Jennifer Lynn Lake: Law Office of David Liberman, LLC, David Liberman, Durango, Colorado

No appearance on behalf of Respondent.

En Banc

JUSTICE MÁRQUEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 In 2009, XTO Energy, Inc., filed an interpleader action, seeking to resolve competing claims to oil and gas proceeds held by XTO. XTO named several potential claimants as defendants in the interpleader action, including Seawatch Royalty Partners, LLC (managed by Chester J. Ellsworth) and several alleged heirs of the record owner of the relevant oil and gas interests. After a bench trial, the court concluded that a group of individuals—deemed the true heirs of the record owner—were entitled to the proceeds. Pertinent here, the trial court also ruled that Seawatch's claims and defenses were frivolous; that Seawatch was an alter ego of Ellsworth; and that Seawatch and Ellsworth were jointly and severally liable for any future award of attorneys' fees. Ellsworth was subsequently joined as a party under C.R.C.P. 21 and served via substituted service. The post-judgment sanctions proceedings continued for another several years. During that time, Ellsworth contested his individual liability, arguing that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over him; that he had been improperly served; and that Seawatch was not, in fact, his alter ego. The trial court rejected these arguments and entered judgment jointly and severally against Seawatch and Ellsworth for approximately $1 million in attorneys' fees. Ellsworth appealed pro se.

¶2 In an unpublished opinion, the court of appeals vacated the judgment against Ellsworth, holding that the district court lacked jurisdiction to hold him jointly and severally liable for the attorneys' fee award because, as a nonparty, Ellsworth did not have notice and opportunity to contest his individual liability. XTO Energy, Inc. v. Ellsworth, No. 15CA1114, slip op. at 1, 2016 WL 4498512 (Colo. App. Aug. 25, 2016). Because we conclude that Ellsworth had adequate notice and opportunity to challenge the alter ego findings that established his individual liability, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals.

I. Facts and Procedural History

¶3 In 2009, XTO Energy, Inc., a producer of oil and natural gas, filed an interpleader action to determine the rights to certain oil and gas proceeds held by XTO. At the time of filing, XTO operated two natural gas wells that were extracting gas from an area of pooled mineral interests in the Fruitland Formation in La Plata County. One of the record owners of a mineral interest within the pooled area was Roy P. Cardwell, who had recorded his title in 1938. Because Cardwell and his heirs could not be located in the 1990s when the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission authorized the pooling of interests in the area, the proceeds attributable to Cardwell's interest were held in suspense as the natural gas wells were developed. When XTO filed the interpleader action in 2009, the proceeds attributable to Cardwell's interest totaled approximately $2.7 million.

¶4 In its interpleader complaint, XTO sought a declaratory judgment as to who should receive the proceeds of Cardwell's interest. XTO identified as potential claimants the heirs of a Roy P. Cardwell who died in California in 1971 ("California Heirs"); the heirs of a Roy P. Cardwell who died in Kansas in 1980 ("Kansas Heirs"); and two business entities managed by Chester Ellsworth: CEMPCO, Inc. and Seawatch Royalty Partners, LLC. CEMPCO and the Kansas Heirs withdrew their claims to the proceeds prior to trial, and the remaining parties—Seawatch and the California Heirs—stipulated that the California Heirs were the true heirs of the record owner. Seawatch claimed that it was entitled to the proceeds because it had obtained mineral deeds from the California Heirs. The California Heirs, however, claimed that they were entitled to the proceeds because Seawatch had obtained the mineral deeds from them through fraud or deceit.

¶5 After a seven-day bench trial, the trial court (Judge Dickinson) issued its Findings, Order, and Judgment on November 10, 2011. The trial court granted the California Heirs' claims for rescission of the mineral deeds and assignments to Seawatch, concluding that Ellsworth had obtained them on behalf of Seawatch through fraud and misrepresentation. Specifically, Ellsworth told the California Heirs that there was no oil and gas production in the Cardwell interest and that there may be no minerals to extract, even though Ellsworth (or entities he controlled) had already received over $1 million in proceeds from mineral interests in adjoining lands. Ellsworth also falsely represented to the California Heirs that they could be liable for any costs of production or accidents associated with their interests.

¶6 The trial court found that Seawatch failed to produce any credible evidence to support its assertion that Ellsworth did not make material misstatements or unjustifiably conceal material facts; the court therefore ruled that Seawatch's claims and defenses were frivolous and groundless. Pertinent here, the trial court also concluded that "Seawatch was at all material times an alter ego of Ellsworth," thus piercing the corporate veil and rendering Seawatch and Ellsworth jointly and severally liable for attorneys' fees incurred by XTO and the California Heirs in responding to Seawatch's frivolous claims and defenses.

¶7 Seawatch appealed, raising several arguments. During this first appeal, Seawatch argued, among other things, that the trial court's order holding Ellsworth individually liable for attorneys' fees must be vacated because the court did not have personal jurisdiction over Ellsworth. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment against Seawatch in a unanimous, unpublished decision, but did not address the argument regarding Ellsworth because the trial court had not yet entered final judgment on attorneys' fees. We denied certiorari review. XTO Energy, Inc. v. Seawatch Royalty Partners LLC, Nos. 11CA2388 & 12CA1159, 2013 WL 836040 (Colo. App. March 7, 2013), cert. denied, No. 13SC453, 2014 WL 620402 (Feb. 18, 2014).

¶8 While that appeal was pending, XTO and the California Heirs filed motions seeking attorneys' fees and costs from Seawatch and Ellsworth. XTO and the California Heirs also filed a joint motion to join Ellsworth to the post-judgment proceedings pursuant to C.R.C.P. 21. The trial court granted the motion to join Ellsworth as a party "as authorized by C.R.C.P. 21 and City of Aurora v. Colorado State Engineer, 105 P.3d 595 (Colo. 2005)." After unsuccessful attempts to serve Ellsworth personally, XTO and the California Heirs moved for an order authorizing substituted service, which the trial court granted.

¶9 In 2013, Ellsworth, making what he called a "limited appearance," filed numerous objections and motions in which he argued that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over him and that substituted service had been improper.

¶10 In an order dated April 10, 2014, the trial court denied several pending motions, including Ellsworth's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Judge Herringer, who presided over the case following Judge Dickinson's retirement, held that Judge Dickinson's corporate veil-piercing findings in his November 10, 2011 ruling were "law of the case." Judge Herringer therefore incorporated the earlier findings into the April 2014 order—specifically, that "Seawatch was at all material times an alter ego of Ellsworth"; that Ellsworth, as Seawatch's agent, "engaged in civil conspiracy" and "made material omission[s]"; and that Ellsworth's statements "constitute[d] fraud." The court articulated several additional findings relevant to whether piercing the corporate veil was necessary to achieve an equitable result. The court found, for example, that Seawatch's sole business function was to acquire the mineral deeds from the California Heirs for Ellsworth's benefit; that Seawatch had no business dealings outside the facts that gave rise to this litigation and was controlled entirely by Ellsworth; that Seawatch was apparently insolvent and had no assets, such that limiting liability to Seawatch would foreclose any meaningful opportunity for injured parties to recover for conduct for which Ellsworth was responsible; and that there was no indication that Seawatch's litigation strategy was controlled by anyone other than Ellsworth.

¶11 Ultimately, the court held that Ellsworth was liable for attorneys' fees after concluding that "[t]he only respect in which Ellsworth has treated Seawatch as a corporate entity, independent of him personally, is as a barrier to his personal liability." As a result, "[t]o the extent that Seawatch advanced frivolous argument and made groundless claims," the court ruled, "Ellsworth is the person who should ultimately be held responsible for that conduct."

¶12 About a year later, in an April 8, 2015 order, the trial court awarded fees and costs to XTO and the California Heirs under section 13-17-102, C.R.S. (2017), holding Ellsworth and Seawatch jointly and severally liable. The court instructed XTO and the California Heirs to prepare proposed judgments consistent with its order. Notice of the proposed final judgments was served on Ellsworth. Ellsworth did not file any objections. The court entered separate judgments for XTO and the California Heirs in May 2015.

¶13 Ellsworth appealed pro se, arguing, in relevant part, that when...