Obtained court of appeal decision affirming judgment of more than $2 million in favor of a major energy company.

Secured a significant appellate win on behalf of a major energy company in insurance coverage litigation arising from a faulty cement job performed by an oilfield service company on our client’s Texas well.

November 13, 2025 | GableGotwals is pleased to announce a significant appellate win on behalf of a major energy company in its ongoing insurance coverage litigation against certain Underwriters that provided liability insurance coverage to an oilfield service company that performed a faulty cement job on an oil and gas well drilled by our client in Texas. In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part the District Court’s order dismissing our client’s claims.

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling is a significant win, as the Court reversed the dismissal of our client’s claims seeking to enforce Underwriters’ duties to defend and indemnify, allowing those critical claims to proceed on remand. The Court affirmed the dismissal of our client’s insurance bad faith claim.

The case involves our client’s efforts to hold Underwriters responsible for paying several million dollars in damages arising from the faulty cement job performed on the well. The major energy company contends the faulty cement job required it to remove a 7,000-foot cement plug from the well, remediate the well, plug and abandon the well, and ultimately drill and complete an entirely new replacement well.

“This is a fantastic result for our client. It can be difficult to obtain a reversal from the Fifth Circuit, particularly in an insurance coverage case, and we are pleased with the Court’s decision,” said John Sullivan, Shareholder at GableGotwals. According to the Bar Association of the Fifth Circuit and based on information from the Clerk’s office from July 2024 to June 2025, only 6.1% of appeals originating from federal courts in Texas resulted in a reversal.

The GableGotwals team was led by John Sullivan, with key assistance from Amy Fogleman and Brian Tully.

About GableGotwals

GableGotwals® is a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys and 70 other business professionals in Oklahoma and Texas. We represent a diversified client base across the nation, and our connections and reach are global. Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned companies, entrepreneurs, foundations, and individuals entrust us every day with the stewardship and strategic management of their legal challenges.

Following a bench trial that took place on April 24, 2024, the 250th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas entered a Final Judgment in favor of BP America Production Company (BP). The lawsuit was one of several disputes between BP and Border to Border Exploration LLC, BBX Operating LLC (the Defendants), and other related entities. In this matter, the Defendants and a related entity entered into a Development Agreement with BP to perform seismic testing on approximately 6,500 acres owned by BP in Jasper County, Texas in exchange for a drilling credit of $200 per acre. The credits were never used because no wells were drilled by the Defendants. However, the Defendants refused to repay the unused credits, as was required by the agreement, and attempted to limit any payment obligation to a related entity that had declared bankruptcy and therefore could not be a party to this lawsuit.

The Honorable Judge Amy Clark Meachum entered judgment in favor of BP on May 2, 2024 and awarded actual damages of $1,302,622 against the Defendants, jointly and severally, as well as pre-judgment interest bringing the total award to approximately $2 million.

BPX, Zurich American, and others sued Cameron International Corporation in Oklahoma state court for more than $65 million in connection with work that Cameron performed on an oil and gas well in DeWitt County, Texas. Cameron removed the case to federal court, even though Cameron and BPX were both citizens of Texas, claiming that BPX had been fraudulently joined as a plaintiff in an improper attempt to destroy diversity jurisdiction. BPX and Zurich American filed a Motion to Remand arguing, among other things, that the doctrine of fraudulent joinder did not apply to plaintiffs like BPX and Zurich American.

The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma agreed with BPX and Zurich American, noting the “pragmatic reasons to limit application of the fraudulent joinder doctrine to defendants and the absence of Tenth Circuit authority concluding that extension of the doctrine to plaintiffs is appropriate.” Therefore, Judge Goodwin concluded that federal jurisdiction did not exist and remanded the lawsuit back to Oklahoma state court.

GableGotwals, a leading full-service law firm in the region with offices in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, OK, has opened an office in Houston. Located in the heart of Houston’s Central Business District at 1100 Louisiana, Suite 5000, the LEED® Gold certified and Class A tower will allow the Firm to continue serving clients across multiple practices and industries and in a variety of markets. This expansion marks an important milestone for the Firm due to its long-standing history of representing and advising clients based in Texas or conducting business in Texas, particularly within the energy industry.

“We’ve had our eye on Texas and the Houston market for a long time but have been waiting for the right opportunity to open a physical office,” said John Dale, CEO of GableGotwals. “For at least two decades, we have represented clients in litigation and transactions throughout Texas. Over the last couple of years, several clients started inquiring when we would have an office in Texas. Adding an office in Houston was the logical next step for the Firm’s future growth. Having John Sullivan and Brian Tully launch our Houston office, in addition to 13 other GableGotwals attorneys who are licensed and actively practicing in Texas, allows us to effectively and efficiently service our clients in multiple markets. Our strategic plan includes a continued focus on growing the Houston office.”

The Firm’s recent significant experience in Texas includes:

• Securing the dismissal of a $94 million False Claims Act allegation against a large Texas-based healthcare provider in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, marking one of the first litigated FCA cases based on data analytics to be voluntarily dismissed;
• Representing a Houston-based energy company in its bid to acquire more than $1 billion of natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines and processing plants in Texas; and
• Filing a brief in the Fifth Circuit on behalf of BPX to revive its lawsuit seeking to hold Lloyd’s of London underwriters liable for a settlement it reached with a now-bankrupt oil field services firm over a faulty cement job it performed for BPX, asserting that BPX sufficiently alleged that the underwriters breached their duty to defend and indemnify.

About GableGotwals

GableGotwals is a full-service law firm with approximately 100 attorneys and more than 70 other professionals in Oklahoma and Texas. We represent a diversified client base across the nation, and our connections and reach are global. Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned companies, entrepreneurs, foundations, and individuals entrust us every day with the stewardship and strategic management of their legal challenges.