On May 21, 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued an opinion in Knox v. Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co., 2024 OK 37, holding that an employer cannot contractually create or assume liability where liability is based on the same...more
Remember when your math teacher told you to show your work even if you had the correct answer? Now, that exact requirement unequivocally applies to attorney fee awards in Oklahoma. In a recent decision, the Oklahoma Supreme...more
Whether you’re considering a move for—or defending against—an attorney fee award, it’s crucial to be aware of the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s recent decision in Fleig v. Landmark Constr. Grp., 2024 OK 25. In Fleig, the Supreme...more
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma (“Court”) addressed in an October 18th Opinion an issue arising out of two Oklahoma County Assessors’ valuation of a wind farm for ad valorem tax assessment purposes. See Kingfisher Wind, LLC v....more
There is a clear nationwide trend of federal courts disposing of COVID-19 business interruption suits. Insureds are not clearing their initial burden to establish direct physical loss or damage to property, or they are...more
Our July Insurance Update is here. This is what we discuss. “Hoosier” daddy? When a Little Daddy’s bouncer chased a drunk patron from Big Daddy’s parking lot, who knew it would lead to the Indiana Supreme Court...more
In Crown Energy Co. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., Case No. 116989, 2022 WL 2128667 (Okla. June 14, 2022), the Oklahoma Supreme Court concluded that seismic activity caused by water waste disposal wells in oil and gas operations...more
Under some circumstances, Oklahoma law recognizes that terminated employees may pursue a public policy wrongful discharge claim against a former employer. These claims allow a narrow exception to the employment at-will status...more
The past year saw several attempts to apply new applications of the public nuisance doctrine to the opioid crisis. While in the past, public nuisance claims typically sought recovery for damages in connection with land use in...more
On November 9, 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court set aside a $465 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in State ex rel. Hunter v. Johnson & Johnson, 2021 OK 54. In 2017, the State of Oklahoma sued three opioid...more
In a blow to Google and the rest of Big Tech, an EU appeals court has refused to “overturn a landmark antitrust ruling by European regulators” from 2017 over Google’s alleged “preferential treatment to its own...more
Public nuisance claims have long been understood to rest on “an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public.” Typically, litigation sought recovery for damages in connection with (among other...more
Courts ended 2020 with a flurry of insurance decisions. Our January 2021 Update highlights some of these decisions, including several by state supreme courts. We begin with a new twist on pandemic-related claims. ...more
The buyer and a dealership signed a purchase agreement containing a dispute resolution clause ("DRC"). The DRC, in the middle of the purchase agreement, was the only provision in red ink, was in a smaller font and called for...more
The plaintiff-appellant filed suit in Oklahoma state court seeking to rescind a contract it entered into with the defendants, claiming the contract was procured by fraud. Citing an arbitration clause in the contract, the...more
In a win for alcohol beverage suppliers, on Wednesday the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued an opinion in The Institute For Responsible Alcohol Policy v. State ex rel. Alcohol Beverage Laws Enforcement Comm’n. In a 5-4 ruling,...more
Oklahoma remains one of about only a dozen states that recognize common law marriages. Despite the Legislature’s sporadic attempts to effectively abolish such marriages, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has recently determined in...more
A third-party contractor installed the defendant’s shingles on the plaintiffs’ roof. Subsequently, the plaintiffs filed suit for damages allegedly caused by the defendant’s faulty shingles and replacement of their roof. The...more
Just days after the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in Southon v. Oklahoma Tire Recyclers, LLC, which upheld the exclusive authority of the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission to hear and decide workers’...more
On May 21, 2019, the Oklahoma Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision that is good news for employers and, at least for now, finally makes clear there is only one path for filing workers’ compensation-based...more
A divided Oklahoma Supreme Court recently invalidated the $350,000 noneconomic damages cap on pain and suffering in personal injury lawsuits. In Beason v. I.E. Miller Services, Inc., the court held that the statutory damages...more
JP Energy Marketing, LLC v. Commerce & Industry Insurance Company, et al., No. 115285, 2018 Okla. LEXIS 11 (Okla. Feb. 5, 2018) - Oklahoma Supreme Court in a case of first impression authorizes an award of appeal-related...more
The Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma (“Court”) issued an October 24th opinion addressing a challenge filed by the Sierra Club to Oklahoma legislation which created the Motor Fuels Tax Fee (“H.B. 1449 [ Legislation]”)...more
In a previous article titled “Oklahoma Supreme Court broadens scope of state’s informed consent law,” we reported on the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s expansion of the state’s informed consent law as it relates to the requirements...more
Washington - On April 27, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that carbon monoxide discharged from a hot water heater was a pollutant “acting as a pollutant” and within the absolute pollution exclusion of the home...more