OAO Gazprom successfully defends claim

Baker Botts, a leading international law firm, today announced that its client, OAO Gazprom, the Russian-based oil and gas company, has successfully defended a claim for US$1.37 billion lodged by Moncrief Oil International.

The Fort Worth, Texas jury trial, which was in its fourth week of testimony presented to 14 jurors from the Fort Worth area, was suddenly dismissed with prejudice by Moncrief on 2 February 2015.

"This was a major victory for our client Gazprom. The dismissal of this case during trial puts an end to years of litigation by Moncrief Oil International over alleged trade secrets and supposed interference with its business, none of which had merit. It took a long time to get here, but this is the right result," said Michael Calhoon, a Trial Partner with Baker Botts.

“This was a difficult case from the start, which was tried in Moncrief’s hometown but we worked hard to share our side of the story with the dedicated and hard working women and men of the jury. The jury did a great job understanding the complexities of the global liquefied natural gas business," said Van Beckwith, a Trial Partner with Baker Botts.

This was the third attempt by Moncrief to win damages after earlier attempts in 2007 before a Texas federal court and in 2010 in Germany were both dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

"After years of litigation losses in federal court, Moncrief Oil decided their hometown state court offered the best opportunity for victory. I am proud of our trial team for not backing down and ultimately getting to the truth which resulted in this dismissal with prejudice,” said Michael Goldberg, a Trial Partner with Baker Botts.

Adapted from press release by Joe Green

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/exploration/04022015/oao-gazprom-successfully-defends-claim-352/