Texas Business Court Opinion Summaries – December 20, 2024
No. 24-BC11A-004 Lone Star NGL Product Services, LLC v. EagleClaw Midstream Ventures, LLC, et al. 24-bc11a-0004-lone-star-ngl-product-services-llc-vs-cr-pe-opinion-and-order.pdf
[Judge Adrogué]
Jurisdiction. Because this lawsuit commenced long before September 1, 2024, the effective date of the Act establishing the Business Court, the parties may not rely on the provisions of Chapter 25A to justify subject-matter jurisdiction in the Business Court, and the case may not be removed to the Business Court; the parties may not rely on the doctrines of waiver, estoppel, or invited error to create subject-matter jurisdiction in the Business Court; because Section 8 of H.B. 19 unambiguously operates as a jurisdictional provision when applied to Texas Government Code Section 25A.004, parties to a civil action commenced before September 1, 2024 may not waive Section 8’s effective date provision in order to create subject-matter jurisdiction in the Business Court under Section 25A.004; the parties’ arguments regarding judicial efficiency and the consequences of remand do not affect the Court’s lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The matter is remanded to the 61st Judicial Court of Harris County.
However, this case presents a controlling issue of law as to which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion, and a determination by the Court of Appeals would materially advance the ultimate termination of the case; the court therefore grants the parties’ request for a permissive interlocutory appeal under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Section 51.04(d).
The following issue is certified to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals: Whether a civil action that was commenced before September 1, 2024 may be removed to the Business Court where the parties entered into a subsequent agreement expressly consenting to the jurisdiction of the Business Court.
To the extent the Court has authority to do so, the Court stays the remand order contained in the opinion pending resolution of the permissive interlocutory appeal.