FLORIDA GAS TRANSMISSION COMPANY LLC v. TEXAS BRINE COMPANY LLC (2023)

This dispute is one of many arising out of the August 2012 sinkhole that appeared near Bayou Come in Assumption Parish. In this appeal, Texas Brine Company, LLC challenges a January 18, 2022 judgment granting Legacy Vulcan, LLC's motion for partial summary judgment and dismissing with prejudice Texas Brine's claims against Legacy Vulcan under the parties’ Amended Operating Agreement. After review, we dismiss the appeal and remand the matter to the trial court. The motion to dismiss the appeal filed by Legacy Vulcan with this court is denied as moot.

This court recently considered two related appeals of identical judgments rendered by the same trial court, on the same day, in cases bearing different trial court docket numbers but concerning the same parties. See Pontchartrain Natural Gas System v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2022-0738 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/29/22), ––– So.3d ––––, 2022 WL 17983139 (“Pontchartrain 0738”) (Docket No. 34,265, 23rd Judicial District Court, Assumption Parish) and Crosstex Energy Services, LP v. Texas Brine Company, 2022-0782 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2/17/23), 356 So.3d 596 (“Crosstex 0782”) (Docket No. 34,202, 23rd Judicial District Court, Assumption Parish). The judgments at issue in the Pontchartrain 0738 and Crosstex 0782 appeals also granted Legacy Vulcan's motion for partial summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice Texas Brine's contract claims against Legacy Vulcan under the parties’ Amended Operating Agreement. Like the Pontchartrain 0738 and Crosstex 0782 judgments, the judgment before us in this appeal was designated as a final judgment pursuant to La. Code Civ. P. art. 1915(B).

The appeal in Pontchartrain 0738 was dismissed after a different panel of this court determined that subject matter jurisdiction did not exist. Pontchartrain, ––– So.3d. at ––––, 2022 WL 17983139, *4. Specifically, this court concluded that the January 18, 2022 partial summary judgment did not meet the requirements of an appealable final judgment under La. Code Civ. P. art. 1915(B) and R.J. Messinger, Inc. v. Rosenblum, 2004-1664 (La. 3/2/05), 894 So.2d 1113, 1122. Although Texas Brine and Legacy Vulcan entered into several interdependent contracts, the issue on appeal was limited to Texas Brine's claims against Legacy Vulcan for breach of the parties’ Amended Operating Agreement. Therefore, this court found any decision on those limited claims, “without consideration of the remaining interdependent contracts and claims thereupon, would merely result in inefficient, piecemeal, and possibly conflicting resolution of only a minor part of the parties’ related contract claims. See La. [Civ. Code] art. 2053 (“A doubtful provision [in a contract] must be interpreted in light of the nature of the contract, equity, usages, the conduct of the parties before and after the formation of the contract, and of other contracts of a like nature between the same parties.) (Emphasis added.)” Pontchartrain 0738, ––– So.3d at ––––, 2022 WL 17983139 at *4. Likewise, the appeal in Crosstex 0782, was dismissed after a different panel of this court found no material distinctions between the judgment and issues presented in that appeal and those presented in Pontchartrain 0738. Crosstex, 356 So.3d at 598.

After a thorough review of the record in this appeal, we find no material distinctions between the judgment and issues presented here and those presented in Pontchartrain 0738 and Crosstex 0782. For the reasons set forth therein, we find the January 18, 2022 judgment at issue in this appeal does not meet the requirements of a final appealable judgment under La. Code Civ. P. art. 1915(B) and R.J. Messinger, Inc., 894 So.2d at 1122. Therefore, we lack subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.¹ Considering our disposition of this matter, the motion to dismiss the appeal filed by Legacy Vulcan with this court is denied as moot. All costs of this appeal are assessed equally between Texas Brine Company, LLC and Legacy Vulcan, LLC.

MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL DENIED AS MOOT; APPEAL DISMISSED; CASE REMANDED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   We issue this summary disposition in accordance with Uniform Rules-Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-16.2(A)(1), (2), (4), and (6).

WOLFE, J.