STATE OF NEW YORK v. NEWELL (2005)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.

STATE OF NEW YORK and Thomas C. Jorling, Commissioner of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Gaylord NEWELL, Doing Business as Moore Producing Co., Moore Producing Co., Inc., Empty Tank Oil & Gas, Inc., Salt Rising Forest Products, Inc., David M. Hollister, President, Moore Producing Co., and Brian C. Cooper, Doing Business as Classic Oil Associates, Defendants-Respondents. (Appeal No. 1.)

Decided: February 04, 2005

PRESENT: PIGOTT, JR., P.J., GREEN, GORSKI, MARTOCHE, AND HAYES, JJ.

Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, Buffalo (Linda E. White of Counsel), for Plaintiffs-Appellants. Raymond W. Bulson, Portville, for Defendants-Respondents Gaylord Newell, Doing Business as Moore Producing Co., Moore Producing Co., Inc., Empty Tank Oil & Gas, Inc., Salt Rising Forest Products, Inc., and David M. Hollister, President, Moore Producing Co.

Plaintiffs commenced this action against various corporations and individuals alleging that they unlawfully abandoned oil wells on 300 acres in the Town of Bolivar. Supreme Court erred in granting that part of the cross motion of Moore Producing Co., Inc., Empty Tank Oil & Gas, Inc. and Salt Rising Forest Products, Inc. (defendants) seeking to add one of the Moore Trusts as a necessary party. The Moore Trusts do not claim to have any interest in this lawsuit and, even assuming, arguendo, that either of the trusts is considered a necessary party, an effective judgment can be rendered in its absence and defendants can avoid any prejudice that may accrue from its nonjoinder (see CPLR 1001[a], [b] ).

It is hereby ORDERED that the order insofar as appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimously reversed on the law without costs and the cross motion is denied in its entirety.

MEMORANDUM:

Was this helpful?

Why was this helpful?

Easy to understand

Solved my problem

Other

Why was this not helpful?

Missing the information I need

Too complicated / too many steps

Out of date

Other

Thank you for your feedback!

Welcome to FindLaw's Cases & Codes

A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.

Go To Learn About The Law