Arnold v. Blue Ridge Landfill

Excerpt

Denying defendant's motion for summary judgment arguing that a contract does not require it to pay royalty payments on "revenues actually received by [the defendant] for final disposal of solid waste in the sanitary landfill operated on the Property," where the disposal is in a part of the landfill that is not on the Property. This opinion addresses whether a party may remove a case concerning trusts from statutory probate court to the business court. The court concluded it lacked jurisdiction because the claims asserted by the plaintiff arise out of Title 9 of the Property Code, and under section 25A.004(g) of the Texas Government Code, this court does not have jurisdiction over such claims unless they are part of the court's supplemental jurisdiction, which requires agreement of the parties. Here, the parties disagreed. In this force-majeure dispute arising out of a contract for the purchase and sale of natural gas based on the North American Energy Standards Board base-contract form, the parties dispute (a) whether the transaction confirmations are part of their contract and (b) which one controls over the other. The Court holds that, although the seller's transaction confirmation identifies a delivery term on which the buyer's confirmation is silent, the two confirmations do not materially conflict. Thus, both transaction confirmations combine with the base contract to form a single, integrated agreement, and neither confirmation trumps the other. This opinion addresses when statutes of limitations accrue and the application of the discovery rule and fraudulent concealment principles regarding claims of fraudulent statements contained in a securities purchase agreement. On a renewed motion to remand, the Court holds that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over the action as pleaded in the plaintiff's Fourth Amended Petition and remands the case. The Court concludes that it (a) cannot exercise supplemental jurisdiction because the plaintiff never agreed that th