Marie R. Yeates

(La. App. – 4th Cir.); (La. Dist. – Orleans Parish) — Secured affirmance of a $93 million judgment following a jury verdict for Huntsman Corporation in its contract dispute with gas supplier, Praxair, Inc.

(Tex.); (Tex. App. – Corpus Christi) – Obtained affirmance of unanimous intermediate appeals court ruling that Texas Central is classified as an interurban electric railway company with eminent-domain authority to build the high-speed train between Houston and Dallas—a ruling that reversed the trial court’s judgment, which had held that Texas Central did not qualify as such

(10th Cir.) – Obtained affirmance of $60 million (net) jury verdict on behalf of Antero Resources Corporation in a pricing dispute related to a long-term gas purchase agreement

(Tex.) — Obtained ruling that Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is entitled to recover its multimillion dollar defense costs, from Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, arising out of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident

(Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.]) — Obtained reversal on behalf of oil and gas company in breach of contract dispute against pipeline owner relating to shipment of natural gas liquids on intra-state pipeline

(Tex.) — Obtained ruling that a CO₂ pipeline owned by Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas qualifies for “common carrier” status with the power of eminent domain; an important win for the pipeline industry in Texas, this decision significantly clarifies how “common carrier” pipeline status may be established under state law

(5th Cir.) — Successfully defended a district court ruling that a provision of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code requiring one-year of residency to receive a mixed-beverage permit was invalid under the Dormant Commerce Clause

(Tex. App. − Beaumont) — Obtained reversal of a $100 million judgment against a worldwide engineering, procurement, and construction firm in a case involving claims for tortious interference with contract, business disparagement, lost profits, and exemplary damages

(9th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance of the district court’s judgment dismissing RICO claims brought by a county government which sought, as damages, its alleged increased cost for providing government services purportedly caused by the presence in the county of illegal aliens; due to the case’s significance, the oral argument was aired on C-SPAN

(Tex.) — Obtained a ruling unanimously striking down a procedure used by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that improperly lowered the rates at which Texas hospitals are reimbursed for providing Medicaid services

(5th Cir.) — Obtained reversal of the judgment against our client, the former chief accounting officer of a major corporation, in a securities fraud case brought by the SEC

(Tex. App. − 5th − Dallas) — Obtained reversal of a $15 million judgment against our client in an asbestos case, where the appellate court based its ruling on its conclusion that the risk to a worker’s wife of second-hand exposure to asbestos was not foreseeable

(5th Cir.) — Obtained reversal of the district court’s refusal to dismiss securities fraud claims brought against The Shaw Group and certain of its officers

(Tex. App. − 14th − Houston) — Obtained affirmance of the dismissal, based on a forum selection clause requiring suit in a European country, of a theft of trade secrets case brought against our client

(5th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance of the district court’s judgment in favor of a gas trader that the jury had found liable for attempting to manipulate gas prices

(5th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance of dismissal in a putative class action asserting securities fraud

(Tex.) — Obtained reversal of a multimillion dollar judgment arising out of a dispute concerning whether a controlling shareholder owes a fiduciary duty to a putative shareholder in a closely held corporation

(Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.]) — Obtained affirmance of summary judgment dismissal on behalf of a midstream natural gas company in a case involving tortious interference with a contract and prospective business relationship, and denial of opposing party’s petition for review in Supreme Court of Texas

(5th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance of the judgment of the district court dismissing a securities fraud case in which a stock owner sued the defendant corporation for fraud and negligent misrepresentation in connection with losses he sustained when share price fell

(Cal. App. – 2d Dist.) — Obtained affirmance of judgment granting a new trial in a case involving alleged fraud and breach of contract in a business franchise

(7th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance of a settlement approved by bankruptcy court following a $167 million adverse judgment against a corporate subsidiary in Mississippi state court

(Tex. App. − 14th − Houston) — Obtained affirmance of the trial court’s summary judgment against a stock owner suing for fraud in connection with losses when share price fell

(Tex.) — Obtained rendition of take-nothing judgment in legal malpractice where the Supreme Court made a significant legal ruling that expert testimony is required on the issue of whether plaintiff in malpractice case would have prevailed in the underlying trial but for its attorneys’ alleged negligence in preparing and trying that underlying case

(Tex.); (U.S.) — In a case involving geological and seismic data trade secrets, obtained mandamus relief from the Texas Supreme Court and holding from Supreme Court that an employee’s mere access to trade secret documents at his place of employment does not constitute possession, custody, or control of those documents for purposes of discovery

(Tex. App. − Waco) — Handled for a large energy company the jury charge phase of a trial and the appeal to a successfully mediated settlement, from an adverse $140 million verdict on contract and fraud claims arising from an area of mutual interest agreement

(Tex. App − San Antonio) — Obtained reversal of a $3.4 million judgment against the client and rendition (in the Court of Appeals) of a take-nothing judgment on the basis of the statute of limitations, resulting in significant precedent concerning the Texas Medical Liability Insurance Improvement Act

(Tex.) — Obtained a ruling protecting a client’s trade secret tire formula

(10th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance of a class action settlement of various royalty owners in carbon dioxide litigation

(Tex. App. − 14th − Houston) — Obtained affirmance on appeal of the trial court’s judgment notwithstanding the verdict following an adverse jury verdict for several hundred million dollars

(Tex. App. − Corpus Christi) — Handled an appeal leading to a successful settlement from a $112 million adverse judgment involving alleged underground gasoline contamination from a service station

(Tex.) — Obtained Texas Supreme Court review and favorable settlement in a case involving the proper interpretation of the Texas Oil & Gas Division Order Statute

(Tex. App. − Austin) — Obtained from the trial court reversal of an adverse jury verdict of $12 million in a tortious interference, conspiracy, and trademark case, and then obtained affirmance from the Court of Appeals of trial court’s take-nothing judgment

(Tex. App. − Corpus Christi) — Obtained mandamus relief in this royalty dispute involving hundreds of millions of dollars, in which the trial court had struck the defendants’ defenses as a discovery sanction

(9th Cir.) — Obtained reversal in this tax case in which the appellate decision establishes significant precedent on the deductibility of free meals provided by employers who require their employees to stay on premises during meal hours

(Tex.) — Obtained a decision establishing significant limitations on recovery of emotional distress damages

(Tex.) — Obtained reversal of a $30 million judgment against our client in a decision that established important principles of UCC law

(Tex. Dist. − Harris Cnty.) — Obtained, for the defendant brokerage house, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict following an adverse $10.5 million verdict in a commercial fraud case

(Tex. Dist. − Jefferson Cnty.) — Handled jury charge phase of trial; Vinson & Elkins defended a pipeline company against claims by thousands of plaintiffs who sued after severe flooding in the San Jacinto River caused pipelines to be uncovered, rupture, and spill product into the floodwaters; The National Law Journal (April 6, 1998) listed this jury verdict in the defendants’ favor as one of the fifteen outstanding defense verdicts in the country in 1997

(Tex) — Obtained a decision establishing important principles concerning the reach of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act

(Tex. App. − 1st − Houston) — Handled jury charge, post-verdict motions, and appeal following a jury verdict for plaintiffs of several hundred million dollars in a commercial dispute involving issues relating to contract, partnership, and fiduciary duty law; Marie argued this case before the First Court of Appeals in Houston

(Tex. App. − 9th − Beaumont) — Obtained reversal of an $80 million judgment in this oil and gas dispute, and rendition of judgment, in defendants’ favor

(Tex. App. − Corpus Christi) — Obtained rendition of an $11 million wrongful termination judgment to $2 million

(Tex. App. − Austin) — Obtained, for a large grocery store chain, reversal of an adverse judgment in favor of the grocery store’s landlord following a bench trial

(Tex.) — Obtained ruling in a client’s favor delineating when a court “renders” judgment

(Tex.) — Obtained ruling in a client’s favor that a trial court can “ungrant the grant of a new trial”

(Tex. App. − 14th − Houston) — Obtained settlement on appeal, following post-trial motions in the trial court and appellate briefing, when a large pipeline company was assessed a $74 million judgment following a jury verdict in the 55th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, in an oil and gas dispute

(Tex. App. − Corpus Christi) — Obtained mandamus relief from the appellate court directing the trial court to set aside the trial court’s order striking the defendants’ witnesses in this oil and gas royalty dispute in which the plaintiffs sought to recover $235 million

(Tex.) — Obtained a ruling on how a case should be tried following a default sanction on liability

(Tex. App. − 1st − Houston) — Obtained affirmance on appeal of a defense verdict in case in which members of the Navajo Indian tribe sought to hold a defendant oil company liable for tens of millions of dollars arising out of a dispute over termination of oil and gas leases

(5th Cir.) — Obtained affirmance on appeal for plaintiffs of judgment of $10 million (net) in oil and gas dispute

(Tex. App. − Corpus Christi) — Obtained reversal of a $14 million adverse judgment against a national beverage manufacturer arising from a dispute between the manufacturer and its distributor, and rendition of judgment for the manufacturer