On July 25, 2013, Jackson Walker L.L.P. won a decisive victory for its clients when a Parker County District Court Judge granted summary judgment and dismissed all claims against Jackson Walker’s clients and ordered that the plaintiffs take nothing in a high–profile lawsuit involving horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).

Jackson Walker represented the “Silverado on the Brazos” real–estate development, its individual owners, and other clients in the case styled Steven and Shyla Lipsky vs. Range Resources and Silverado on the Brazos Development Co. #1 Ltd., et al. The Lipskys alleged that horizontal drilling and fracking under the Parker County development caused their water well to be contaminated with natural gas. Mr. and Ms. Lipsky have been featured prominently in the news media and in the recently released HBO documentary Gasland Part II.

In the lawsuit, the Lipskys alleged breach of contract, violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), common law fraud, statutory fraud, fraudulent concealment, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference, conspiracy, gross negligence, and malice. The Lipskys sought $4.5 million in alleged actual damages, $2 million for alleged “mental pain, humiliation, and embarrassment,” treble damages under the DTPA, plus exemplary damages for alleged gross negligence and malice, and their attorneys’ fees and costs.

At the hearing on its motion for summary judgment, Jackson Walker successfully argued on behalf of the Silverado on the Brazos development that the Lipskys’ claims were barred by the statute of limitations and that the plaintiffs had no credible evidence to substantiate their claims. Jackson Walker attorneys Albon Head, Sara Abbott McEown, and Amanda Bush represented the Silverado Defendants in the case. The motion and briefing were drafted by Ms. Bush and Ms. McEown, and Mr. Head argued the motion.

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