Very often determining which party has the burden of proof is perfunctory and does not have a great effect. In this case, we believe the burden of proof is crucial.

Buck Bryan Ramsey and his wife, Edith Elizabeth Ramsey,[1] became the owners of real property in Lamar County upon which an oil well was located, the well having been drilled pursuant to a pre-existing oil and gas

Appellants/cross-appellees--M. P. McCammon, McCammon Oil, Inc., Nosivad Oil, Inc., Van Davison, Dawn Davison, Tejon Exploration, Doralex Energy, Inc., Mansefelt Investment Corp., Fred Harendt, et al.--and appellees/cross-appellants Noel D. Ischy and NOW Development Company, Inc. (1) appeal from a district court judgment in favor of Ischy in a trespass to try title action concerning an oil and gas

r. Lyubov Gorelik ("Gorelik") appeals from the dismissal of her five-count complaint against Defendant-Appellee Kevin Costin ("Defendant") in his official capacity as president of the New Hampshire State Board of Medicine. Counts I through IV of Gorelik's complaint assert that Defendant violated her due process and equal protection rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment. All f

John Schmidt appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) on his negligent injury claim under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. §§ 51 et seq. The district court found Schmidt did not present adequate evidence to show he was employed by BNSF. We disagree, and conclude Schmidt’s evidence

Cathy Burkhart brought this action against her former employer American Railcar Industries, Inc. (ARI), alleging sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act (ACRA), Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-101 et seq. She also alleged the state tort of outrage. The district court1 granted summary judgmen

This diversity suit, brought by affiliates of the Peabody Energy Corporation (for simplicity we’ll pretend there is a single plaintiff and call it Peabody), seeks both a declaration that Peabody has the right to strip mine coal on the defendants’ land, and specific performance of an option to purchase the land. The land is in Indiana, and the substantive issues in the case are governed by Indi

This appeal concerns whether an abutting landowner may acquire a prescriptive easement for recreational use over a nonnavigable, artificial body of water. The defendants, Carl F. Piontkowski, Florence Baron and the estate of Constance Murray, appeal1 from the judgment of the trial court, rendered following a trial to the court, finding that the plaintiffs, Teresa A. Frech, Kenneth Andersen and Amy

Plaintiff-Appellee Frederick J. Harrington, Jr., 31 (“Harrington”) filed this action in the United States District 32 Court for the Eastern District of New York (Nina Gershon, 33 Judge), against Defendants-Appellants Atlantic Sounding Co., 34 Inc., Weeks Marine, Inc. (Atlantic Sounding’s corporate parent), 35 and the vessel MV CANDACE (collectively, “Defendants”) pursuant -3- 1 to the Jo

We granted discretionary review in this matter to consider issues relating to a landowner's abuse of process claim and other related claims, against a long-distance telephone communications carrier for its conduct in attempting to use the power of eminent domain to acquire the landowner's property. Specifically, we consider whether the tort of abuse of process may be established solely on the basi

While employed by Pacific Rail Services, LLC (“PRS”), plaintiff Michael Campbell was injured when the railroad transport vehicle he was driving was rear-ended at a rail yard owned by defendant BNSF Railway Company f/k/a The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Company (“BNSF”). In this negligence action, Campbell alleges that he was an “employee” of BNSF for purposes of the Federal E

The plaintiff, Dow-Westbrook, Inc., appeals after a trial to the court, from the judgment in favor of the defendant, Candlewood Equine Practice, LLC (Candlewood Equine), finding that the defendant was not negligent as a result of injuries suffered by the plaintiff’s horse, Eiffel Tower, at the defendant’s veterinary clinic. On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the court erred by finding (1) in

Robert McBride instituted this action under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”), 45 U.S.C. §§ 51-60, seeking compensation for an injury that he sustained while performing switching operations for his employer, CSX Transportation, Inc. (“CSX”). A jury returned a verdict in Mr. McBride’s favor, and the district court entered judgment on the jury’s verdict. CSX appealed, and

Defendant-appellant CSX Transportation, Inc. ("CSXT") is appealing from the district court's denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, after a jury awarded $250,000 to plaintiff-appellee Robert Granfield ("Granfield"), based on a finding that CSXT violated both the Federal Employer's Liability Act ("FELA"), 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq., and the Locomotive Inspection Act ("LIA

This is an appeal by one of two defendants in a wrongful death action. Defendant Combined Transport appeals from a judgment for plaintiff. The jury found Combined Transport 22 percent at fault and the other defendant, Clemmer, 78 percent at fault. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for a new trial.

Combined Transport is a trucking company that specializes in transporting la

This dispute arose from a break in a sewer pipe that connected a private building to the Portland sewer system. The break generated a sewage smell in a Subway restaurant that was located in the building, and the restaurant operators, the Smiths, sought damages against the building owner, Hartmann, in claims for breach of the lease, trespass, and nuisance. Hartmann contended that the City of Port

When multiple insurance companies have the duty to defend the same mutual insured against the same legal action, the costs of the defense are to be allocated among the insurers equitably. When an insurance company which has the duty to defend declines to participate in the defense of the common insured, those insurers who contributed to the defense may pursue an action for equitable contribution a

Illinois Central Railroad Co. sued William Guy and Thomas Brock on fraud theories claiming that they knew that their clients were lying when they answered interrogatories and a quesitonaire that failed to disclose that they were involved in earlier litigation relating to asbestos products liability claims.

Guy and Brock claimed during trial that they didn't know their clients had been pl

Milton Baughn, Letyr Baughn, Tom Baughn, and Amy Hetrick[1] (the “Baughns”) sued Curtis Capps for trespass to try title, seeking to quiet title to a four-acre tract of land.[2] Capps counterclaimed for adverse possession. A jury found in Capps’s favor. On appeal, the Baughns challenge the: (1) admission of Capps’s title documents; (2) attorney’s fee award; (3) legal and factual suffic

Defendants-appellants Monique’s Smoke Shop et al. appeal from the August 25, 2009 grant of a preliminary injunction to the City of New York (the “City”) by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Amon, J.), enjoining the sale of untaxed cigarettes other than to members of the Unkechauge Nation for their personal use.

The district court determined firs

This appeal and cross appeal, along with the companion cases decided today, Branford v. Santa Barbara, 294 Conn. 785, A.2d (2010), and Branford v. Santa Barbara, 294 Conn. 803, A.2d (2010), arise from the named defendant town of Branford’s (town)1 exercise of eminent domain with respect to an approximately seventy-seven acre parcel of land, known as 48-86 Tabor Drive. In this action brought purs

The plaintiff, Elaine Wiseman, in her capacity as administratrix of the estate of her deceased son, Bryant Wiseman (decedent), appeals1 from the judgment of the trial court rendered in favor of the named defendant, John J. Armstrong, in his capacity as the commissioner of correction, and others2 in her action for the wrongful death of the decedent while he was incarcerated at Garner correctional i

In these consolidated appeals, the plaintiffs, Charles and Brenda Kalil, contest two orders of the Superior Court (Vaughan, J.). In one, the court granted the motion to dismiss filed by defendant Town of Dummer (Town) on the ground that res judicata barred the plaintiffs’ writ alleging an inverse condemnation claim. In the other, the court denied the plaintiffs’ motion to amend their appeal of

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia has certified a question to this Court about how to determine the meaning of the term “accident” in an automobile liability insurance policy when the word is not expressly defined in the policy and, more specifically, how to determine if there has been one accident or two when an insured vehicle strikes one claimant and then v

Judith Cohn, age 72, and her husband Joseph, sued the Long Island Rail Road on a negligence theory claiming that Defendant failed to property maintain one of its platforms and, as a direct result, she fell into a 9.5 inch gap in the platform and was injured. Cohen suffered knee and shoulder fractures.

The railroad said its improvements include an education system to make customers better a