Published: May 30, 2008 11:17 am         

Foreman explains $66 million verdict

Oil, gas lease in dispute on 20 acres

For Duncan resident Melissa Howe, serving as the foreman of the jury on the civil lawsuit case involving two families against Shell Oil Company brought forth many emotions.

“Of all the cases to be on, it was such an honor to sit in on this case,” Howe said. “It’s an experience I was glad to be a part of.”

The case ended on May 9 with the jury awarding the families $13.2 million in actual damages and $53.5 million in punitive damages.

Shell is expected to appeal the ruling.

At first, Howe said she felt a little nervous about the case because of the weight of responsibility of having to be fair to everyone.

“It was a really hard decision to make and a very emotional experience because we wanted to do what was right and it was a large amount of money to decide upon,” Howe said.

She said that for five days during the trial, none of the jurors could talk with each other or anyone else about the case.

“When we finally went back to deliberate, my heart was pounding,” Howe said. “When we came out with the judgments, I had sweaty palms and my heart was really pounding!”

The lawsuit was over an oil and gas lease on 20 acres of land on County Line Road that two families owned. From 1973 until 1985, the plaintiffs claimed Shell failed to pay the plaintiffs on a large well on the land.

In 1985, Shell sold its interests in the well to Maynard Oil Company, which, according to claims in the original lawsuit, continued the practice until a whistleblower notified the families in 1995, after which they filed a lawsuit against both companies.

Maynard settled with the families. Shell decided to litigate.

Shell claimed statutory limitations as a reason the case should be decided in its favor. Statutory limitations means that too much time has passed between the time the fault was discovered and when charges were pressed in court.

The process of deliberation was straightforward, she said.

The jury first had to determine whether a breach of fiduciary duty occurred. Then it set the amount. After delivering that first verdict, the jury then went back and deliberated to determine what punitive damages, if any, should be awarded, she said.

“Both sides pleaded their case very well,” Howe said. “We couldn’t be judgmental. We had to be open to both sides and use simply the facts.

“Only after considering the evidence did it become clear that there had been a breach of fiduciary duty. We determined they were entrusted with a large amount of money and had a responsibility to report it.”

She said that after evaluating all the evidence, detailed deliberations and due to taking 13 years for the case to come to trial, the jury wanted to indemnify the families and set an example for other companies to see.

“Shell should’ve paid when they found the problem out, not waited,” Howe said. “If they had done the right thing, then this would’ve been taken care of.

“We wanted oil companies to know that just because we live in Oklahoma or Stephens County, doesn’t mean we will allow the little guy to suffer. If I get a speeding ticket, hopefully I will change. We felt if the fine was big enough, hopefully Shell will change.”

In determining the amount, Howe had every juror write on a ballot whether he or she agreed with punitive damages or not. If they did, then they were supposed to write the amount they felt just on their ballot.

“We then averaged the numbers and that was the number we used,” Howe said. “We were all amazed that the average was just a million dollars off from what the plaintiff’s attorney had suggested.”

Other than the deliberation part of the trial, the next most interesting part for Howe was reading the judgment in the courtroom.

“I couldn’t watch because it had been so difficult and affected me so much,” she said. “I tried to look down. Afterwards, the plaintiffs and their lawyers hugged us.”

All 12 jurors agreed on the actual damages. Only 10 agreed on punitive damages. In civil cases, nine jurors must agree rather than all 12.

     

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