Hyperdynamics Corp. filed suit claiming that Dana Petroleum PLC and Tullow PLC used a now-settled foreign corruption investigation under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to delay drilling activities long after the investigation was resolved. The lawsuit claims that the delays are putting in jeopardy the drilling of a well that a contract requires to be completed by September. According to the lawsuit, the small company could lose its concession, which is its sole asset, if the well is not completed on time.

Hyperdynamics claims that the defendants are in breach of the joint operating agreement and is acting in bad faith, because its supposed reason for failing to proceed has no foundation, as the investigation is now settled. Hyperdynamics said that it had provided its partners with new contract assurances from the government of Guinea. Previously, the partners had claimed that they were concerned that the government of Guinea could invalidate the concession.

Hyperdynamics has requested an injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, requiring Tullow to begin drilling operations again. Hyperdynamics has also filed an arbitration request seeking “further damages.”

Hyperdynamics resolved the corruption investigation with a $75,000 settlement, which was seen as a victory for the company, but the allegations have continued to cause problems.

Gregory D. Jordan is an Austin Oil and Gas lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.theaustintriallawyer.com or call 512-419-0684.

I was wrong.

For the past twelve days, my family has hosted one of the leaders from Liberia as he is in the US to work on those projects.  And never have I been more humbled or even embarrassed than this experience.

How do you comfortably take someone to HEB when they come from a country where food is scarce?  How do you comfortably explain to someone about watering the lawn when they come from a country where the lack of clean water kills kids daily?  I could go on and on.

Needless to say, it has been an eye-opening experience for my family.  While we hope to continue our relationship with our visitor, I also hope to look at things through a new eye so that I remember to be grateful for all that we have.

As a result of the amended law, an attorney for Philip Berger, 56, was able to file a personal injury lawsuit claiming that a subsidiary of Emerson caused his client to suffer from lung damage at the firm’s Lebanon, Missouri compressor plant.

During the trial, Berger’s lawyer said that the company used his client as a “blue-collar guinea pig” and knowingly allowed him to work at its facility in the presence of harmful chemicals used to cool cutting tools. They neither warned him of the danger nor provided him with safety training.

Berger later developed inflammation of the lung after breathing contaminants from the fluid solution, and doctors diagnosed him with hypersensitivity pneumonitis triggered by exposure to mold and bacteria from the chemical. His attorney said that, as a result, Berger was left with significantly reduced lung function.

After a two-week trial, a Laclede County Circuit Court jury awarded Berger $5 million in actual damages and $23 million in punitive damages.

Emerson called the verdict “preposterous” and stated that it planned to appeal it.

The Legislature had already returned Missouri to a workers’-compensation-only system of handling workplace injuries prior to the “guinea pig worker” award. But the Laclede County case will stand as a high-profile example of the way compensation for workplace injuries may be calculated when a workers’ compensation system does not rule.

Put the experienced Missouri work injury attorneys at James Law Group on your side. Learn more at http://www.jameslawgroup.net/