XTO Energy Defeats Derivative Action

Skadden defeated a derivative action brought on behalf of a publicly traded royalty trust. The plaintiff brought claims against Skadden's client, XTO Energy, Inc., and the trustee, asserting that the company had overcharged the royalty trust for gas compression and transmission services for over a decade. When the trial court refused to dismiss the lawsuit, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas granted mandamus, holding that the plaintiff had not established her right to assert derivative claims against XTO. On October 12, Judge Phyllis Lister Brown of the 162nd Judicial District Court entered an order dismissing the case with prejudice.