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Not a pitbull... More like a Porcupine :)
Here is what happens after the dogs are done fighting the Porcupine!
-Mike
The contents of my posts are entirely up to me. The interpretation, value, and/or opinion of them is totally up to you
Why do I have to be using a keyboard? I am using my mobile computer right now with my cool new un-keyboard like communication device.
-Mike
I dont want to be Mr. Negative. But dont start talking about "Book Value" when the only think MOSH technically has right now is a $5 Million dollar loan and alleged "worthless" properties.
I am sure they are not "worthless" and found it comical that Mr Kim offered $1 for the properties if I remember correctly. This is one of the points in the lawsuit.
We have no "book value". Even if you operate under the assumption the proposed settlement agreement is approved then your looking at $19 Million, forgiveness of our debt, and proceeded from sale of our property, and possibly less attorney fees. Today’s market cap is about $11.9 Million.
This is the third proposed settlement agreement and each agreement is slowly getting better which is probably a good sign. I dont think this will be the last agreement and this could even go to trial in September??
Dont forget to also take into consideration the time value of money.
I could release a PR Monday about my proposed settlement agreement or I can propose to settle for $1 Trillion dollars. In fact if I did formally submit this wouldn’t the trustee be required to 8K it???
Should it effect the unit price? No.
Has the last PR effected the unit price? Yes
-Mike
I am sure they do read this board and get hundreds of dollars an hour doing so and does not matter anyways. A party in the suit would not be surprised or caught off guard by any motion anyone files. Trust me they have more than enough time to review motions and respond.
In other words it is no surprise and I am sure we can all guess what the motion is going to be about.
-Mike
No offence to MBA, but I dont think he will get sanctions. My guess is he will probably say the defendents somehow wasted his time and tried to prevent him from intervening or making him show up at the court house for no reason.
But thats what lawyers get paid to do. Make everything tougher for the other guy and chalange everything. Just part of the business.
But to help MBA get what he thinks is fair here is some info.
A trial court possesses the inherent power to discipline an attorney's behavior through the imposition of sanctions in appropriate cases. In re Bennett, 960 S.W.2d 35, 40 (Tex. 1997)
The trial court is not limited to considering only the specific violation for which sanctions are finally imposed, but it may consider everything that has occurred during the history of the litigation. Clark, 217 S.W.3d at 512 (citing White v. Bath, 825 S.W.2d 227, 230 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1992, writ denied).
I am sure you can use some if not all of this to prove they somehow managed to "waste Court's time and resources." and you personally "have expended significant time and monetary resources"
Good luck!
-Mike
gtiger: The answer to your PM is no.
(I dont have a paid membership to response to PM)
Yes I excluded the auction since I see a possibility o the properties not selling. The have been tainted with the lawsuit and a buyer might be fearful that they could possibly be named in a suit later.
I dont know how real that possibility is and have no idea how much they should sell for so I left them out. I simple did 19M divide by 72M to get about 0.26 cents.
So you could get more. If they sell the minimum is 750,000. So that still something.
-Mike
Technically there is not hearing for the intervention. The intervention has already happened.
If or when the defendents want to contest it they can. The can file a motion to contest it when ever they want. It is interesting they seem to keep passing on there motion to strike interventions. They know unitholders can intervene thats why.
-Mike
Did they anticipate interveners stepping up to teach them some law? I don’t know.
Or maybe they DO know the unitholder will object and the agreement will fail and can use this to ask for more at the bargaining table.
But the best way to make sure this unfair settlement agreement does not go through is to make sure it does not make economic sense for the plaintiffs. (see post #21330)
-Mike
It is a proposed settlement agreement. Just like the other two “proposed settlement agreements” that failed miserably.
This is not at all final by any means. Judge needs to approve, unitholders, etc...
-Mike
Plaintiffs own 13% of trust units. Attorney fees are about $6M
If we point out the attorney can not get paid legally since no fault was admitted in this situation, would it make economic sense for plaintiffs to pay THEIR attorneys with their 13% of the $19M??? (thats $2.47M)
Will the attorneys be willing to quit for $2.47M and the Plaintiffs willing quit with ZERO?????
Hope you see where I am going with this.
-Mike
Will attorneys still want to settle if they don’t get paid for the settlement funds??? I wonder...
They cant get paid unless the court finds the trustee failed to comply with some statutory duty.
They are settling without admitting any fault. LOL!
-Mike
Yea I am excited. But you and I both know its not a pump.
It is going to get very interesting. 13% of the trust wants to settle for 100% of the trust. The settlement will not go through. We need a more fair settlement.
-Mike
Maybe I am more strategic. So take away the attorney fees...
Then do you think the attorneys still want to settle? Be happy with $19M for now and see what happens ;)
Trust will live in the end. Just watch what happens ;)
-Mike
NEWS!!! $0.26 per unit
Well not the best news but better than before I would say. We will get at least $0.26 per unit.
Attorneys can not get their fees paid directly from the judgment or settlement UNLESS THE COURT PROPERLY FINDS TRUSTEE FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THIER DUTY
The settlement does not say attorney fees are to be paid an the law says they don’t get paid unless the court find the trustee did something wrong and everyone is settling admitting no wrong.
Remember press release says they will request the court for attorney fees but don’t not mean they will get them!!!!! muhahaha!!!
-Mike
Means we are going to war. We will win.
People are going to do everything in their power to prevent a group of 13% of unit holders from settling 100% of unit holders claims unless the majority is satisfied with the deal. I am not satisfied with $19M.
But anyways we will at least get the full $19M to the trust.. Plaintiffs cannot get attorney fees according to the Texas trust code and other law unless they removed the trustee or “obtained compliance regarding any statutory duty the trustee has neglected”
Clearly the Plaintiffs have not received any sort of compliance regarding the trustees duties since they have settled, admitted no fault and closing down the trust. Also clear is the fact the trustee has not been removed.
-Mike
Settlement hearing on the 18th at 9 AM
Interveners are intervened :)
-Mike
How many times do I have to tell you WSE did NOT pay $50M for midway A39. I dont know why you guys continue to spread this fud
WSE paid $55M for 8 prospects, 19 leads, 5 wells and an interest in 47 blocks. YES, 47 DIFFERENT BLOCKS!
http://www.woodside.com.au/NR/rdonlyres/CF926AA0-F810-44B8-88C4-96AFF9798348/0/ASX10WoodsidePioneeragreetermsonGulfgasplay240103.pdf
-Mike
Trustee says he thinks plaintiffs can request up to 1/3 for legal fees. Even if that is true the PPS is still too low.
I say there is no way plaintiffs will get legal fees unless the defendants agree to pay them separately from the $19M paid to the trust.
Just remember the agreement does not say plaintiffs will get legal fees!!! It says that plaintiffs will REQUEST legal fees. They shouldn’t get too much if anything at all
I am holding for Friday ;)
-Mike
Next is we wait till Friday. That’s when the "status conference" will happen and that’s when the interveners will intervene.
Interveners will have a say in this. If at the end of the day we still only get $19M I will make sure the lawyers don’t get a large chunk.
In fact I demand an accounting of lawyers fees. I want to know every day how many hours we spent and exactly what they did during those hours. The lawyers should not be the one being made whole at the trusts expense!!
The cant sue for the benefit of all unit holders and then overcharge the unit holders. This is not a class action suit.
-Mike
All I got to say is lets vote on it. Everyone will be shaking in their boots.
Trust me its not over...
-Mike
They did not spend as much as you think. JPM paid their lawyer fees and trust operation expences with our $5M loan. So we know the lawyer fees are less than $5M. So the actual lawyer fees are probably $3M. Add on 200K for documents they paid for and you get $3.2M
-Mike
I agree it is nothing. I don’t think the judge will approve the settlement. I think the Judge will say the same thing as the last time they asked her to approve the settlement.
She said that it is not necessary for the court to approve a settlement.
-Mike
Even if the plantiffs get lawyers fees paid then we get about $0.22 per unit I believe.
Lets assume the lawyer makes $800 per hour which is a high estimate. The lets assume they worked 40 hours a week for two year straight only on this case. That is 4160 hours X $800 = $3.3M
$19M - 3.3M = $15.7M or $0.22 per unit
-Mike
All money NEEDS TO FLOW THROUGH THE TRUST. JPM can choose to pay the plantiffs lawyers. They should be paid 100K as JPM put in past 10Q/k's
So thats about 0.25 or 0.26 per unit
-Mike
I think whoever sold today will be suprised at the end result. I think we will be closer to 0.25 per unit if you can wait a couple months.
-Mike
Properties will sell for the amount listed in the PR if they sell at all. I think they are still tainted from this lawsuit and someone will get a killer deal.
We should get .25 per share
-Mike
Its not over yet. You can bet the W group will voice a loud opinion!
Just wait and see. You haven’t seen millions in volume so the W group has not sold!!!
I they could take this case to trial with NO expert witnesses and just go off Woodside’s PR and all the fancy execs that list Midway as a huge discovery and lets the jury decide who’s lying. Someone that needs 15 "experts" or can the jury read the PR?
The look at how PXD cant seems to add up numbers correctly on the books. (See Wiegand letter to court)
-Mike
They can REQUEST to be paid. But it sounds pretty clear that under the settlement agreement they will not be paid! JPM is simply saying Plaintiffs state they will make a REQUEST
All money needs to flow through the trust!
-Mike
We should get $0.25 per unit.
Attorneys will not get attorney fees paid directly out of trust settlement funds. I remember case law that states all money has to flow through the trust.
I say we hold JPM to the original idea that is listed in all recent 10Q/K’s that states the trustee will reimburse up to 100K to Plaintiffs if they are successful. This is not some class action suit where lawyers can take a good chunk of our settlement money. Lets tell the lawyers they get 100K and then see if they still want to settle :). It is not over yet!
I will make it my personal mission to make sure we get what is fair
-Mike
You are right in your analysis of my post. Three of the questions were:
Who had the date pushed back? The Parties
Do you know which one? The main parties
Can you tell me which ones, plaintiffs or defendants? Both
So I think I incorrectly used the word "agreed" in my previous post. But you can call to verify or double check. She does seem a bit frustrated dealing with all these calls so be nice :)
-Mike
I called the court too and asked the same question about 6 different ways even pressing to ask exactly which party it was.
The best answer I got was "the parties" requested to move it back. So I would say this implies at least two people :) and it was not the court who requested it as when I asked which side asked she said both sides.
I also ruled out the fact that "the parties" want the status conference after Gordon’s motions are heard. Since Gordon’s motions are to be heard at 9:00AM and the status conference is at 8:45AM.
Sounds like I a settlement to me.. I have never seen this type of response come from this court ;)
-Mike
New dates on the calendar. Someone is asking for sanctions after trial for not complying with discovery request :)
04/13/2009 09:00 HRS TRIAL SETTING TRIAL ON MERITS
05/01/2009 09:00 HRS LAW DAY DOCKET MOTION FOR ORAL HEARING
05/01/2009 09:00 HRS LAW DAY DOCKET SANCTIONS (TRCP 215)
"When a party refuses to produce a document that was properly requested, the trial court can exclude the document, limit the testimony about the document or the issue, or impose any other sanction listed in TRCP 215"
-Mike
I see very nice volume! Nice to see for a change ;)
-Mike
:) :) :) :) :) :D
-Mike
First, Plaintiffs pass on their motion for continuance AND their motion to compel production. Second, PXD passes on their motion strike 3 interventions.
I can come up with some reasons why Plaintiffs would pass on the two items above but why on earth would Defendants pass on striking the interventions???
Are we in process of reaching a settlement? I can’t think why both sides would decide to pass on collectively 3 motions. Seems too big to be a coincidence, thoughts??
-Mike
Gordon Stamper & Keith Wiegand
If you are out there somewhere just wanted to let you know that I am very impressed with your recent motions. Especially Gordon Stamper who I was just blown away with the case law any everything that backed up what you said. Good job! I wish I could see the expressions on the defendants face when they read your response :)
Keith, Thanks for bringing up the fact that JPM has not paid interest on the trusts monies since 1982. Looks like us unit holders continue to be damaged. I would say at the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM we are entitled to our interest owed (“tens of millions”). This is well over our current price per unit.
This fact that the trust should be getting paid interest on our money and we have not will be very easy for a jury to understand. It will be hard to tell a jury that JPM and PXD we looking out for our best interest when they look over such a simple fact.
So we don’t get paid interest on our trust money and the defendants over charge interest to the trust. Wow this smells really bad!
It’s a shame that PXD and JPM would try and sell our trust property before trial. I bet this is the reason for the recent interventions.
-Mike
Can you request a phone conference hearing? I know they have had phone hearings in the past. I see no reason why you can not dispute Gibbs objections to your intervention over the phone. This would save you some travel expenses and time…
Try calling Walter Bucko at the court house. I think he is the guy that can help you out. 713-368-6492.
Don’t let the defendants make you spend any more money than you need to :)
Good luck!
-Mike
We should sell our partnership interest (includes all property) to PXD for $350M. Then PXD can give these properties back to the government and take a $1.2B write down + sunk costs. This should be more than $420M.
They can then justify the write down and chalk it up to bad market conditions and poor availability to credit.
Then we might be able to go easy on PXD and just pursue JPM for the rest of the damages.
-Mike