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ALPHA PROSPECTS PLC
("Alpha")
EMPIRE ENERGY UPDATE
Alpha Prospects Plc, the investment management company listed on the GXG
Exchange, focused on companies with fast growth and/or recovery prospects,
announces that following Smart Win's motion for summary judgment in the case
against Empire Energy Inc. ("Empire"), in which Alpha has a 20% interest via
the holding in Tasmanian Oil and Gas Limited, the lawyer acting for Empire
issued the following statement:
NEW YORK, June 10, 2014 - Paul Batista, Empire Energy's attorney in the New
York litigation between Smart Win and Empire, has predicted that Smart Win's
second motion for summary judgment, filed on June 9, 2014, will meet the same
fate as Smart Win's first motion for summary.
"Smart Win's first motion, which the court denied in full more than three years
ago, raises exactly the same issues as the current motion. It is a carbon copy
of that earlier motion," Mr. Batista said. "In my opinion, it, too, will fail."
Mr. Batista added, "Nothing has changed, and we are confident that the judge
will conclude now, as he did three years ago, that a jury will have to decide
whether Smart Win was a joint venture partner with Empire and whether Smart Win
crippled Empire's on-going exploration for oil in Tasmania."
Mr. Batista also commented, "Significantly, the pre-trial depositions and other
discovery since the last motion for summary judgment was decided against Smart
Win have only strengthened Empire's position on its defense against Smart Win's
claim to $4 million in damages and, more important, Empire's counterclaims to
far larger damages from Smart Win."
Mr. Batista noted that any party in any civil case has a right to move for
summary judgment, but that the procedure is reserved for simple cases in which
there are absolutely no issues for a jury to decide.
"Smart Win will do anything and everything to prevent jurors from hearing the
evidence," Mr. Batista said. "While it is impossible to predict the outcome of
any litigation, including this one, it is possible to observe that the
presumption under New York law is that summary judgment should rarely be
granted in only the simplest cases. Smart Win took a bite at that apple three
years ago. It is biting the same apple now. In my opinion, the result will be
the same - the motion will be denied and a jury of six to eight New Yorkers
will decide the dispute. Smart Win wants to delay the jury trial forever.
Empire wants to be in front of the jurors tomorrow."
Mr. Batista predicts that Smart Win's new motion will not be decided until
September 2014 at the earliest because of the court's lighter summer schedule.
11th June 2014
