Background
In this proceeding on petition for writ of mandamus, relator M3P Directional Services, Ltd. (“M3P”) challenged a trial court’s denial of its motion to transfer venue. This case arises from a dispute involving the drilling of a horizontal oil and gas well in Irion County, Texas. Comstock Energy, LLC (“Comstock”) filed suit against M3P and other defendants alleging that they failed to properly drill and complete a horizontal well for Comstock, resulting in three separate wellbore failures. Comstock alleged that it incurred over $3.2 million in damages, including costs related to defective drilling services, lost equipment, and the plugging of the failed wellbores.
In response, M3P filed a motion to transfer venue to Irion County, arguing that the nature of Comstock’s claims involved damages to real property and therefore (it argued) venue was mandatory in Irion County pursuant to section 15.011 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. The trial court denied the motion, leading to this mandamus proceeding. Central to the analysis was Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 15.011, which provides as follows:
Actions for recovery of real property or an estate or interest in real property, for partition of real property, to remove encumbrances from the title to real property, for recovery of damages to real property, or to quiet title to real property shall be brought in the county in which all or a part of the property is located.
Mandatory Venue Analysis
To show that venue is mandatory in a particular county under section 15.011, a party must prove:
(1) the nature of the suit fits within the listed categories; and
(2) all or part of the property at issue is located in the county alleged to have mandatory venue.
The parties in this case agreed that the property at issue is located in Irion County, but they disagreed as to whether the nature of the suit fits within the scope of section 15.011.
Court’s Ruling
The court noted that Texas courts do not analyze how causes of action are described, but instead courts look at the “essence” of the parties’ dispute, which “depends on the facts alleged in the petition, the rights asserted, and the relief sought.” “Thus, once it is demonstrated that the court’s judgment would have some effect on an interest in real property, the venue of the suit is properly fixed under section 15.011.”
Comstock argued that the mandatory venue provision was not applicable because the dominant nature of the lawsuit did not involve damages to real property. The court rejected that argument, stating its view that “the facts alleged in support of [Comstock’s] claims establish otherwise. “Comstock seeks to recover damages for alleged damage to the allegedly failed wellbores, including expenses allegedly incurred to ‘plug’ the wellbores; thus, the underlying action is one for recovery of ‘damages to real property,’ triggering the mandatory venue statute and requiring transfer of the underlying matter to Irion County, Texas.” As a result, the court held that the trial court abused its discretion by denying M3P’s motion to transfer venue.
