$30 Million in Damages Awarded in High-Profile Surety Bond Litigation

In partnership with Vinson & Elkins LLP, our firm represented Lexon Insurance Company in a high-profile case against U.S. Senator James C. Justice II (R-West Virginia), who previously served as Governor of West Virginia and was elected in November 2024 to replace the retiring U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. The case concerns more than $20 million in unpaid premiums and collateral owed on surety bonds that Lexon issued to Justice’s various coal mining businesses over several years. Those businesses stopped making the required premium and collateral payments to Lexon in 2021. Left with no other recourse, Lexon was forced to seek payment from Justice, who personally guaranteed the premium and collateral payments.

In December 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville entered an order granting summary judgment to Lexon on all claims for liability. A trial on damages was set for August 2025 to accommodate Justice’s Senate calendar. Despite an 11th-hour attempt by Justice to postpone the trial, the case proceeded as scheduled. Following a two-day bench trial that included testimony from several Lexon witnesses and the general counsel of Justice’s coal mining operations, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. awarded Lexon nearly $30 million in damages, including pre-judgment interest.

Our firm’s efforts were led by Brant Phillips, who has chaired the firm’s 100-attorney Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group since 2016. Phillips was ably assisted by Senior Associate Garrah Carter-Mason. In discussing the case, Phillips observed, “Complex contract disputes of this type always present a challenge for trial, regardless of whether you are presenting the case to the judge or a jury. Judge Crenshaw’s careful attention to the details was apparent, and his decision reaffirms that the law should apply equally to everyone no matter how high-ranking the person on one side of the case may be.”

A copy of Judge Crenshaw’s decision is available here.

Media Coverage

 

In partnership with Vinson & Elkins LLP, our firm represented Lexon Insurance Company in a high-profile case against U.S. Senator James C. Justice II (R-West Virginia), who previously served as Governor of West Virginia and was elected in November 2024 to replace the retiring U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. The case concerns more than $20 million in unpaid premiums and collateral owed on surety bonds that Lexon issued to Justice’s various coal mining businesses over several years. Those businesses stopped making the required premium and collateral payments to Lexon in 2021. Left with no other recourse, Lexon was forced to seek payment from Justice, who personally guaranteed the premium and collateral payments.

In December 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville entered an order granting summary judgment to Lexon on all claims for liability. A trial on damages was set for August 2025 to accommodate Justice’s Senate calendar. Despite an 11th-hour attempt by Justice to postpone the trial, the case proceeded as scheduled. Following a two-day bench trial that included testimony from several Lexon witnesses and the general counsel of Justice’s coal mining operations, U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. awarded Lexon nearly $30 million in damages, including pre-judgment interest.

Our firm’s efforts were led by Brant Phillips, who has chaired the firm’s 100-attorney Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group since 2016. Phillips was ably assisted by Senior Associate Garrah Carter-Mason. In discussing the case, Phillips observed, “Complex contract disputes of this type always present a challenge for trial, regardless of whether you are presenting the case to the judge or a jury. Judge Crenshaw’s careful attention to the details was apparent, and his decision reaffirms that the law should apply equally to everyone no matter how high-ranking the person on one side of the case may be.”

A copy of Judge Crenshaw’s decision is available here.

Media Coverage