With a team led by Jessie Zeigler, we represented the Town of Smyrna, Tennessee in a lawsuit against the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia (MGAG) in a case filed in the Middle District of Tennessee involving unauthorized natural gas hedging charges imposed by MGAG resulting in the Town’s payment of several millions of dollars over a six year period. The Town alleged that MGAG breached its contracts, breached its fiduciary duties to the Town, engaged in deceptive practices under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and violated the Tennessee False Claims Act when it hedged natural gas prices in 2008, just as natural gas prices were starting to fall, fracking was increasing the supply of natural gas and the country was in a severe economic recession. Chief Judge Kevin Sharp ruled in our favor on numerous dispositive motions brought by MGAG, and we won MGAG’s appeal to the Sixth Circuit in which it unsuccessfully argued it was a sovereign of the State of Georgia. Jessie Zeigler conducted the argument. The case was resolved very favorably for the Town on the day it was set to go to trial, after Chief Judge Sharp ruled in the Town’s favor on MGAG’s numerous motions to exclude the Town’s evidence and the Town’s experts. This ruling resulted in MGAG heavily pursuing resolving the case after four years of steadily refusing to even talk about a resolution.
Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee founded in 1855.