Opinion ID: 794592
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Waiver/Judicial Estoppel

Text: 6 Before addressing whether the imposition of joint and several liability is proper for contribution actions brought under CERCLA § 113(f), this court must first determine whether Magellan waived its objection on this issue. This court generally reviews a decision on a motion to alter or amend a judgment for abuse of discretion. Ross v. Marshall, 426 F.3d 745, 763 (5th Cir.2005). A trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is based on an erroneous view of the law or a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence. Bocanegra v. Vicmar Servs., Inc., 320 F.3d 581, 584 (5th Cir.2003). To the extent the ruling reconsidered a question of law, however, the standard of review is de novo. Ross, 426 F.3d at 763. Motions to alter or amend judgments cannot be used to raise arguments which could, and should, have been made before the judgment issued and cannot be used to argue a case under a new legal theory. Simon v. United States, 891 F.2d 1154, 1159 (5th Cir.1990). 7 El Paso contends, and the district court agreed, that Magellan and Hess waived their objections to the imposition of joint and several liability. The alleged waiver took place during a discussion between the district court and counsel for Magellan/Hess over whether Williams Terminals Holdings and its related entities (Williams) were proper defendants in the CERCLA action: 8 THE COURT: Just a minute. Who is the responsible party? I mean, does it vary over time? Is that the problem? 9 [counsel for Magellan/Hess] MR. WILKINSON: Well, the responsible parties would be Hess for a time period and then the current owner is actually Magellan Terminal Holdings, L.P., are the two parties that really belong in this suit. Of course, they all deny liability— 10 THE COURT: What's the—if I enter judgment for a percentage of the cleanup costs, will you be able to allocate it among them? Do you represent both— 11 MR. WILKINSON: I represent both of them. There's an indemnity agreement—there's a defense and indemnity agreement between Hess and Williams following the sale of the terminal. So Hess is providing a defense and indemnity, Your Honor. 12 THE COURT: So what difference does it make? 13 MR. WILKINSON: We have two other entities that really aren't owners/operators of the terminal. In the understandable ways that lawyers work, you just get all of the entities when you don't understand— 14 THE COURT: I'll let you-all work that out over the noon hour. 15 R23:609 (emphasis added). 1 In its later findings of fact, the court imposed joint and several liability on Magellan and Hess, prompting Magellan's motion to alter or amend. 16 The district court, in its oral decision on the motion, stated that it was 17 troubled by the lateness of this motion. I did the best I could to fairly allocate the response costs between El Paso and Hess. Nobody ever mentioned except me what the allocation between Mr. Wilkinson's client[s] should be. And the only response I got was that there's a defense and indemnity agreement. If you all had raised this, Mr. Wilkinson, at trial, we could have stopped, conducted, extended the time for evidence, reviewed the exhibits, asked meaningful questions to some of the witnesses, and I would be in a position to make an informed choice. So, assuming, without deciding that liability under Section 113 is only [several], not joint and several, an issue that the Fifth Circuit has not yet definitively decided, I conclude that Magellan has waived this argument by not presenting evidence or arguments at trial. So, I am going to deny the motion for that reason. 18 R28:6-7. The existence of an indemnity agreement weighed heavily in the district court's conclusion that Magellan had waived its objection to the imposition of joint and several liability. El Paso thus argues that the district court was entitled to rely on statements made by counsel in open court, and that the doctrines of either judicial estoppel or waiver bar Magellan's claim. Ergo Sci., Inc. v. Martin, 73 F.3d 595, 600 (5th Cir.1996). 2 19 However, it is well established that a party has presented an issue in the trial court if that party has raised it in either the pleadings or the pretrial order, or if the parties have tried the issue by consent. Burch v. Coca-Cola Co., 119 F.3d 305, 319 (5th Cir.1997)(quoting Portis v. First Nat'l Bank, 34 F.3d 325, 331 (5th Cir.1994)). In the instant case, there is no dispute that Magellan included its objection to the imposition of joint and several liability in the pretrial order; indeed, the district court acknowledged as much in its ruling on Magellan's motion to amend the judgment. An issue included in the pretrial order may be waived where a litigant makes a specific concession as to that issue at a later date. See Indus. Magromer Cueros y Pieles S.A. v. La. Bayou Furs, Inc., 293 F.3d 912, 919 (5th Cir.2002). Here, however, the exchange between Magellan/Hess's counsel and the district court is at best ambiguous and appears to be an example of two parties talking past each other, not a specific concession by counsel on the issue of joint and several liability. Magellan should not be deprived of its right to argue an issue properly included in the pretrial order on the basis of a single passing reference to an indemnity agreement. 20 Nor will this court deem Magellan's objections waived due to its failure to present evidence. The district court expressed frustration with the fact that Magellan did not prominently argue the issue of joint and several liability at trial, but the company's failure to do so is understandable, given that its position at trial was that it was not liable for any of the contamination at the Elementis site. 3 It is El Paso, as the party bringing an action for contribution, that bore the burden of proving the defendant is a responsible party under § 107(a) of CERCLA and also the burden of proving the defendant's equitable share of costs. Centerior Serv. Co. v. Acme Scrap Iron & Metal Corp., 153 F.3d 344, 348 (6th Cir.1998); see also Minyard Enters., Inc. v. Se. Chem. & Solv. Co., 184 F.3d 373, 385 (4th Cir.1999)(same). El Paso argues that it does not have to prove liability as to individual defendants in a CERCLA contribution action, but it cites no case law in support of this proposition. This court therefore declines to relieve El Paso of its burden of proof. 4 Magellan cannot be faulted for inadequate presentation of evidence as to the proper allocation of costs when it never bore the burden of proof in the first place. As such, we find that the district court abused its discretion in its determination that Magellan waived its objections to the imposition of joint and several liability against it, and we proceed to the merits of Magellan's and Hess's claim.