Opinion ID: 165825
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 1 This case involves the payment of royalties on oil and gas leases. Plaintiff-appellant Elliott Industries Limited Partnership, as an individual and as class representative, is appealing the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants-appellees ConocoPhillips Company, BP America Production Company, and BP Energy Company. A group of third-party litigants, Laura Dichter, Romero Family Limited Partnership, and J. Glenn Turner, appeal the denial of their motion to intervene and the district court's ruling in favor of defendants asserting that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction; they also seek to intervene on appeal. The appeals and the motion to intervene are consolidated and addressed in this opinion. In addition, the State of New Mexico has filed a brief as amicus curiae in support of plaintiffs' claims under New Mexico statutes. 2 This court exercises jurisdiction over these related appeals pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. In Case No. 04-2006, this court remands the claims of the class to the district court with instructions to vacate the final judgment with respect to the unnamed members of the plaintiff class, decertify the class, and dismiss the claims of the class without prejudice. As to Elliott Industries in its capacity as an individual plaintiff, the district court's judgment on the merits in favor of defendants is affirmed. The motion of the third-party litigants to intervene in the appeal of Case No. 04-2006 is granted and the appeal in Case No. 04-2014 is dismissed.