Hollingsworth LLP files amicus brief in the Colorado Supreme Court re availability of “Lone Pine” orders under Colorado law.
news | June 18, 2014
Click here to read the Firm’s brief.
“Lone Pine” case management orders advance and prioritize certain potentially dispositive issues, such as causation, for the purposes of avoiding delay and reducing costs. They are available in many states, but remain controversial — because they often result in dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims when they cannot produce evidence to support their positions.
The Colorado case involved claims made by a family allegedly suffering from personal and property damages as a result of nearby oil and gas exploration. After the ‘Lone Pine” order was issued, plaintiffs failed to substantiate a number of critical allegations and their case was dismissed. The Colorado court of appeals reversed, holding that “Lone Pine” orders were unavailable as a matter of law in Colorado. The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to review the intermediate court’s decision.
The Firm’s brief takes a unique perspective by providing a historical and jurisprudential analysis of the “active case management” principles that gave birth to “Lone Pine” orders. Rather than duplicating the parties’ and other amici’s analysis of the plethora of cases that support “Lone Pine” orders in other states, Hollingsworth LLP demonstrated the reasoning and studies that substantiated the value of the procedure — studies that were relied upon by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as well as Colorado’s own rules.