Jason Mills and Melissa Mills v. J-M MFG, Co., et al.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma civil litigation lawyers represented the in an indemnity action.



Charter Oak Production Co., LLC paid to settle a property damage claim brought by landowners after a pipeline installed on its easement ruptured. Charter Oak then sought indemnity from JM Eagle, Inc., and Rainmaker Sales, Inc., who supplied the pipe Charter Oak alleges was defective. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of JM Eagle and Rainmaker, finding that Charter Oak lacked the legal relationship required to assert an indemnity claim and that the claim was barred by the economic loss rule. The Court of Civil Appeals, Division IV, reversed. We granted certiorari to address whether a party may seek indemnity without an independent legal relationship and whether the economic loss rule bars indemnity for damage to third-party property.



Charter Oak was held vicariously liable for saltwater damage caused by a defective pipeline installed by an independent contractor. Under its non-delegable duty as the dominant tenant of an easement, Charter Oak independently settled with the property owners and sought indemnity from JM Eagle, the manufacturer, and Rainmaker, the distributor. The issues on appeal are: (1) whether Charter Oak may seek indemnity in the absence of an independent legal relationship with either JM Eagle or Rainmaker; and (2) whether the economic loss rule bars its claim.



* * *



MoreLaw was created to help people find experienced lawyers to represent them in the more than 3,000 counties across the United States. Click the link above to see a list of lawyers ready and willing to represent you if you have a legal problem and need help.

Reversed.