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ALFORD v.
PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES USA, INC.,
STEVENS COUNTY, KANSAS, CASE
NO. 93 CV 37
Plaintiffs filed this action on November 22,
1993, against Mesa, Inc., and its affiliates ("Mesa"),
challenging Mesa's method of accounting to its royalty owners for
royalties owed on gas which had begun flowing through its newly
constructed Satanta Plant in Grant County, Kansas. On August 17, 1997,
Mesa merged into Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc. ("PNR"). PNR
assumed any liabilities generated by the lawsuit and was substituted
for Mesa as the defendant herein.
On October 3, 2000, the Court certified the
lawsuit as a class action under K.S.A. 60-223, and named John Stephen
Alford and Robert Larrabee as Class Representatives. (Due to the death
of Robert Larrabee, his son Joe Larrabee assumed his responsibilities
as a Class Representative.)
During the entire period (nearly 13 years), that
this lawsuit has been pending, the Plaintiffs and Plaintiff Class have
been represented by Thomas D. Kitch, Gregory J. Stucky, and David G.
Seely of Fleeson, Gooing, Coulson & Kitch, L.L.C. of Wichita, KS, and
B.E. Nordling (now deceased) and Erick E. Nordling of Kramer, Nordling
& Nordling LLC, of Hugoton, KS.
On August 17, 2006, the parties to the lawsuit
executed an agreement outlining the basic terms upon which they were
willing to settle the litigation, which was supplanted by a more
detailed Settlement Agreement signed by the parties on September 28,
2006, and presented to the Court for its preliminary approval on
September 29, 2006.
On October 20, 2006, Plaintiffs’
counsel mailed a copy of a Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class
Action to each member of the plaintiff class at the most recent
address known to PNR. On February 9, 2007 the Court approved the
proposed Settlement Agreement and class counsel's application for
attorneys fees and expenses.
The first installment of the settlement funds due
class members was mailed on April 11, 2007. The second
(and final) installment of the settlement funds due class members
was mailed on October 1, 2007.
The following Index identifies significant
documents which were filed in the case. You may view these documents
using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not already have Adobe Reader on
your computer, it may be downloaded from Adobe by clicking the
following logo.
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