Gibson Dunn Victorious in Texas’s Second-Ever Business Court Trial
Firm News | March 5, 2026
Gibson Dunn scored a trailblazing victory in the Texas Business Court on March 4, 2026, when Judge Marialyn Barnard found in favor of our client Mesquite Energy in a dispute with Sanchez Oil & Gas Corp.
As co-plaintiffs, Mesquite and Sanchez had previously obtained a confidential eight-figure settlement in connection with claims for misappropriation of trade secrets. The parties then disputed which of the co-plaintiffs owned the underlying trade secrets, with Sanchez claiming 100% of the proceeds. After a one-week bench trial, Judge Barnard awarded Mesquite 62.2% of the proceeds. The Court found that Mesquite provided all funding for the operations to create the trade secrets and dismissed Sanchez’s arguments as to why the contracts governing the parties’ relationships allocated ownership to Sanchez. The ruling in the case, Mesquite Energy v. Sanchez Oil & Gas Corp., No. 24-BC11B-18 (Tex. Bus. Ct. 11th Div.), flatly rejects Sanchez’s argument for 100% of the proceeds.
The Gibson Dunn trial team was led by Houston partner Collin Cox and featured critical assistance from Houston associates Lloyd Marshall, Jack DiSorbo, Tiffany Penner, and Tony Alessi, who collectively took all the depositions but one and examined half the trial witnesses. The action was just the second case to go to trial in the newly constituted Texas Business Court, which began hearing cases in September 2024.