GableGotwals represents Jet Commercial Construction, LLC and its owners, Steve Rich and Jake Sharp, in a negligent-misrepresentation and breach-of-contract dispute arising from the construction of a fountain at Ceasars Place in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Firm’s litigation team moved to dismiss the individual claims due to lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court denied the motion and issued subsequent adverse rulings against the individual owners on discovery issues. The litigation team filed a petition for a writ of prohibition with the Nevada Supreme Court, which the Court ultimately granted and directed the trial court to dismiss Rich and Sharp.

On December 9, 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court, by unanimous vote of all justices participating, confirmed GableGotwals’ summary judgment victory obtained for its client David Qualls in a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought against him by the Peoria Tribe of Indians.

A company owned in part by Mr. Qualls managed the Tribe’s casino. When external forces caused a decline in casino cash flow, an external CPA and lawyer, according to the Tribe, devised and implemented a casino accounting change that resulted in five million in additional cash flow to the Tribe and increased the company’s management fee by a substantially lesser amount.

The Tribe sued Mr. Qualls in an Oklahoma State District Court in Shawnee, alleging that through the accounting change, Mr. Qualls embezzled, committed fraud, breached fiduciary duties, was liable for four other related claims, and owed the Tribe a $2 million fine previously imposed by the Tribe’s gaming commission. After all the discovery was completed and two oral arguments held, the District Court found that the fine was unconstitutional and that all of the Tribe’s claims failed as a matter of law. Summary judgment was awarded to Mr. Qualls.

The Tribe appealed. The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals rejected all of the Tribe’s arguments and unanimously affirmed the summary judgment against the Tribe. The Tribe then filed a petition for certiorari seeking discretionary review by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied the petition, thereby making the judgment in favor of the Firm’s client final.

Following a bench trial that took place on April 24, 2024, the 250th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas entered a Final Judgment in favor of BP America Production Company (BP). The lawsuit was one of several disputes between BP and Border to Border Exploration LLC, BBX Operating LLC (the Defendants), and other related entities. In this matter, the Defendants and a related entity entered into a Development Agreement with BP to perform seismic testing on approximately 6,500 acres owned by BP in Jasper County, Texas in exchange for a drilling credit of $200 per acre. The credits were never used because no wells were drilled by the Defendants. However, the Defendants refused to repay the unused credits, as was required by the agreement, and attempted to limit any payment obligation to a related entity that had declared bankruptcy and therefore could not be a party to this lawsuit.

The Honorable Judge Amy Clark Meachum entered judgment in favor of BP on May 2, 2024 and awarded actual damages of $1,302,622 against the Defendants, jointly and severally, as well as pre-judgment interest bringing the total award to approximately $2 million.

GableGotwals obtained a significant victory in the Oklahoma Supreme Court for its client, the Jackson County Emergency Medical Service District. In a unanimous, published opinion on a public law question of first impression, the High Court issued a writ against a Grady County District Judge prohibiting further proceedings in a personal injury case against the District. Neither the Oklahoma Constitution authorizing creation of the District nor the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act, which protects counties and cities, expressly authorizes immunity for Districts from damage suits. The Supreme Court held, the District had sovereign immunity and prohibited the District Court from going forward in the suit against the District.

Successfully represented a local developer in a civil lawsuit protesting the legal sufficiency of the Referendum Petition related to Jenks Ordinance No. 1617.

BPX, Zurich American, and others sued Cameron International Corporation in Oklahoma state court for more than $65 million in connection with work that Cameron performed on an oil and gas well in DeWitt County, Texas. Cameron removed the case to federal court, even though Cameron and BPX were both citizens of Texas, claiming that BPX had been fraudulently joined as a plaintiff in an improper attempt to destroy diversity jurisdiction. BPX and Zurich American filed a Motion to Remand arguing, among other things, that the doctrine of fraudulent joinder did not apply to plaintiffs like BPX and Zurich American.

The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma agreed with BPX and Zurich American, noting the “pragmatic reasons to limit application of the fraudulent joinder doctrine to defendants and the absence of Tenth Circuit authority concluding that extension of the doctrine to plaintiffs is appropriate.” Therefore, Judge Goodwin concluded that federal jurisdiction did not exist and remanded the lawsuit back to Oklahoma state court.

Trent Shores served as the Legal Technician on the production of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” vetting the courtroom and interrogation scenes in the film for accuracy.

GableGotwals secured a dismissal of a lawsuit against Fort Worth-based company Creative Solutions in Healthcare, the largest skilled nursing provider in Texas after years of hard-fought litigation. The dismissal resolves with finality the False Claims Act allegations levied by Austin-based data analytics company Integra Med Analytics and vindicates the good character and law-abiding business practices of Creative Solutions in Healthcare.

United States District Judge Xavier Rodriguez dismissed a lawsuit this week against Fort Worth-based company Creative Solutions in Healthcare, the largest skilled nursing provider in Texas. The district court’s order ends years of litigation during which Creative Solutions’ CEO Gary Blake consistently maintained that his company had done no wrong while providing high-quality care at its healthcare facilities.

The False Claims Act allegations were brought by the Austin-based data analytics company Integra Med Analytics, LLC in December 2017. Integra accused Creative Solutions of falsely billing Medicare and Medicaid for unreasonable and unnecessary therapy services in violation of the False Claims Act, claims for which Integra sought more than $94 million in damages. The skilled nursing facility industry has faced numerous lawsuits making similar claims that have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements and judgments.

Creative Solutions wholly rejected and denied the allegations. After years of hard-fought litigation, Integra ultimately agreed to dismiss its claims with prejudice. In exchange, Creative Solutions agreed not to pursue recovery of attorney fees and costs under the law permitting recovery for an action that was “clearly frivolous, clearly vexatious, or brought primarily for purposes of harassment.” Creative Solutions paid nothing.

“The dismissal of this lawsuit completely vindicates Creative Solutions in Healthcare,” said lead attorney Trent Shores. “GableGotwals is proud to have achieved this significant and just result for our client through the diligent efforts of every member of our litigation team to pursue the truth of this matter and defend the integrity of Creative Solutions in Healthcare. This dismissal allows Gary and Malisa Blake to continue focusing on doing what they do best – providing high-quality healthcare to America’s greatest generation and others in need of skilled nursing.”

“We are pleased with Judge Rodriguez’s decision and commend GableGotwals’ litigation team in their successful efforts to defend Creative Solutions in Healthcare against these baseless accusations,” said Gary Blake, CEO of Creative Solutions. “The dismissal of this case validates the integrity of our company and our commitment to ethical practices.”

The False Claims Act is an important tool the United States Department of Justice uses to protect the integrity of taxpayer-funded healthcare programs. However, the U.S. internal policies also call for it to, among others, curb meritless actions, prevent parasitic or opportunistic actions, and control litigation brought on behalf of the United States.

The dismissal resolves with finality the allegations levied by Integra Med Analytics and vindicates the good character and law-abiding business practices of Creative Solutions in Healthcare.

This matter was handled by a GableGotwals False Claims Act civil litigation team led by former United States Attorney and current Shareholder Trent Shores and Shareholders Adam Doverspike and Justin Lollman, Of Counsel Barrett Powers, Associate Lacy Pulliam, and Senior Paralegal Cheryl Anderson. This result is also the product of GableGotwals’s collaborative work with Creative Solutions in Healthcare General Counsel Eric Weborg and Paralegal Heather Gee.

About Creative Solutions in Healthcare
Creative Solutions is a family-owned healthcare company co-founded by Gary and Malisa Blake in Granbury, Texas in 2000. Creative Solutions is now the largest long-term care provider in Texas with more than 130 facilities. Their top priority is to care for seniors with the respect, compassion, and dignity they deserve through quality meals, clean spaces, and compassionate nursing care. Under the leadership of Gary and Malisa Blake, Creative Solutions’ corporate culture has been grounded in the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” For more information, visit CreativeSolutionsinHealthcare.com.

About GableGotwals
GableGotwals is a full-service law firm with nearly 100 attorneys and more than 70 professionals in Oklahoma and Texas. We represent a diversified client base across the nation, and our connections and reach are global. Fortune 500 corporations, privately owned companies, entrepreneurs, foundations, and individuals entrust us every day with the stewardship and strategic management of their legal challenges. For more information, visit gablelaw.com.

GableGotwals successfully represented the Cherokee Nation in a civil lawsuit brought against it by Kimberlie Gilliland. From 2016 through 2019, the Cherokee Nation Attorney General charged Gilliland, a former executive director of the Cherokee Nation Foundation, with 15 total counts of embezzlement. While facing tribal criminal charges, Gilliland fled to Poland and filed a habeas petition in 2022 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, seeking to have a warrant for her arrest voided and tribal embezzlement charges dismissed. GableGotwals sought to dismiss Gilliland’s petition and, in doing so, defended tribal sovereignty and protected the integrity of the Cherokee Nation’s justice system.