NewsOK.com reports that Shell Oil Co. is mulling an appeal from a $66 million jury verdict, which includes $53 in punitive damages. The plaintiffs claimed that Shell underpaid royalties on an oil-well lease agreement that was originally executed in 1927.
Any appeal will likely involve some discussion of the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in City of Hope v. Genentech, in which the court reversed a $200 million punitive damages award in a case involving underpayment of royalties.
