Vedder Price is pleased to announce that it represented Mattawoman Energy, LLC (“Mattawoman”) in its successful defense of a breach of gas transportation agreement claim brought by Cove Point LNG, LP (“Cove Point”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In May 2020, Cove Point, a liquefied natural gas transporter, sued Mattawoman for breach of a gas transportation agreement in federal court seeking over $3 million in damages. During the course of the proceedings, Cove Point argued that the case belonged in federal court because gas transportation agreements are heavily regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”), so the case necessarily presented a federal question that only a federal court should decide. Mattawoman resisted the jurisdictional argument, maintaining that this type of FERC-regulated gas transportation dispute does not raise a substantial and necessarily disputed federal question. In an opinion that appears to be one of first impression in the Fourth Circuit, the district court agreed with Mattawoman and dismissed the case on February 5, 2021.

Litigation Shareholder Anand Ramana represented Mattawoman throughout the proceedings. "It is a pleasure to be able to successfully represent Mattawoman in this case of first impression regarding a sophisticated energy dispute," said Mr. Ramana.