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Conflict of Laws Keyed to Twerski
Phillips Petroleum Company v. Shutts
Citation:
472 U.S. 797 (1985)Facts
Phillips Petroleum Company, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Oklahoma, produced or purchased natural gas from leased land in 11 different states. The company was obligated to pay interest on royalties that were suspended pending approval of rate increases by the Federal Power Commission. Shutts, a Kansas resident, filed a class action in Kansas state court on behalf of 28,100 royalty owners from all 50 states and several foreign countries, claiming that Phillips had failed to pay interest on the delayed royalty payments. The Kansas courts certified the class and applied Kansas law to all claims, despite the fact that over 99% of the leases and 97% of the plaintiffs had no connection to Kansas. The Kansas Supreme Court upheld a judgment of approximately $11.9 million in interest.
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