In Bonner Farms v. Fritz [PDF] the Sixth Circuit, applying Ohio law, ruled that quasi-estoppel operates to bar a claim or defense only when a party’s actions are “inconsistent” with its litigation position. As applied here, that means that the plaintiff’s decision to negotiate “royalty” checks did not bar its litiation position that the oil and gas lease on their property had been terminated; negotiating the checks was equally consistent with termination of the lease (in which case the checks constituted only partial payment for the gas withdrawn by the defendants) as with continuation of the lease (in which case the checks constituted full payment).
This post was written by Jeffrey M. Nye.
