In The News

In a recent online article, “The Center Square” highlighted additional detail surrounding the North Dakota Supreme Court’s unanimous Court ruling on behalf of Landowners.   Derrick Braaten was quoted in the article speaking about the uphill battle the Landowners faced:  Derrick said he remembers walking into the state House and seeing Coons talking to lawmakers. … Read More

One of the most controversial laws of the 2019 legislative session was ruled on by North Dakota’s high court recently, in favor of North Dakota landowners’ pore space rights.  A recent AP story highlights the details of the North Dakota Supreme Court ruling:  “A state district judge last year ruled the law unconstitutional because it gives … Read More

  Derrick Braaten and Northwest Landowners Association’s Chairman Troy Coons appeared in a recent KFYR story about the North Dakota Supreme Court ruling which impacted landowners’ rights related to compensation for their pore space usage.  “For an individual landowner with a disposal well, you could be talking several hundred thousand dollars per year to millions … Read More

Derrick Braaten and Troy Coons (chairman of Northwest Landowners Association) appeared on Joel Heitkamp’s “News & Views” program today, discussing their reactions and thoughts related to the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on behalf of landowner rights.  Listen to the recording of the “News & Views” podcast here. 

In an article by the Forum, Jeremy Turley writes, “The North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a group of landowners in a complex dispute over the oil and gas industry’s use of underground rock cavities.” Read the unanimous opinion here: Pore Space Opinion

Yesterday, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled on behalf of North Dakota Landowners who filed a complaint in district court, asking the court to Declare Senate Bill 2344 (the pore space bill) an unconstitutional taking of private property. In an article written by James MacPherson of the Associated Press,  NWLA Attorney Derrick Braaten was quoted … Read More

Our client, Northwest Landowners Association, has been engaged in a fight to protect the property rights of private landowners in North Dakota since Senate Bill 2344 was introduced during the 2019 legislative session. Through lobbying, public outreach and education, and direct litigation, Northwest Landowners Association took on this fight to protect the rights of North … Read More

Norwegian news organization “VG” recently ran a story about carbon capture in North Dakota.  Derrick was featured in the story, discussing questions that have been raised regarding the market that will develop around this project. One of our clients, Kurt Swenson, was also interviewed and raised questions and concerns about fair compensation and potential environmental … Read More

Rob Port recently hosted Daryl Lies, the president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau, on his Plain Talk podcast. Mr. Lies said, “some landowners had Summit Carbon representatives poking around on their land without permission. Kurt Swenson, himself a landowner who is in the process of negotiating with Summit, says the deals the company wants, … Read More

The State of North Dakota and Continental Resources (an oil company) appealed a 2021 ruling that struck down a 2019 law governing pore space. Northeast District Judge Anthony Swain Benson ruled that this law violated state and U.S. constitutions, and that it allowed oil and gas companies to enact a “taking” of private property from … Read More