Chesapeake lawyers state a class action lawsuit filed in Stephens County is a waste of judicial resources and should join similar petitions filed in federal court.

McAfee & Taft attorneys representing Chesapeake Energy corporation filed documents at the Stephens County Courthouse April 22 for a stay of a class action lawsuit brought against the oil titan seeking restitution for oil lease holders victimized during a conspiracy to rig bids and depress prices for oil and natural gas leaseholds in the Anadarko Basin.

“This is a copycat lawsuit,” stated court documents. “The petition mirrors 11 nearly identical lawsuits that were recently consolidated in (an Oklahoma federal court). To avoid a duplication of effort, waste of judicial resources and the risk of conflicting pretrial ruling outcomes – the court should stay this case.”

The only two differences between the suit filed by the Sill Law Group, an Edmond law firm, and federal cases, according to the documents, is this case represents Oklahoma residents only and the class period extends to April 2013 while the federal suits until 2012.

The Anadarko Basin, according to topographical maps, extends through 108 counties in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Colorado.

Jim Sill, a senior partner of the Sill Law group, said during a previous interview, his firm filed other cases at the federal level and this one on a state level for specific reasons.

“In our view, Oklahoma antitrust laws allow for recovery based upon acts of a single conspirator, while cases filed under federal law must generally identify and prove additional conspirators,” he said. “In some instances, state courts are able to move more quickly than federal, which in turn may allow plaintiffs in a state class action to resolve their cases sooner than those in a federal court action.”

The lawsuit stems from a March 1 Department of Justice (DOJ) grand jury indictment of deceased co-founder of Chesapeake Aubrey McClendon who allegedly engaged in conduct that was described in the indictment as “a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by rigging bids from certain leaseholds interests and producing properties,” which had the effect of “keeping prices down for those leaseholds interests.”

SandRidge and Chesapeake, the petition states, were competitors for the acquisition of leases in the basin described as one of the deepest and most prolific hydrocarbon fields in the U.S.

“The 2011 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the Anadarko Basin Region to have 495 million barrels of oil, 27.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 410 million barrels of natural gas liquids,” according to the petition. “Rather than competing fairly for leases and producing properties and paying prices set by market forces, defendants engaged in a conspiracy to reduce the prices they paid plaintiffs and members of the class.”

These practices, according to the petition, allowed Chesapeake to amass 2.4 million net acres and SandRidge more than 1.5 million net acres in the region, affecting the overall market.

McClendon was killed in a car accident and the indictment was dismissed according to the documents filed by McAffe and Taft.

If the stay is not granted, Chesapeake lawyers asked for a 10 day extension to file a response.