Abuse of Discretion – Claim Preclusion

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WI Court of Appeals – District III

Case Name: Barbara Engelking, et al. v. Enbridge (U.S.), Inc., et al.

Case No.: 2017AP2450

Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.

Focus: Abuse of Discretion – Claim Preclusion

Barbara and Jeremy Engelking appeal a judgment dismissing their claims against Enbridge (U.S.), Inc., Enbridge Energy, LP, and Enbridge Pipelines, (Southern Lights), LLC (collectively, Enbridge). The circuit court concluded that some of the Engelkings’ claims were barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion, and it later determined Enbridge was entitled to summary judgment on the Engelkings’ remaining claims.

In summary, we conclude the circuit court did not erroneously exercise its discretion by denying the Engelkings’ request for additional time to conduct discovery on Enbridge’s Line 1 claims. We further conclude Enbridge made a prima facie case for summary judgment on those claims, and, in response, the Engelkings failed to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact that would preclude summary judgment. Accordingly, the circuit court properly granted Enbridge summary judgment on the Engelkings’ Line 1 claims. We conclude the court properly dismissed all of the Engelkings’ claims against Enbridge.  We therefore affirm.

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.