After proceedings that included eight days of trial, Elrod obtained a final judgment for Kern River Gas Transmission Company for $81.7 million in the bankruptcy case of energy giant Mirant Corporation, in addition to the $14.7 million Kern River had previously recovered in the case.

The claim of Kern River, a natural gas pipeline company, was for damages caused by Mirant’s rejection of a 15-year contract for pipeline capacity. The dispute involved novel issues relating to mitigation of damages and discount rates, and the Court’s memorandum opinion was reported at 332 B.R. 139 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. 2005). Elrod also obtained dismissal of an adversary proceeding initiated by Mirant against Kern River.

“We believe this is the only pipeline case of this size that has been tried to judgment and the only claim objection tried in the entire Mirant bankruptcy,” said managing partner David W. Elrod. “We were extremely pleased to obtain what we felt was an excellent result for our client Kern River.”

The Mirant bankruptcy case was one of the fifteen largest in U.S. history, according to BankruptcyData.com. Creditors such as Kern River have received distributions of stock in the reorganized Mirant Corporation (NYSE: MIR) that the market has generally valued at or above the amount of the allowed claims.