On March 31, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a motion to dismiss with prejudice that Williams & Connolly filed on behalf of its client Range Resources in a putative securities fraud class action.  The suit claimed that Range Resources made allegedly false and misleading statements in light of a settlement with the company’s Pennsylvania regulator.  In June 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted Range Resources’ motion to transfer the case to the Northern District of Texas, where Range Resources is headquartered.  In its March 31 opinion dismissing the suit, the court concluded that Range Resources’ statements were not false or misleading, and that the plaintiff attempted “to dramatically alter the meaning and implications” of Range Resources’ statements in order to state a claim.  In addition, the court found that the plaintiff failed to adequately plead any facts giving rise to an inference that either Range Resources or its executives acted knowingly or recklessly in making the supposed misstatements.

The Williams & Connolly team representing Range Resources included Amanda MacDonald and Michael Mestitz.