Chad M. Smith, P.C.

A Montana federal judge has added pre- and postjudgment interest to most of a $22 million verdict against **Kaman Aerospace Corp.** in a lawsuit over a helicopter that crashed five years ago, killing a veteran pilot who was fighting a wildfire. Under a ruling issued Friday, U.S. Chief District Judge *Brian Morris* of the District of Montana said **Kaman** must pay 10.5% interest on $12 million of the verdict. Half of the amount subject to interest relates to the destroyed **K-1200 helicopter (K-Max)**, the judge ruled. That $6 million began accruing interest on Aug. 24, 2020, when a defect in the helicopter’s rotor blades allegedly caused *Thomas Duffy*, 40, described in filings as a “world-class rescue pilot,” to lose control and crash, according to the court record. The total interest amount still must be calculated. **Kaman** previously agreed in April to pay $8 million to settle wrongful-death claims brought by *Duffy*’s family. After trial, a jury awarded **Central Copters Inc.**, *Duffy*’s employer, which owned four K-Max helicopters, $22 million in May. The lawsuit alleges the K-Max crashed due to a failure in at least one of the helicopter’s servo flaps, components that allow a pilot to control the pitch of the rotor blades. The jury rejected claims that the servo flaps were defectively designed, instead finding a manufacturing defect, according to the verdict. *Duffy* died on Aug. 24, 2020, while on a mission to drop water on the White River wildfire in Oregon’s Mount Hood National Forest, according to the lawsuit. **Central Copters**, which held an exclusive contract with the U.S. Forest Service, hired him for the job. In addition to interest on the value of the destroyed K-Max *Duffy* was flying, the judge said **Kaman** must also pay interest on three other K-Max helicopters that **Central Copters** says it sold at a loss after the crash. Following the incident, **Central Copters** grounded its entire fleet of K-Max helicopters. Each was valued at $5.2 million to $5.9 million, according to the company’s expert, but the helicopters were later sold below market value. The jury awarded $6 million for losses tied to the three grounded helicopters. Overall, the verdict included $6 million for the destroyed helicopter, $6 million for the reduced value of the other helicopters, and $10 million in lost past and future profits. Judge *Morris* ordered 10.5% interest on the $12 million related to the helicopters, with the date of sale determining when pre-judgment interest begins to accrue. He also awarded **Central Copters** nearly $40,000 in taxable costs and denied the company’s request for interest on $958,000 in lost profits. Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. **Kaman** is represented by *Mark S. Williams* of **Williams Law Firm PC**, and by *Kevin M. Smith* and *Robyn Gallagher* of **Wiggin and Dana LLP**. **Central Copters** and the *Duffy* family are represented by *Kellie Gaston Sironi* of **Gaston Law Firm**, by *Matthew B. Hayhurst* and *Tyler M. Stockton* of **Boone Karlberg PC**, and by *Calvin J. Stacey* of **Stacey & Funyak**. The case is *Central Copters Inc. v. Kaman Aerospace Corp.*, case number 2:21-cv-00071, in the **U.S. District Court for the District of Montana**.

Nov 10

3 min

The Ohio Attorney General's Office told a state appeals court that Google's search engine meets all the requirements to be declared a common carrier, arguing that a lower court misapplied the law by failing to see information as a good that can be transported. Ohio state enforcers filed their opening brief Friday for an appeal seeking to reverse an August ruling that granted summary judgment to Google and refused to declare its search engine a common carrier. The lower court found the designation does not apply because Google does not transport people or property and because it makes choices about what to display in search results. But the brief Friday said the undisputed evidence shows that Google holds itself out as ready and willing to bring information to any internet user, subject to the same set of terms and conditions. "As such, it satisfies every element needed to be a common carrier of information," the brief said. "The information it carries, although intangible, is precious cargo to the users who seek it. Those users deserve the protection that the law affords to customers of common carriers." The Ohio Attorney General's Office lodged the suit in June 2021, seeking to classify Google Search as a common carrier or public utility, similar to railroads and electric companies that have to afford equal treatment and access to users. The concerns center on Google's ability to promote its own products like YouTube, Google Flights and Google Shopping over similar offerings from others. Ohio Court of Common Pleas Judge James P. Schuck allowed the common carrier portion of the case to proceed with a May 2022 ruling that tossed the state's alternative request to have Google declared a public utility. The judge granted Google's summary judgment request in August. In the brief Friday, state enforcers said millions of Ohio residents rely on Google's public representation that it responds to queries with the most relevant and useful information and said the state filed the case over concerns that Google is instead prioritizing information that "best boosts" its bottom line. "Such self-preferencing behavior offends basic tenets of fair-dealing, and its impact is especially severe when perpetrated by a firm that holds itself out to the general public as willing to play by the rules — the same rules for every user and content provider with whom it does business," the brief said. In deciding that Google's search engine does not meet the requirements for the common carrier designation, enforcers said the lower court wrongly found that Google does not transport property by focusing on the search results page that Google returns to users, instead of the information itself. The lower court determined that Google creates a product when it generates the search results page, the brief said, rather than moving a product by sending information to users. "Google's placement of information into a [search results page] for delivery to the user does not alter the fact that what people are seeking and obtaining from Google is information," the brief said. While common carriers of the past generally transported people or tangible goods, via trains, taxis or ships, the analysis has been extended to intangible assets such as telephone transmissions and electricity, enforcers said. One of the most important and valuable goods today, the brief said, is information. "The firm most frequently called upon to transport that information to them is Google," the brief added. Enforcer said the lower court also wrongly applied the "indifferently" element of the common carrier test to the information that Google carries, instead of the terms and conditions for the service. The lower court is asserting that a company cannot be a common carrier if it selects the goods that it carries, but the brief said this adds a requirement that common carriers only transport the exact same goods to everyone. Google uses automated systems to apply a standard set of factors designed to show users the most relevant information for each query through a ranking process. It also tells people the rankings are not impacted by any financial relationship that Google may have with the source, according to the brief. "In other words, Google holds itself out as applying a standard set of rules and processes equally across all websites to deliver the product each user requests — information relevant to the user's need," the brief said. "Such operations are the essence of common carriage." Google's notice of appeal said the company would also challenge the dismissal ruling that tossed a count seeking to have the search engine declared a public utility. But the opening brief filed Friday only addressed the common carrier count. A representative for Google declined to comment Monday. Representatives for the Ohio Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ohio is represented by Dave A. Yost, Jennifer L. Pratt, Chad M. Kohler and David Oppenheimer of the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Google is represented by Michael R. Gladman, Justin E. Herdman and Molly M. Dengler of Jones Day and Gloria K. Maier and John E. Schmidtlein of Williams & Connolly LLP. The case is State of Ohio ex rel. Dave Yost v. Google LLC, case number 25 CAE 08 0070, in the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Fifth Appellate District, Delaware County.

Nov 17

4 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Caturus on a definitive agreement with SM Energy Company to acquire SM’s Galvan Ranch assets for a cash purchase price of $950 million. The acquisition includes approximately 60,000 of high quality net acres in South Texas and approximately 250 MMcfe/d of production from 260 producing wells (as of December 2025), with total pro forma net production of approximately 950 MMcfe/d at the time of closing. With Caturus’ acquisition of the Galvan Ranch assets, the company will hold more than 275,000 net acres across the Gulf Coast, and more than 15 years of premium inventory sitting at the front end of the North American cost curve. The Galvan Ranch transaction is expected to close in Q2 2026, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Chad Smith, Shawn Beloin, Shubi Arora and Jhett Nelson; debt finance lawyers Rachael Lichman and James Kelly; capital markets lawyer Julian Seiguer; and tax lawyer Mark Dundon.

Feb 18

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis counseled Permian Resources Corporation (NYSE: PR) on entering into a definitive agreement to sell natural gas and oil gathering systems located primarily in Reeves County, Texas to Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNTK) for a total cash consideration of $180 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The divested natural gas and oil pipeline systems include a combination of both recently purchased and legacy company-owned midstream infrastructure and exclude any water infrastructure or surface acreage. Read Permian’s press release The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Chad M. Smith, Will Eiland, Mohammad Alkadhem and Dakota Priest; tax lawyers David Wheat, David Gilbert and Brooke Schafer; environmental transactions lawyers Jon Kidwell and Alyssa Huang; antitrust & competition lawyers Chuck Boyars and Rebekah Scherr; and energy regulatory lawyers Damien Lyster and Lilla Grisham.

Dec 10

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) on the sale of its remaining working interest in its non-operated natural gas assets in Northeast Pennsylvania to Equinor USA Onshore Properties Inc. and certain of its affiliates for $1.25 billion. The transaction was announced October 29, 2024, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing adjustments, required regulatory approvals and clearances. Read the transaction press release Kirkland’s team included corporate lawyers Lindsey Jaquillard, Chad Smith, Luke Strother, Rizwan Popatia, David Feirstein and Cyril Jones.

Oct 30

1 min