In re Lee M. Bass
Supreme Court of Texas
113 S.W.3d 735 (Tex. 2003)
Lee Bass (defendant), owner of both the surface and mineral estate acquired from the McGills' sister, held the executive right to lease the land's minerals while H.F. and Scott McGill (plaintiffs) retained a non-participating royalty interest; Bass never leased or developed the land, though he did have a geological seismic survey conducted. The McGills sued for breach of the implied covenant to further develop the land and breach of fiduciary duty, seeking access to Bass's seismic data (which he claimed was a protected trade secret) to show development would have been profitable; the trial court ordered Bass to produce the data, the court of appeals denied Bass's mandamus request, and Bass sought mandamus relief from the Texas Supreme Court.
Whether the holder of an executive mineral right, who has not leased the land or acquired any benefit for himself, is nonetheless required to acquire some benefit for non-executive royalty interest holders.