Kentucky Court of Justice
Court of Appeals to hear arguments in Hopkins County coal methane case May 9 in Cadiz
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky Court of Appeals will convene Monday, May 9, in Cadiz to hear an appeal from Hopkins County about who holds the right to capture and produce coal bed methane. Proceedings will begin at 11 a.m. CDT at the Trigg County Justice Center at 41 Main St. Proceedings are open to the public.
A three-judge panel comprised of Court of Appeals Judges Donna L. Dixon and Christopher Shea Nickell and Senior Judge Ann O’Malley Shake will hear arguments in Beverly Cardwell Bowles et al. v Hopkins County Coal, LLC.
Judges Dixon and Nickell represent the 1st Appellate District, which includes Hopkins County.
CADIZ DOCKET
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2011
11 AM 2009-CA-001209
BEVERLY CARDWELL BOWLES ET AL. v HOPKINS COUNTY COAL, LLC.
Summary: Civil. At issue is the trial court’s ruling as to the vitality of a restrictive covenant and its determination as to the owner of the right to capture and produce coal bed methane.
Hopkins County judge who presided in the case – Judge James Brantley
Appellants’ attorney: Kenneth Humphries
Appellees’ attorneys: Billy Shelton, David Thomason and Kenneth Williams II (for Hopkins County Coal); Jeff Woods (for AMCA Coal Leasing, the Kentucky Coal Association and the National Council of Coal Lessors); Bryan Reynolds (for Kentucky Oil & Gas Association); and J. Gordon and Julia Gordon (for Joe Davis, Kenneth Snarr and Potter Grandchildren’s LLC)
COURT OF APPEALS PANEL
Judge Donna L. Dixon
Judge Dixon was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in July 2006 to represent the 1st Appellate District, Division 2. She was subsequently elected to the court in November 2007.
The 1st Appellate District is comprised of Allen, Ballard, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Muhlenberg, Simpson, Todd, Trigg and Webster counties.
Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Dixon served as a McCracken County district judge for more than 10 years. She began her legal career as a staff attorney for Judge J. William Howerton during his tenure as chief judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. She also was an assistant commonwealth’s attorney for McCracken County and spent several years in private practice.
Judge Dixon graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Murray State University and cum laude with a juris doctor degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Law.
Judge Dixon previously served as president of the Paducah-McCracken County United Way, the McCracken County Young Lawyers Association and the Leadership Paducah Alumni Association. She has also served on the boards of the Paducah Rotary Club, the Childwatch Children’s Advocacy Center, the Paducah Rape Crisis Center and the McCracken County Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Council.
Judge Dixon is a native of Western Kentucky and resides in Paducah. She is a member of First Baptist Church of Paducah.
Judge Christopher Shea Nickell
Judge Nickell was elected to serve on the Kentucky Court of Appeals in November 2006 and represents Division 1 of the 1st Appellate District.
The 1st Appellate District is comprised of Allen, Ballard, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Muhlenberg, Simpson, Todd, Trigg and Webster counties.
Prior to his election, Judge Nickell practiced law for 22 years, serving as a trial attorney, prosecutor, public defender and college instructor. From 2002 until his election to the Court of Appeals, he served as assistant McCracken County attorney.
Judge Nickell served as assistant public advocate in Graves County from 1999 to 2000 through the Department of Public Advocacy’s Paducah trial office. In 1997, he established Nickell Law Firm in Paducah. He was previously associated with the law office of Truman L. Dehner in Morehead and two Paducah law firms, Boehl, Stopher & Graves LLP and the Saladino Law Firm. From 1985 to 1986, Judge Nickell served as assistant commonwealth’s attorney for the 21st Judicial District, which is comprised of Bath, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties. In addition, he has taught courses on insurance and risk management at Murray State University and on jurisprudence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1995, the Kentucky Bar Association named Judge Nickell an Outstanding Kentucky Young Lawyer.
A native and resident of McCracken County, Judge Nickell graduated from Paducah Tilghman High School in 1977. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from DePauw University in 1981, majoring in both political science and communications. At DePauw, he served as student body president and was the recipient of the Walker Cup, which faculty present annually to the graduating senior who has contributed most to the campus community. He subsequently served on the DePauw Board of Trustees. Judge Nickell earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1984, where he served as president of the student bar association.
Judge Nickell served as district governor for District 43K of the International Association of Lions Clubs and as president of the Paducah Lions Club. He is a recipient of the organization’s Finis Davis and Melvin Jones awards and is a trustee on the Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation. He is an Eagle Scout and a board member for the Shawnee Trails Boy Scout Council. He has been involved in numerous other civic organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, Elks Club, Masons, Habitat for Humanity, Ducks Unlimited, and National Wild Turkey Federation.
Judge Nickell is a deacon and adult Sunday school teacher at the Heartland Worship Center (Southern Baptist) in Paducah. He previously served as music director at Concord United Methodist Church in Paducah and is a member of Gideons International.
Judge Ann O’Malley Shake
Judge Ann O’Malley Shake is a senior judge assigned to the Court of Appeals.
Prior to joining the Senior Judges Program, Judge Shake served on the Jefferson County bench as a Circuit Court and District Court judge. She previously was an attorney in private practice. She also served as a social worker and a Head Start teacher.
Judge Shake earned her juris doctor from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, graduating in 1982.
She is a member of the Women Lawyers Association, the Kentucky Bar Association, the Louisville Bar Association Board of Directors, the American Bar Association, KATA and the Council on Peacemaking.
Kentucky Court of Appeals
Nearly all cases heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals come to it on appeal from a lower court. If a case is tried in Circuit Court or District Court and the losing parties involved are not satisfied with the outcome, they may ask for a higher court to review the correctness of the trial court’s decision. Some cases, such as criminal case acquittals and divorces, may not be appealed. In a divorce case, however, child custody and property rights decisions may be appealed. Cases are not retried in the Court of Appeals. Only the record of the original court trial is reviewed, with attorneys presenting the legal issues to the court for a decision.
Fourteen judges, two elected from seven appellate court districts, serve on the Court of Appeals. The judges are divided into panels of three to review and decide cases, with the majority determining the decision. The panels do not sit permanently in one location, but travel throughout the state to hear cases.
Administrative Office of the Courts
The Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort is the operations arm for the state court system. The AOC supports the activities of nearly 3,300 court system employees and 403 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. As the fiscal agent for the state court system, the AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget.