The question of which court should hear a case isn’t always as easy as it might seem – and the answer can sometimes make a difference in the potential outcome. For instance, in 2013, the government of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, decided to sue several oil companies for violating a 1978 state law that required a state permit for oil production along the Louisiana coast.
Some of that oil production activity dated back even further, to World War II. The oil companies, led by Chevron, fought the lawsuit in part by saying they were under a federal contract and following federal directives to boost oil production to support the war effort.
