The judge in a bench trial in Wayne County, Missouri, has granted Michael Murphy’s client a permanent injunction against a logging company on a trespass claim. The logging company set up a full-scale logging operation on top of the client’s large-diameter, high-pressure natural gas pipelines. Previously, a Temporary Retraining Order had been granted, which the logging company violated, followed by filing a counterclaim for interfering with its logging operations and claiming over $1 million in lost profit. As part of his ruling, the judge emphasized that current laws dictate that logging operators have to work with pipeline companies before beginning logging over gas pipelines, and the logging company’s failure to do so entitled the pipeline company to a permanent injunction.

Murphy, a partner in the firm’s Springfield office, focuses his practice on environmental law. He is an experienced litigator who defends clients in state-initiated enforcement actions and citizen lawsuits claiming injuries from environmental contamination. He has been named both an Emerging Lawyer by Illinois Leading Lawyers and an Illinois Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.