Mrs. Mabel Elliff v. Texon Drilling Company

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Civil Appeals and remanded the case, holding that the law of capture does not bar recovery for negligent waste of oil, gas, and distillate from beneath the plaintiffs' land. The Court affirmed that the respondents owed a common‑law duty of ordinary care in drilling and that their negligence was the proximate cause of the loss. It declined to address the trial court's measure of damages because that issue was not properly before it.