United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED August 1, 2024 No. 23-30529 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk In the Matter of Patrick L. McConathy and Patricia Chapman McConathy,

Debtor, American Warrior, Incorporated; Heartland Oil, Incorporated; Mid Continent Resources, Incorporated,

Appellants,

versus Foundation Energy Fund IV-A, L.P.; Foundation Energy Fund IV-B Holding, L.L.C.; Dolores Jo Matson Trust; Roger Melvin Matson Trust; Willis J. Magathan,

Appellees, ______________________________ American Warrior, Incorporated; Heartland Oil, Incorporated; Mid Continent Resources, Incorporated,

Appellants,

versus Black Stone Minerals Company, L.P.; Entech Enterprises, L.L.C.,

Appellees, Case: 23-30529 Document: 71-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/01/2024

______________________________ American Warrior, Incorporated; Heartland Oil, Incorporated; Mid Continent Resources, Incorporated,

Appellants,

versus Black Stone Minerals Company, L.P.; Entech Enterprises, L.L.C.,

Appellees, ______________________________ American Warrior, Incorporated; Heartland Oil, Incorporated; Mid Continent Resources, Incorporated,

Appellants,

versus Foundation Energy Fund IV-A, L.P.; Foundation Energy Fund IV-B Holding, L.L.C.; Dolores Jo Matson Trust; Roger Melvin Matson Trust; Willis J. Magathan Estate,

Appellees. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC Nos. 5:22-CV-5769, 5:22-CV-5771, 5:22-CV-5772, 5:22-CV-5773 ______________________________

2 Case: 23-30529 Document: 71-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/01/2024

Before Jones, Clement*, and Wilson, Circuit Judges. Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge: In this appeal from a bankruptcy court decision, American Warrior, the defendant in a Kansas oil and gas title suit, seeks to leverage whom it may have to pay into what forum will decide the parties’ dispute. The Debtors, to be sure, lacked integrity in concealing ownership of their interest in the properties thirty years ago. But as the current bankruptcy matter has evolved, AWI settled with the Debtors’ trustee, there is no bankruptcy issue remaining between other plaintiffs and AWI, and the bankruptcy court permissively abstained. We find no reversible error in the bankruptcy court or district court decisions and accordingly AFFIRM. I. BACKGROUND

Patrick and Patricia McConathy (“Debtors”) filed a bankruptcy case in Louisiana in 1990 but failed to disclose their undivided working interests and leasehold rights in various tracts of land covering more than 3,000 acres in Kearny County, Kansas. The Debtors’ bankruptcy case was re-opened twice over the decades. The third reopening occurred in 2021 on the initiative of American Warrior (“AWI”), when discovery in a K