When Trial Readiness Becomes a Settlement Weapon
Plaintiffs’ counsel calibrate settlement demands against their read of a defendant’s willingness to try cases. That single fact ran through the defense of LyondellBasell’s La Porte litigation. The disposition tally for the matter: 45 cases dismissed on summary judgment, 20 settled at nuisance value, three resolved with indemnitor funds, fatality payouts fully recovered through coverage litigation, and a defense verdict in the OSHA trial.
Setting the Doctrine
LyondellBasell’s general counsel Jeff Kaplan, who has led the company’s 65-attorney legal department since 2015, framed the defense plainly. AZA partner Todd Mensing nominated Kaplan for the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award and worked the La Porte matter as outside counsel. Mensing said of the outcome: “The results were exceptional, and unlike those seen by other companies facing similar claims. LYB was able to resolve those claims with little out-of-pocket money by leveraging legal arguments and trial readiness.”
Summary Judgment as Pressure
Forty-five cases left the docket on summary judgment. That volume changes opposing counsel’s calculus. Plaintiffs’ firms staffing a coordinated mass-tort docket factor dismissal risk into their settlement math and into which cases they push toward trial. A defendant that produces dismissals at scale recalibrates plaintiff expectations across the rest of the cases. Mensing has tried more than 60 cases over his career at Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, and the firm has built a Houston reputation for trying complex commercial and catastrophic incident matters to verdict.
Nuisance Settlement and Posture
The 20 cases that settled at nuisance value did so because the defense had built credible threat posture. Plaintiffs’ counsel facing a defendant prepared to take cases to verdict tend to discount weaker claims to closure rather than carry them through trial preparation. The category exists because the defense made it exist. Kaplan’s count of three additional resolutions on indemnitor funds reflects the same posture applied to third-party recovery.
Trial Readiness, Turned Outward
LyondellBasell’s broker and excess insurer faced affirmative claims from their own insured after the fatality settlements paid out. That posture is trial readiness turned outward. Kaplan reported the outcome as “fatality case settlements fully reimbursed by the insurance carrier after filing suit against the broker and excess insurer.”
What It Cost
Kaplan’s own assessment of the total spend, including outside attorney fees: “The total out of pocket spend, including attorneys’ fees, was well below what we had expected it would cost.” The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook named the LyondellBasell legal department the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award winner for Legal Department of the Year at the May 28 ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel.
