# Railroad Com'n of Texas v. Lone Star Gas Co.

> Texas Supreme Court · December 31, 1992 · 36 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 436

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9775810

## Case

- **Full name:** The RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS and Dan Morales, Attorney General, Petitioners, v. LONE STAR GAS COMPANY, a DIVISION OF ENSERCH CORPORATION, and Enserch Gas Company, Respondents
- **Court:** Texas Supreme Court
- **Decided:** December 31, 1992
- **Citations:** 36 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 436; 844 S.W.2d 679; 117 Oil & Gas Rep. 168; 1992 Tex. LEXIS 188; 1992 WL 388115
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Cook
- **Judges:** Hightower, Motion, Cook, Doggett, Gammage
- **Cited by:** 214 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9775810

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- noting that agency has “informed discretion” in making decision to proceed via rulemaking or ad hoc adjudication but stating that rulemaking should be utilized except “‘[when] there is a danger that its use would frustrate the effective accomplishment of the agency’s function”
- holding that Railroad Commission could promulgate rules to prevent waste and promote conservation, and was not required to determine questions of waste by contested-case proceeding

## Opinion text

COOK, Justice,
concurring.
I join the court’s opinion and judgment in this cause. I also write for the following reasons.
As I leave the bench, I hope and pray that each of us who occupies these seats, whether on the district court, the court of appeals or the supreme court will always remember that which is expected of us.
We are merely the temporary guardians of the courts over which we preside. These courts in turn are part of our larger system of justice. These courts are an institution, and we as judges are charged with the responsibility of protecting the dignity of our courts and our profession.
To the attorneys who appear in front of us we have an obligation to treat them with respect, to listen to their arguments, to inform ourselves of the law and to be fair and impartial.
Each of us, whether lawyer or judge, is part of the legal profession. We must never allow ourselves to forget this and our solemn duty to conduct ourselves in a manner that always reflects honor on the profession of law. To that end we must consecrate our minds, our hearts and our very souls.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9775810. Public record. Not legal advice.