Brown Sims, a Houston law firm, successfully represented Adam Joseph Resources (AJR) in a complaint against CNA Metals which was arbitrated for two years. After AJR was awarded almost $504,000, AJR colluded with CNA to create a settlement between the two entities which cut Brown Sims out of the deal entirely, reduced CNA’s overall costs and resulted in an increased recovery for AJR. Neither Brown Sims nor the district court was aware of the settlement. When the district court learned of the settlement it dismissed the case as moot and found it was without subject matter jurisdiction over Brown Sim’s attempts to intervene and protect its interest. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. Find out why they reversed the dismissal of the case and remanded to the district court to consider Brown Sims’s claims on the merits.