COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Legal. The Partnership is involved in various claims, lawsuits and audits by taxing authorities incidental to its business. These claims and lawsuits in the aggregate are not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Partnership s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. ETP Merger Shareholder Litigation. Following the January 26, 2015 announcement of the definitive merger agreement with ETP, purported Partnership unitholders filed lawsuits in state and federal courts in Dallas, Texas asserting claims relating to the proposed transaction. On February 3, 2015, William Engel and Enno Seago, purported Partnership unitholders, filed a class action petition on behalf of the Partnership s common unitholders and a derivative suit on behalf of the Partnership in the 162nd Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas (the  Engel Lawsuit ). The lawsuit names as defendants the General Partner, the members of the General Partner s board of directors, ETP, ETP GP, ETE, and, as a nominal party, the Partnership. The Engel Lawsuit alleges that (1) the General Partner s directors breached duties to the Partnership and the Partnership s unitholders by employing a conflicted and unfair process and failing to maximize the merger consideration; (2) the General Partner s directors breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by engaging in a flawed merger process; and (3) the non-director defendants aided and abetted in these claimed breaches. The plaintiffs seek an injunction preventing the defendants from closing the proposed transaction or an order rescinding the transaction if it has already been completed. The plaintiffs also seek money damages and court costs, including attorney s fees. On February 9, 2015, Stuart Yeager, a purported Partnership unitholder, filed a class action petition on behalf of the Partnership s common unitholders and a derivative suit on behalf of the Partnership in the 134th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas