Alberta Oil Marketing Co. Says Biden Ruined Keystone Deal

By Joyce Hanson

A Canadian oil-marketing company has formally accused President Joe Biden of destroying an energy infrastructure project deal with the province of Alberta by reversing course on the Keystone XL pipeline when he stepped into office, saying he has caused the company more than $1 billion in damages.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ariz. Lawmakers Say Groups Can't Be Part Of Monument Suit

By Joyce Hanson

The Arizona Legislature is fighting bids by a slew of conservation groups and tribes to intervene in two lawsuits in federal court that challenge a Biden administration proclamation designating an Indigenous sacred site in the Grand Canyon region as a national monument.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Oil & Gas Groups Challenge DOI Overhaul Of Leasing Regs

By Madeline Lyskawa

A coalition of oil and gas groups has slapped the U.S. Department of the Interior with a lawsuit in Wyoming federal court seeking to unravel the agency's final rule boosting bonding requirements, royalty rates and minimum bids for its onshore federal oil and gas leasing program.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

New BLM Plans Sunset Federal Coal Leasing In Wyo., Mont.

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday unveiled court-ordered, revised resource management plans for coal-rich areas of Montana and Wyoming that end future coal leasing in the regions, a move blasted by congressional representatives of those states.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BNSF Judge Vows To Avoid Extremes In Trespass Payout

By Greg Lamm

A federal judge said Thursday that BNSF Railway Co. will likely have to fork over profits from its entire 1,500-mile oil shipment route to compensate a Washington tribe for nearly a decade of train trespassings across a less-than-mile-long easement, but the judge said the disgorgement won't be the hundreds of millions the tribe is seeking.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BCLP Sues St. Louis Over City Taxes On Partners' Income

By Kevin Penton

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP is suing St. Louis, Missouri, after the Midwestern city accused the firm of being delinquent on nearly $275,000 in earnings taxes, contending the municipality unlawfully taxed partners who don't live in the city, according to its court filing.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Bar Halts Plans To Develop New Bar Exam

By Ryan Boysen

The State Bar of California has shelved a plan to develop its own online bar exam, a shift that could save the cash-strapped organization up to $4 million per year, but drew opposition from law school deans concerned about its ambitious rollout timeline.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'That Is A Lie!' Trump Atty Assails Cohen In Fraud Trial Cross

By Frank G. Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

Donald Trump's lawyer lashed out at central prosecution witness Michael Cohen on Thursday during a second day of cross-examination in New York state's criminal fraud case, attacking his credibility and key testimony linking Trump to crimes.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Coverage Recap: Day 14 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Thursday, day 14 of the trial.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Thomas, Alito: Two Originalists, Two Takes On CFPB Case

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — often birds of a feather — butted heads Thursday over the original meaning and purpose of the U.S. Constitution's appropriations clause in a decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme, highlighting what experts describe as the pair's different approaches to originalism.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Democrats Prod Justice Thomas on RV Loan, Tax Treatment

By Anna Scott Farrell

Two Senate Democrats have asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' attorney to respond to what they called a failure to answer their questions about the justice's $267,000 loan from a healthcare industry executive to finance a luxury recreational vehicle, saying the loan treatment could have violated federal tax laws.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Investigate Pro-Gaza Reddit Post, GOP Pols Tell USPTO

By Andrew Karpan

An anonymous Reddit post purportedly from a patent examiner confessing "mixed feelings" about issuing a patent to an Israeli defense contractor, citing the country's ongoing bombardment of Gaza, has attracted the attention of Republicans in Congress and the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office herself.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senate Confirms South Dakota State Judge To Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 90-4 on Thursday to confirm Judge Camela C. Theeler to the District of South Dakota.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Menendez Bribery Case Criminalizes Gifts, Jury Told

By Carla Baranauckas

Prosecutors are trying to criminalize friendship, gifts and advocacy, the counsel for one of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's co-defendants said Thursday in an opening statement in the corruption trial in Manhattan federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Calls Out 'Cancel Culture' In Prof's Suit Against Penn

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge said University of Pennsylvania leaders embraced "cancel culture" when they chastised an anthropology professor for handling remains from the 1985 MOVE house bombing in Philadelphia, allowing the professor's defamation case against the school to move forward.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

$2B Default Recommended For Making Fair Trial 'Impossible'

By Bryan Koenig

Years of lies should put a pair of Chinese electronics companies on the hook for over $2 billion in default judgment, a special master told a California federal judge, adding that their yearslong no-show and disregard of U.S. counsel advice to retain documents have rendered a fair trial "impossible."

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roche Freedman Gets Split Ruling On Witnesses In Atty's Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A New York federal judge has issued a split decision on witness testimony in a dispute over the litigation boutique formerly called Roche Freedman.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Tries To Untangle Aftermath Of Judge's Early Exit

By Ivan Moreno

An Eleventh Circuit panel on Thursday quizzed attorneys for rival breeders of disease-resistant shrimp about whether a $10 million trade-secrets jury verdict should be overturned after a federal magistrate judge presided over the trial's ending because a federal district judge had to catch a flight, with one of the panel judges saying the parties had been put "in a very difficult position."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Still Won't Rethink Sanctions Against Trump Attys

By Henrik Nilsson

The Sixth Circuit on Thursday once again denied a bid from former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and other attorneys to reconsider sanctions issued against them after they challenged the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan, holding that the attorneys must seek permission for future filings given their history of "meritless motions."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »