Energy

  • October 03, 2024

    Ohio Justices Reject Neighbor's Objection To Gas Pipeline

    The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a state siting board's accelerated approval for a NiSource unit's 3.7-mile natural gas pipeline in the city of Maumee, rejecting a commercial property owner's claims that the project's risks were not adequately considered.

  • October 03, 2024

    King & Spalding RE Pro Rejoins Barnes & Thornburg In Dallas

    Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced that a former partner has rejoined the firm's real estate department from King & Spalding LLP, adding that the returning attorney's practice centers on commercial real estate and real estate finance.

  • October 03, 2024

    Citgo Will Increase Pensions $10M To End Mortality Table Suit

    Citgo will increase the value of pensioners' retirements by $10 million to settle a class action alleging it shorted early retirement payouts by basing the allowances on outdated mortality tables that used data from the 1970s, according to filings in Illinois federal court.

  • October 03, 2024

    Energy Dept. Awards $1.5B For 4 Power Line Projects

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday handed out $1.5 billion in Congressional funding for a quartet of long-distance transmission projects, as well as a study that calls for a massive expansion of the U.S. electric grid over the next 25 years.

  • October 02, 2024

    Former C-Quest Capital CEO Indicted For Carbon Credit Fraud

    Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday announced criminal charges against Kenneth Newcombe, the former chief executive officer of carbon project developer C-Quest Capital, accusing him of scheming to submit altered data relating to cookstove projects abroad to obtain millions of dollars worth of carbon credits.

  • October 02, 2024

    BRG Hires Alvarez & Marsal Arbitration Pro In Houston

    Global consulting firm Berkeley Research Group said Wednesday it has added an arbitration expert from consultant Alvarez & Marsal Holdings LLC to its international arbitration and cross-border disputes offerings, as well as its energy and climate practice.

  • October 02, 2024

    Houston Firm Says DQ Bid Is Attempt To Duck MDL Penalties

    Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing PLLC hit back Wednesday at Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify it from Hurricane Zeta litigation, saying Arnold & Itkin's claim that a former law clerk took information for the defense team is an "illegitimate attempt" to "avoid legitimate merits discovery that goes to the heart of the case."

  • October 02, 2024

    Judge Nixes Alta Mesa Trustee's Clawback Suit

    A Texas bankruptcy judge has ended efforts by the litigation trustee for defunct oil and gas company Alta Mesa Resources Inc. to claw back money from its predecessor's shareholders, finding that they did not directly benefit from contracts that boosted the value of the company before it was later taken public in a reverse merger.

  • October 02, 2024

    U.S. Steel Must Face Testing Suit Over Long-Gone Zinc Plant

    U.S. Steel can't escape a lawsuit from neighbors of a long-closed zinc refinery outside Pittsburgh seeking to make the company pay for long-term environmental testing, a Pennsylvania appellate panel ruled Tuesday, reasoning that the plaintiffs properly invoked a state law governing the cleanup of hazardous pollution.

  • October 02, 2024

    Enviro Groups Seek To Defend EPA's Veto Of Pebble Mine

    A slew of environmental groups have called on an Alaska federal judge to let them defend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to block a plan to build the controversial Pebble Mine, saying they want to protect the Bristol Bay headwaters from the mine's "devastating and unavoidable adverse impacts."

  • October 02, 2024

    Enviro Groups Step Up Effort To Block JBS' US Listing

    Eighteen sustainability-focused investor groups are urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a potential U.S. stock listing by Brazilian meat conglomerate JBS SA, alleging the company is misleading the public regarding climate risks posed by its operations.

  • October 02, 2024

    Madigan Can't Duck Bribery Claims After High Court Ruling

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss bribery charges against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, while also refusing to sever his case from his co-defendant's.

  • October 02, 2024

    Co. Nixes 2nd Insurer From Chemical Leak Defense Suit

    A subcontractor facing consolidated personal injury claims over a chemical leak at a LyondellBasell facility in La Porte, Texas, voluntarily tossed its coverage claims against a second insurer in Texas federal court, leaving one insurer remaining in the dispute.

  • October 02, 2024

    EPA Settles Suit Over Washington Aquatic Cyanide Rules

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to evaluate Washington state's water quality standards for cyanide pollution, resolving a lawsuit that accused the agency of maintaining lax standards that threaten wildlife.

  • October 02, 2024

    Reed Smith Enviro Ace Remembered As Kind Mentor

    Todd Maiden, a longtime environmental attorney in Reed Smith LLP's San Francisco office who died last month, was deeply passionate about preserving the environment and enjoyed mentoring young associates. He leaves behind a legacy as the "kindest and gentlest of souls," his former colleagues said.

  • October 02, 2024

    Quinn Emanuel Can't Ignore Past Oro Negro Ties, Oil Co. Says

    Oro Negro Drilling Pte. Ltd. said former counsel Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP must produce confidential information in a discovery bid to disqualify its attorneys in Mexican proceedings.

  • October 02, 2024

    Justices Asked To Short-Circuit Mass. Offshore Wind Project

    Massachusetts residents are telling the U.S. Supreme Court it's the last hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales that were overlooked when the federal government approved a large offshore wind energy project in the waters off of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

  • October 02, 2024

    DC Circ. Urged To Scrap EPA Mercury Rule For Coal Plants

    States and industry groups fighting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule curbing mercury and other toxic metal emissions at some coal-fired power plants told the D.C. Circuit it would impose exorbitant and unjustifiable costs for no public health benefit, and is actually aimed at forcing plants to retire to advance climate goals.

  • October 01, 2024

    Convicted CEO Narrows Fee Bid Against Conn. Utility Co-Op

    A former Connecticut utility CEO has dropped some attorney fee claims against his onetime employer following a jury conviction for stealing public funds, telling a federal judge on Tuesday to focus on a bid for fees should prosecutors choose to litigate a second indictment.

  • October 01, 2024

    Lordstown Brass Beat Investor Suit Over Failed Foxconn Deal

    An Ohio federal judge on Monday freed current and former executives of Lordstown Motors Corp., now Nu Ride, from a proposed securities class action alleging they concealed problems ahead of a failed partnership with Taiwan-based Foxconn, saying delays and "other minor issues" didn't make general, positive statements inaccurate.

  • October 01, 2024

    Bribe-Laundering Gets Ecuador Ex-Official 10 Years In Prison

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Ecuador's former comptroller to 10 years in prison after a jury earlier this year convicted him on multiple counts related to laundering millions of dollars in bribe money he received in exchange for eliminating fines connected to a defective hydroelectric dam and other projects.

  • October 01, 2024

    Complications Again Delay Citgo Sales Hearing In Delaware

    A federal judge in Delaware on Tuesday further delayed a forthcoming auction of Citgo's parent company to satisfy billions of dollars in Venezuelan debt, and he ordered additional briefing as he grapples with parallel litigation that allegedly threatens to undermine the sale process.

  • October 01, 2024

    Judge Stays Calif. Locomotive Emissions Rule Challenge

    A California federal judge halted litigation brought by rail industry groups challenging a regulation requiring railroads to transition to zero-emission locomotives in the Golden State over the next decade, finding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's upcoming authorization decision will greatly impact the case.

  • October 01, 2024

    EPA Can't Justify Water Permitting Rule, La. Judge Told

    Republican-led states and industry groups fired back at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's defense of its rule broadening states' and tribes' power to veto infrastructure projects over water quality concerns, telling a Louisiana federal judge it goes against what Congress intended with the Clean Water Act.

  • October 01, 2024

    Feds Didn't Consider Gold Mine's Full Impact, Judge Says

    The federal government didn't realistically study the potential spill risks associated with a large open-pit gold mine when it approved the project, an Alaskan federal judge has said, arguing the Army Corps of Engineers erred in concluding that a catastrophic event is a "worst case" scenario in its environmental analysis.

Expert Analysis

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: The Benefits Of Non-EU Venues

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    In Spain v. Triodos, a Swedish appeal court recently annulled an intra-EU investment treaty award, reinforcing a growing trend in the bloc against enforcing such awards, and highlighting the advantages of initiating enforcement proceedings in common law jurisdictions, such as the U.K., says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    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.

  • Salvaging The Investor-State Arbitration System's Legitimacy

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    Recent developments in Europe and Ecuador highlight the vulnerability of the investor-state arbitration framework, but arbitrators can avert a crisis by relying on a poorly understood doctrine of fairness and equity, rather than law, to resolve the disputes before them, says Phillip Euell at Diaz Reus.

  • NY's Vision For Grid Of The Future: Flexible, Open, Affordable

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    Acknowledging that New York state's progress toward its climate goals is stalling, the New York Public Service Commission's recent "Grid of the Future" order signals a move toward more flexible, cost-effective solutions — and suggests potential opportunities for nonutility participation, say Daniel Spitzer and William McLaughlin at Hodgson Russ.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Unwitting Disclosure, Agency Deference

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    Roke Iko at MoFo examines two U.S. Court of Federal Claims decisions highlighting factors to consider before filing a protest alleging Procurement Integrity Act violations, and a decision from the U.S. Government Accountability Office about the capacity of an agency to interpret its own solicitation terms.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • What A Louisiana Ruling Means For Pipeline Crossings

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    After a Louisiana appeals court's recent ruling on a conflict between two pipeline projects, operators and developers should review pipeline crossings to ensure that they occur at safe distances — and keep in mind the value of crossing agreements for protecting both sides in case of a dispute, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Opinion

    Climate Change Shouldn't Be Litigated Under State Laws

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the Hawaii Supreme Court's October decision in Honolulu v. Sunoco that Hawaii could apply state law to emissions generated outside the state, because it would lead to a barrage of cases seeking to resolve a worldwide problem according to 50 different variations of state law, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • A Look At FERC's Plan To End Reactive Power Compensation

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    A recent notice of proposed rulemaking indicates that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is likely to eliminate compensation for reactive power within the standard power factor range — causing significant impacts for the electric power industry, which relies on income from providing this service, say Norman Bay and Matthew Goldberg at Willkie and Vivian Chum at Wright & Talisman.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

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    With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

  • IP Considerations For Companies In Carbon Capture Sector

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    As companies collaborate to commercialize carbon capture technologies amid massive government investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a coherent intellectual property strategy is more important than ever, including proactively addressing and resolving questions about ownership of the technology, say Ashley Kennedy and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

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    A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

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