Energy

  • October 07, 2024

    Factory Mutual Must Fully Cover Plant Explosions, Suit Says

    Petrochemicals maker Indorama Ventures accused Factory Mutual Insurance Co. in Texas federal court Monday of wrongly refusing to fully cover roughly $100 million in losses stemming from a series of major explosions in 2019 near an Indorama plant in Texas.

  • October 07, 2024

    Valero, Port Cos. To Pay $2.4M To End Bay Area Pollution Suit

    Valero and three port companies will pay nearly $2.4 million to resolve a nonprofit's lawsuit accusing the defendants of illegally dumping petroleum coke into the water without proper permits, in violation of the Clean Water Act, according to a consent decree signed by a California federal judge on Monday.

  • October 07, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Mask Taxes, Pride Month Post

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court during its October argument session will weigh whether retailers improperly collecting sales tax on face masks, which were exempted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, amounts to "commerce" that could trigger the state's consumer protection law. ​

  • October 07, 2024

    No Firm Schedule For New LNG Rule, Feds Tell DC Circ.

    The Biden administration has told the D.C. Circuit that it has no "firm schedule" for revising a rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be transported by rail, information the court asked for in litigation filed by environmental groups opposed to the regulations.

  • October 07, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Says FERC Can Require Power Plant Upgrade

    Federal energy regulators were right to require NextEra Energy to upgrade its New Hampshire nuclear power plant's circuit breaker to accommodate a new transmission line being developed by Avangrid Inc., a split D.C. Circuit panel has ruled.

  • October 07, 2024

    Feds Face Biggest Test Yet In Madigan Probe: Mike Madigan

    The man who was once Illinois' most influential politician heads to Chicago federal court this week to stand trial on charges that he led a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade, amassing power and benefits for himself, his law firm and his allies. The stakes for prosecutors are higher than ever as they face the elected official at the center of their Illinois corruption probe.

  • October 07, 2024

    Apple Doesn't Infringe Digital Identity Patents, Jury Finds

    A federal jury in Austin, Texas, has rejected a $361 million patent case from a longtime ExxonMobil employee who had targeted in-house cybersecurity hardware used in Apple iPhones.

  • October 07, 2024

    Pinsent Masons Snags DLA Piper Construction Disputes Pro

    Global law firm Pinsent Masons LLP said Monday it has hired a DLA Piper international arbitration lawyer in London who advises clients on construction, engineering and infrastructure disputes.

  • October 07, 2024

    Treasury Proposes Exempting Tribal Cos. From Income Tax

    Tribal-owned businesses would not be subject to federal income tax under proposed regulations released Monday by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a move that would also allow such entities to be eligible to receive direct cash payments in lieu of clean energy tax credits.

  • October 07, 2024

    Fabricator's New Work Site Can't Justify H-2B Bid, Judge Says

    A California-based fabricator couldn't convince the U.S. Department of Labor that a contract in a new location warranted hiring foreign welders and fitters, with an agency judge finding little in the contract that distinguished the job from the company's regular business.

  • October 07, 2024

    Ukraine Utility Fights Russia's Stay Bid In $208M Award Suit

    A Ukrainian electric utility has urged a D.C. federal court not to pause its lawsuit seeking to enforce a nearly $208 million arbitral award it won after the Kremlin seized its Crimean assets, arguing that Russia's stay motion is a transparent delay tactic.

  • October 07, 2024

    State Courts Splitting Over Future Of Climate Change Suits

    Recent decisions on whether climate change suits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies can go forward are exposing splits between state courts over whether they can impose liability for pollution that originates beyond their borders, legal experts say.

  • October 07, 2024

    Mayer Brown Partner Returns To Hunton In DC

    A partner at Mayer Brown LLP, who started his legal career nearly a decade ago with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, has rejoined the firm as a partner in its Washington office, the firm announced Monday.

  • October 07, 2024

    Chevron Nets $6.5B In Sale Of Canadian Oil Assets

    Chevron Canada Ltd. said Monday it has agreed to sell off its stakes in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project and the Duvernay shale to Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. for $6.5 billion.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Seek SG Input On Red State Bid To End Climate Torts

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the U.S. Solicitor General to weigh in on a request by red states to nix climate change torts brought by blue state governments against fossil fuel companies, signaling its growing interest in the future of such cases.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Won't Referee Fight Over FERC Power Rule Deadlock

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a rule change allowing the country's largest regional grid operator to stop requiring state-backed renewable energy sources to meet a certain price floor in electricity capacity auctions following a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stalemate on its approval.

  • October 04, 2024

    Top 5 Supreme Court Cases To Watch This Fall

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear several cases in its October 2024 term that could further refine the new administrative law landscape, establish constitutional rights to gender-affirming care for transgender minors and affect how the federal government regulates water, air and weapons. Here, Law360 looks at five of the most important cases on the Supreme Court's docket so far.

  • October 04, 2024

    Arnold & Itkin's Zeta DQ Bid 'Disappointing,' Ex-Clerk Testifies

    A Harris County judge began mulling Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify Transocean's counsel from Hurricane Zeta litigation after a marathon hearing Friday that included testimony from a former Arnold & Itkin law clerk-turned-defense-lawyer who said she watched the contentious proceeding with "bitter amusement" and "disappointment."

  • October 04, 2024

    Russia, Ex-Shareholders Look To NextEra In $50B Award Suit

    Russia and former shareholders of Yukos Oil Co. who are trying to enforce $50 billion in arbitral awards against the Kremlin are disputing the significance of the D.C. Circuit's August opinion concluding that district courts have jurisdiction to enforce some $395 million in arbitral awards against Spain.

  • October 04, 2024

    EPA Fights To Save Civil Rights Regs Outside Louisiana

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked a Louisiana federal judge to reject the state's effort to impose a nationwide ban on civil rights regulations focused on disparate impacts.

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court Nuclear Case Could Be Admin Law Blockbuster

    By agreeing to consider the federal government's authority to license temporary nuclear waste storage facilities, the U.S. Supreme Court can ease the uncertainty facing a resurgent U.S. nuclear industry as well as clarify limits it's recently placed on federal agency power, experts say.

  • October 04, 2024

    Energy Cos. Say Toshiba Unit Can't Use Parent's Jury Waiver

    Michigan's largest energy companies said a jury should hear their claims that a Toshiba subsidiary botched a $500 million job to renovate their jointly owned power plant, saying a jury trial waiver in an agreement with the parent company doesn't apply to the unit that did the work.

  • October 04, 2024

    Enviro Group Drops EPA Fight Over Colo. Refinery Permit

    The Center for Biological Diversity agreed to end its Tenth Circuit challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to object to a series of state permit changes for a Denver-area oil refinery, according to a Friday court filing.

  • October 04, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Pause EPA's Iron Plant Rule

    A D.C. Circuit panel rejected bids by U.S. Steel Corp. and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. to stay a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule setting emissions standards for their taconite iron ore processing facilities.

  • October 04, 2024

    Posting Copyrighted Building Codes Is Fair Use, Pa. Judge Says

    The American Society for Testing and Materials has lost a bid to enjoin a website from posting ASTM's copyrighted technical standards for building projects, after a Pennsylvania federal judge concluded that what the website does is fair use.

Expert Analysis

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Spanish Assets At Risk Abroad

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    The recent seizure of a portion of London Luton Airport after an English High Court ruling is the latest installment in a long-running saga over Spain’s failure to honor arbitration awards, highlighting the complexities involved when state-owned enterprises become entangled in disputes stemming from their government's actions, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square Chambers.

  • 'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG

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    A wave of ESG-related litigation and regulations have led some companies to retreat altogether from any public statements about their ESG goals, a trend known as "greenhushing" that was at the center of a recent D.C. court decision involving Coca-Cola, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.

  • Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules

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    A Missouri federal court’s recent order enjoining the state’s anti-ESG rules comes amid actions by state legislatures to revise or invalidate similar legislation imposing disclosure and consent requirements around environmental, social and governance investing, and could be a blueprint for future challenges, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address

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    The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges

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    The Bureau of Land Management's interpretation of land "use" in its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule is contrary to the agency's past practice and other Federal Land Policy and Management Act provisions, leaving the rule exposed in four legal challenges that may carry greater force in the wake of Loper Bright, say Stacey Bosshardt and Stephanie Regenold at Perkins Coie.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Opinion

    Big Oil Climate Ruling Sets Dangerous Liability Precedent

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    The recent Maryland court dismissal of Baltimore's case seeking to hold BP responsible for climate damage mischaracterized the city's injuries as divorced from the conduct that caused them, and could allow companies that conceal the dangers of their products to escape liability, says Randall Abate at George Washington University Law School.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Sierra Club v. National Marine Fisheries Service, vacating key Endangered Species Act analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, may create a gap in guidance that could expose operators to enforcement risk and even criminal liability, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Opinion

    Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation

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    The increased regulatory scrutiny on corporate victims of cyberattacks — exemplified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against SolarWinds — should be replaced with a new model that provides adequate incentives for companies to come forward proactively and collaborate with law enforcement, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

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