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Energy
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September 30, 2024
Amazon's Soured Solar Deal Suit Misses Mark, PE Firm Says
A California-based private equity firm and firms tied to two solar projects have urged a Washington state judge to toss most of Amazon's claims in a $200 million countersuit over a power purchase deal fallout, accusing the e-commerce giant of making an "end run" around its own contracts to drain them financially.
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September 30, 2024
US Trustee Says Reed Smith Didn't Disclose Eletson Ties
The U.S. Trustee's Office is asking a New York bankruptcy judge to claw back the fees and expenses law firm Reed Smith LLP has earned representing shipping firm Eletson Holdings in its Chapter 11 case, saying it failed to disclose ties with Eletson directors.
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September 30, 2024
Arizona Legislature Says State Can't Slip Monument Suits
The Arizona State Legislature fired back at Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' attempt to dismiss its lawsuit seeking to upend the Biden administration's creation of a national monument on an Indigenous site, defending its alleged injuries as "concrete and imminent."
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September 30, 2024
Big Banks Get Brazilian Pollution Suit Booted From NY
A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed an effort by a Brazilian city and residents to hold several big banks liable for allegedly financing environmentally ruinous mining operations in their region, ruling the matter would be more appropriately heard in Brazil.
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September 30, 2024
Apache Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Mining Case
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling by Arizona's high court that sides with a state agency decision letting a copper mining company discharge treated wastewater from potential future operations into a local waterway.
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September 30, 2024
DOE Plutonium Pit Plan Found To Violate Environmental Law
A South Carolina federal judge on Monday backed antinuclear groups' challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy plan to boost production of plutonium cores used in nuclear weapons, saying the DOE hadn't properly considered the potential environmental impact of the plan.
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September 30, 2024
Kids Face 'Very Uphill' Climb To Save Reworked Climate Suit
A California federal judge indicated Monday that he will likely toss amended allegations that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's climate policies run afoul of children's constitutional rights, saying the plaintiffs face a "very uphill" battle to conform the lawsuit with binding Ninth Circuit precedent.
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September 30, 2024
Missouri Drops Appeal Intended To Save ESG Regulations
Missouri has asked the Eighth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of a federal judge's decision finding that the state's anti-environmental, social and governance regulations for brokers and advisers violate the First Amendment and are preempted by federal laws.
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September 30, 2024
Fla. Judge Tosses NextEra Stock Drop Suit
A Florida federal judge on Friday dismissed a proposed class action against NextEra that sought to hold the energy company liable for a drop in its share price after political interference allegations emerged against its subsidiary Florida Power and Light Co.
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September 30, 2024
Marathon Unit Wants 8th Circ. To Nix Appeal In Pipeline Fight
A Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary is asking the Eighth Circuit to dismiss an appeal by tribal landowners trying to intervene in its lawsuit challenging the Interior Department's reversal of prior decisions related to a pipeline crossing part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
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September 30, 2024
Morgan Stanley Investment Arm Nabs $750M For Climate Fund
Morgan Stanley's investment management arm revealed Monday that its climate private equity fund, which is focused on investing in North American and European companies working to avoid or remove one gigaton of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from the atmosphere, closed at $750 million of equity capital commitments.
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September 30, 2024
Chevron-Hess 2nd Oil Merger To Get FTC OK With CEO Ban
A divided Federal Trade Commission signed off Monday on a deal allowing Chevron to buy Hess, permitting the $53 billion megamerger on the condition that Hess CEO John B. Hess be banned from Chevron's board, in the second such CEO-banning deal the FTC has inked in the last year.
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September 27, 2024
Norfolk Derailment Victims' Attys Get $162M After $600M Deal
A federal judge said Friday that she signed off on a $162 million award to attorneys for a class of residents and others affected by last year's Norfolk Southern train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, partly because of the "historic participation" in the $600 million settlement.
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September 27, 2024
Twitter Investors Win Cert. In Suit Over Musk's Backpedaling
A California federal judge on Friday certified a class of thousands of Twitter investors over claims Elon Musk fraudulently tweeted about the social media company's alleged bot problem to get out of his $44 billion acquisition, rebuffing the billionaire businessman's contention that individual issues in the suit eclipse common questions.
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September 27, 2024
Elliot Unit To Pay $7.29B As Citgo Parent Co. Sale Looms
An affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Investment Management LP has emerged as the successful bidder in an upcoming auction of Citgo's parent company aimed at satisfying billions of dollars in Venezuelan debt, agreeing to pay $7.286 billion to purchase the shares in PDV Holding Inc.
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September 27, 2024
Calif. Appeals Court Won't Revive Suit Targeting Zero Emission Reg
A California appeals court has refused to jump-start a natural gas vehicle coalition's lawsuit targeting an Advanced Clean Trucks regulation aimed at boosting the sale of electric zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, ruling state regulators properly considered alternatives and impacts.
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September 27, 2024
GAO Says DOE Could Save Billions On Hanford Waste Plan
A government watchdog said in a report Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy should heed experts who say the agency could save billions of dollars by distinguishing between high- and lower-level waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington, one of the biggest cleanups in the world.
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September 27, 2024
Energy Cases To Watch In This US Supreme Court Term
The new U.S. Supreme Court term could be just as action-packed as the previous term was for the energy industry, as the justices will weigh in on how federal agencies conduct environmental reviews and field petitions over climate change policies and lawsuits. Here's a list of energy-related cases to watch this term.
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September 27, 2024
DC Circ. Skeptical Of Transformer Co.'s Union Vote Objections
Judges on the D.C. Circuit pressed an attorney for power transformer company VTCU on why it believes a National Labor Relations Board-overseen vote authorizing a union for the company's workers was flawed when both sides agreed to how it would go down.
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September 27, 2024
Puerto Rico Utility Creditors Seek OK For Bond Claims Suit
Representatives of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's unsecured creditors are asking a New York federal judge to allow them to contest what they say is the wrongful lumping of $8.4 billion in bondholder claims with their own claims against the utility.
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September 27, 2024
Life Sciences Firms Energize IPO Market As Recovery Builds
Initial public offerings are closing the year's third quarter on an upswing, led mostly by pre-revenue drug developers and select large companies that are seizing opportunities in friendlier capital markets buoyed by interest-rate cuts, generating momentum that experts say could carry over into next year.
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September 27, 2024
GM, LG Get Go-Ahead On $150M EV Battery Settlement
A Michigan federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors LLC sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with faulty batteries made by LG units, finding the deal to be fair and reasonable in resolving the claims.
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September 27, 2024
EPA Will Review Wood Stove Emissions Rules To Settle Lawsuit
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to revisit its emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves, resolving 10 states' D.C. federal court lawsuit accusing it of slacking on its obligation to do so.
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September 27, 2024
$36M Oil Cleanup Row Isn't A Case For Fed. Court, Judge Says
An Oklahoma federal court tossed a pipeline owner's lawsuit seeking coverage from its excess insurers for an oil spill on tribal land that it said cost over $36 million to clean up, finding the court lacked the subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case.
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September 27, 2024
Colo. Law Voids Cos.' Coverage Agreement, Judge Rules
An oil and gas production company isn't owed coverage by an electrical drilling company for an underlying lawsuit brought by an injured worker, a Colorado federal judge ruled, finding that defense, indemnification and insurance provisions within the companies' agreement are void under state law.
Expert Analysis
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Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules
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.
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Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address
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.
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Series
After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges
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.
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A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President
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.
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Opinion
Big Oil Climate Ruling Sets Dangerous Liability Precedent
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.
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How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies
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.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
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.
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ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations
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.
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What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services
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.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
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.
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Opinion
Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation
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.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
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.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
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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Opinion
Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority
Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.
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Series
After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed
Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.