Energy

  • October 30, 2024

    Holtec Wins $6.9M Over Gov't's Failure To Store Nuclear Fuel

    Nuclear plant operator Holtec Palisades LLC has been granted $6.9 million in damages after a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge found the federal government had breached an agreement to store spent nuclear fuel at the company's Michigan facility.

  • October 30, 2024

    Class Members Can't Change Opt-Out Rules In Chevy EV Deal

    A Michigan federal judge won't grant a bid by individual class members to change the opt-out procedure in a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with defective batteries, calling the motion an improper late objection to the settlement's preliminary approval.

  • October 30, 2024

    AI-Focused SPAC Joins Pipeline With $200M IPO Filing

    Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co., a special purpose acquisition company targeting the artificial intelligence industry, filed plans on Wednesday for an estimated $200 million initial public offering, while another SPAC, energy-transition focused Tavia Acquisition Corp., downsized plans.

  • October 30, 2024

    Gov't Contracts Of The Month: Uranium And Missile Detection

    Over the past month, the Biden administration advanced plans to secure the nuclear energy supply chain with $3.5 billion worth of uranium enrichment contracts and added $1.8 billion to its next-generation missile detection program. Here are Law360's most note-worthy government contracts for October 2024.

  • October 30, 2024

    Jones Day Hires Real Estate Partner For Chicago Office

    Jones Day announced Tuesday that it hired an experienced transactional real estate attorney as a partner for its real estate and energy transition and infrastructure teams based in Chicago.

  • October 30, 2024

    Anadarko Seeks Win In Kickback Defense Coverage Suit

    Anadarko Petroleum Corp. urged a Texas federal court to hand it an early win in its suit seeking defense and indemnity from an environmental remediation company in a decade-old Louisiana kickback lawsuit.

  • October 30, 2024

    Seyfarth Launches Energy Deals Group With Polsinelli Trio

    Seyfarth Shaw LLP has launched an energy transactions group in Texas with the addition of three attorneys from Polsinelli PC, as part of Seyfarth's strategic plan to enhance its corporate and transactional capabilities, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • October 30, 2024

    Judge Says Attys Asking For Too Much In Hess Wage Deal

    A New York federal judge refused to sign off on a $36,000 deal that would resolve a former oil field worker's suit alleging Hess Corp. failed to pay him overtime, saying the worker's attorneys are requesting too large of a share.

  • October 30, 2024

    KKR, ECP To Plug $50B Into Data Centers, Power Projects

    Private equity firms KKR & Co., advised by Simpson Thacher, and Energy Capital Partners have teamed up to inject $50 billion into building data centers and energy generation projects in a bet on meeting rising demand for infrastructure to support the artificial intelligence boom.

  • October 29, 2024

    'In-And-Out' Trades Don't Doom Lead Plaintiff Bid, Judge Says

    A Manhattan federal judge appointed a Pomerantz LLP client as lead plaintiff in a shareholder suit against Nano Nuclear Energy Inc., rejecting arguments that the investor's handful of so-called in-and-out trades in the company's stock should preclude her from representing the proposed class in securities fraud allegations against the company.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mining Co. Must Hand Over Docs To Tribe In Minn. Land Row

    A Minnesota federal magistrate judge has determined that the vast majority of documents that a Native American tribe is seeking from a mining company in a land exchange dispute must be turned over to the tribe, ruling that discovery sought prior to 2016 is relevant to the case.

  • October 29, 2024

    Williams Cos. Applies To FERC For Transco Expansion

    A Williams Cos. Inc. unit on Monday submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand the Transco natural gas pipeline's capacity in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama — a proposal over which two environmental groups quickly expressed concern.

  • October 29, 2024

    Texas Gov., Oil Groups Urge DC Circ. To Revive LNG Projects

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the American Petroleum Institute, the Lipan Apache Tribe and others are lining up behind liquefied natural gas project backers asking the full D.C. Circuit to review a panel's decision to nix Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals for LNG projects on the Texas Gulf Coast.

  • October 29, 2024

    Fla. Banker Agrees To Change Plea In Money Laundering Case

    A Miami banker who is the son of Ecuador's ex-comptroller on Tuesday agreed to change his plea to guilty in a federal case alleging that he helped launder money for his father, who was convicted for his role in a corruption scandal that involved canceling fines for a hydroelectric dam in exchange for millions in bribes.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mining Regs Have World Effect On Tribes, High Court Told

    A chief of an Indigenous Brazilian community is backing an Arizona tribe in its bid to overturn a decision that allows a copper mining company to discharge treated wastewater into a local waterway, telling the Supreme Court that pollution from such operations impacts more than just health around the world.

  • October 29, 2024

    Lye Buyers Can't Save Rejected $38.5M Antitrust Settlement

    A New York federal judge refused Tuesday to change her mind about rejecting a $38.5 million class settlement between direct chemical buyers and three manufacturers accused of colluding to inflate the price of lye.

  • October 29, 2024

    PTAB Upholds Solar Co.'s Power Supply Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has shot down a bid from a German solar energy technology company's U.S. unit to invalidate a competitor's solar power supply patent, the latest blow to the subsidiary in a larger patent fight.

  • October 29, 2024

    Russia To Fight Seizure Of Assets In $5B Ukraine Oil Row

    The Russian Federation is looking to challenge a recent seizure of its state-owned assets in Finland following a successful bid from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, which aims to enforce a $5 billion arbitration award related to the 2014 expropriation of its Crimean assets.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-ComEd GC Calls Madigan's Interest In Law Firm 'Strange'

    A Jenner & Block LLP attorney and former Commonwealth Edison general counsel testified Tuesday that he found it "strange" to read ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was interested in the granular details of the utility's negotiations with Chicago law firm Reyes Kurson. Madigan's counsel, however, appeared to suggest a confidant and co-defendant had name-dropped the speaker in 2016 without actually talking to him. 

  • October 29, 2024

    DQ'd Zeta Atty Using MDL Info In Other Cases, Plaintiffs Say

    A group of crew members aboard a Transocean drilling rig during Hurricane Zeta asked a Harris County judge Monday to sanction the company and its former law firm, writing that a former attorney has continued to use information he obtained while working on the case despite being disqualified in 2023.

  • October 29, 2024

    Texas Judge Rejects Early Win In Water Pollution Dispute

    A Texas federal judge denied on Tuesday an insurer's bid for an early win in its lawsuit against a water supply company accused of providing contaminated water to Cameron County residents, despite the insurer's argument that pollution exclusions in multiple policies bar coverage for the underlying claims.

  • October 29, 2024

    ND Riverbed Fight Has Been Festering For 50 Years, Court Told

    A Native American tribe and the U.S. Department of the Interior are asking a federal court to deny a more than yearlong extension request by North Dakota to respond to a bid for a judgment that declares the state has no mineral rights beneath a portion of the Missouri River.

  • October 29, 2024

    BOEM Holds Gulf Of Maine Wind Lease Sale

    An offshore wind lease sale held Tuesday for the Gulf of Maine saw two provisional winners for four lease areas with the potential to power some 2.3 million homes, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

  • October 29, 2024

    FERC Botched Pacific NW Pipeline Approval, 5th Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was wrong to approve a controversial TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Oregon officials and environmental groups told the Fifth Circuit.

  • October 29, 2024

    Oil Trader's Brother Gets Probation, Fine For Brazilian Bribes

    An ailing Connecticut man who admitted to helping his brother pull off a scheme to bribe officials at Brazil's state-owned oil company has been sentenced to probation, a fine and asset forfeiture, federal court records showed Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

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    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

  • Opinion

    FERC Penalty Adjudication Unconstitutional Under Jarkesy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's holding in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy that the SEC's use of in-house proceedings to adjudicate civil penalties is unconstitutional should equally apply to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's statutory penalty assessment schemes, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • Integrating ESG Into Risk Management Programs

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    Amid increasing regulations and reporting requirements for corporate sustainability in the European Union and the U.S., companies might consider how to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into more formalized risk management, say directors at Alvarez & Marsal.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight

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    Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.

  • 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.

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