Energy

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • September 27, 2024

    Arctic Seal Habitat Nixed By Alaska Federal Judge

    An Alaska federal judge vacated the National Marine Fisheries Service's designation of critical habitat for bearded seals and Arctic ringed seals.

  • September 27, 2024

    Houston Firm Gets Time In Zeta MDL To Fend Off DQ Bid

    A Texas state judge overseeing a multidistrict litigation created to handle claims stemming from Hurricane Zeta agreed Friday to give a Houston law firm more time to respond to a disqualification bid from plaintiff firm Arnold & Itkin, which says an ex-law clerk who now works for the defense improperly accessed relevant case files.

  • September 27, 2024

    FERC Can't Defend Backtrack On Grid Plan, DC Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can't legally justify its about-face on a Southwest Power Pool plan to regionally allocate the costs of some transmission projects within the grid operator's 14-state footprint, the D.C. Circuit heard.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ill. Justices Won't Hear Baker McKenzie's London Transfer Bid

    Illinois' top court has declined to take on a petition from Chicago-based Baker McKenzie urging the justices to send to London a malpractice suit accusing the firm of botching a client's bid to reacquire a Russian coal mine.

  • September 27, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Skadden, Cleary

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners acquire Smartsheet Inc., Macquarie Asset Management takes a stake in D.E. Shaw Renewables Investment Group, and Apogee Enterprises Inc. buys UW Interco LLC from Heartwood Partners.

  • September 27, 2024

    EPA, Ohio Refinery Ink $169M Wastewater Cleanup Deal

    A Cenovus Energy unit has reached a $169 million deal to resolve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's complaint over pollution from a petroleum refinery in Lima, Ohio, the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA announced Friday.

  • September 26, 2024

    EU Says DC Circ. Must Reconsider $395M Spain Award Suits

    The European Commission has urged the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its decision that U.S. district courts have jurisdiction to enforce about $395 million in arbitral awards issued against European Union member state Spain by private tribunals convened under the Energy Charter Treaty.

  • September 26, 2024

    Spain Can't Escape $26M Award, DC Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal judge on Thursday enforced a €23.5 million ($26.3 million) arbitral award issued against Spain after the country dialed back its renewable energy incentives, rejecting Madrid's argument that the tribunal had infringed the authority of European Union courts.

  • September 26, 2024

    Donziger Unveils Plan To Launch Impact Litigation Fund

    Sitting before an intimate audience of environmental investors and business leaders, disbarred environmental lawyer Steven Donziger recounted his 30-year battle with Chevron Corp. and its predecessor Texaco Inc. in Manhattan on Thursday, before laying out his plan to launch an impact litigation fund.

  • September 26, 2024

    Oil Co. Can Escape Most Claims In Shell Fraud Suit

    A federal judge trimmed most of the claims from a lawsuit brought by a group of Western Pennsylvania landowners who say a Royal Dutch Shell PLC subsidiary fraudulently sold off $9.5 billion of its assets to avoid the possibility of being subject to a judgment in a separate lawsuit.

  • September 26, 2024

    $30M Deal Reached In 'Intoxicated' Oil Co. Truck Driver Suit

    A woman who sued a Texas oil company claiming that an intoxicated employee crashed a company pickup truck head first into her minivan while she was at a red light is set to get a $30 million settlement, attorneys for the plaintiff announced Monday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Causation Claim Came Early, BP Spill Workers Tell 11th Circ.

    Cleanup workers of BP's Deepwater Horizon spill who say they were sickened by exposure to crude oil urged the Eleventh Circuit Thursday to reverse a judgment in favor of the company, arguing a Florida judge jumped the gun in tossing expert testimony about the links between their work and the respiratory conditions the workers say they developed.

  • September 26, 2024

    Tribunal Halts $52.8M German Tax Collection Against Oil Cos.

    German tax authorities shouldn't collect a windfall profits tax totaling at least €47.2 million ($52.8 million) from two oil refineries before the dispute has been litigated, a tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes said.

  • September 26, 2024

    Feds Split $71M Clean Energy Award Between 13 Tribes

    The Biden administration is investing $71 million to electrify homes in 13 tribal communities across Indian Country in an effort to close ongoing access to electricity gap problems with clean energy sources.

  • September 26, 2024

    VivoPower Keeps HQ In UK To Qualify For $21B Gov't Program

    Sustainable energy solutions company VivoPower International PLC and hydrogen technology business Future Automotive Solutions and Technologies on Thursday outlined additional terms to their proposed $1.13 billion merger, including settling the combined company's headquarters in the U.K. in order to qualify for potential "significant and attractive" government incentives.

Expert Analysis

  • Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation

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    As greenwashing lawsuits continue to gain momentum with a shift in focus to carbon-neutrality claims, businesses must exercise caution and ensure transparency in their environmental marketing practices, taking cues from recent legal challenges in the airline industry, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • First-Of-Its-Kind Chancery Ruling Will Aid SPAC Defendants

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    The Delaware Chancery Court's first full dismissal of claims challenging a special purpose acquisition company transaction under the entire fairness doctrine in the recent Hennessy Capital Acquisition Stockholder Litigation establishes useful precedent to abate the flood of SPAC litigation, say Lisa Bugni and Benjamin Lee at King & Spalding.

  • Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects

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    Recent challenges encountered by the Mountain Valley Pipeline project underscore the importance of drafting contracts for underground construction to account for unexpected site conditions, associated risks and compliance with applicable laws, say Jill Jaffe and Brenda Lin at Nossaman.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Opinion

    Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift

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    It is essential to balance responsible regulatory oversight with permit approvals for mining projects that are needed for the transition to renewable energy — and with the National Environmental Policy Act being one of the leading causes of permit delays, reform is urgently needed, say Ana Maria Gutierrez and Michael Miller at Womble Bond.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers

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    With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

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