Energy

  • February 06, 2025

    Convicted Atty Disbarred In NJ Over LA Utility Billing Scandal

    The New Jersey Supreme Court disbarred an attorney this week who orchestrated a sham lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles on behalf of plaintiffs suing the local water utility and who later made $24 million off contracts with the city reached through a number of bribery schemes.

  • February 06, 2025

    Metals Dealer Says Partners Lost $12M In Attys' Tax Scam

    A precious metals dealer and his partners said they were fleeced of $12 million by attorneys who directed them to form a partnership and take illegal tax deductions for intellectual property, according to a complaint filed in Colorado federal court.

  • February 06, 2025

    Inspection Workers Get Collective Status In Wage Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday signed off on a collective of inspectors accusing an inspection services firm of shorting them on wages, saying the employees showed in their suit that they were all subject to the same pay policy and thus sufficiently similar.

  • February 06, 2025

    Trump's Federal Worker Buyout Plan Put On Hold

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday put on hold the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program for federal employees, delaying the deadline for workers to accept the offer until Monday while the court weighs the legality of the move.

  • February 06, 2025

    Honeywell To Split Into 3 Entities After Activist Pressure

    Industrial conglomerate Honeywell, advised by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, on Thursday unveiled plans to fully separate its automation and aerospace technology businesses, which when paired with the company's previously announced plan to spin off its advanced materials business, will result in three separate publicly traded companies.

  • February 06, 2025

    Kirkland Guiding TPG On $2.2B Altus Power Purchase

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised TPG has agreed to purchase Latham & Watkins LLP-guided Altus Power in a deal that values the Stamford, Connecticut-based solar energy provider at approximately $2.2 billion, including debt, Altus said in a Thursday statement.

  • February 05, 2025

    Suit Challenges BLM Approvals Of More Calif. Drilling Permits

    Conservation and public health groups have told a California federal judge that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management continues to barrel ahead in approving more oil and gas drilling permits in the polluted San Joaquin Valley and to shirk its public notice and environmental review duties.

  • February 05, 2025

    Doubt Over NEPA Regs' Future Brings New Risk For Projects

    Recent court decisions and President Donald Trump have jeopardized long-standing federal regulations for environmental reviews, introducing uncertainty in the permit application and approval process for projects ranging from roads to pipelines that could lead to delays and new litigation.

  • February 05, 2025

    Chicago's Climate Suit Belongs In Federal Court, Judge Hears

    The city of Chicago should not be allowed to take environmental deception claims against the nation's largest oil producers back to state court because the city's suit targets conduct performed largely for the federal government, a judge heard during a Wednesday hearing.

  • February 05, 2025

    Monolithic's Investors Say Co. Botched Nvidia Orders

    Power management component manufacturer Monolithic Power Systems Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it hid critical defects in power modules used by its largest customer, Nvidia Corp., that led the artificial intelligence chipmaker to cancel orders, harming Monolithic's revenue.

  • February 05, 2025

    Lyondell Leak Is On Job Foreman, Not Valve Maker, Jury Told

    A valve maker indicated to a Houston jury on Wednesday that a 2021 chemical leak at a LyondellBasell plant was the result of poor communication between a plant operator and a now-deceased Turn2 Specialty Cos. contractor, not the valve's design.

  • February 05, 2025

    NJ's Climate Change Suit Against Energy Cos. Tossed

    A New Jersey state judge on Wednesday threw out the Garden State's lawsuit accusing fossil fuel companies of concealing the climate change risks of their products, finding the state's claims are preempted by federal law.

  • February 05, 2025

    Ga. Judge Balks At Zurich's Claim Of Surprise Testimony

    A Georgia federal judge has rejected Zurich American Insurance's bid to strike supposed surprise testimony from a recent trial where it lost $12.2 million over a disputed rain damage claim from a solar farm, ruling Wednesday that the real surprise was Zurich's belated and meritless objections.

  • February 05, 2025

    China Hits Trump Tariffs With Mostly Symbolic WTO Challenge

    The Chinese government has challenged the Trump administration's new 10% tariff at the World Trade Organization, alleging violations of key global trade rules, even as years of U.S.-led gridlock has rendered the Geneva body mostly defunct as a dispute resolution forum.

  • February 05, 2025

    6th Circ. Judge Unsure Of Jury Instruction In Bribery Case

    A Sixth Circuit judge seemed skeptical Wednesday of the bribery and racketeering conspiracy standards a jury used to convict former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and Republican lobbyist Matthew Borges in connection with the FirstEnergy bailout scandal, suggesting that all campaign contributions could be called bribery.

  • February 05, 2025

    GOP Lawmakers Move To Scrap Methane Emissions Fee

    Republican lawmakers revived legislation seeking to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane emissions fee, as part of a broader effort to bolster the Trump administration's U.S. energy dominance policy.

  • February 05, 2025

    Cleveland-Cliffs Wants 'Un-American' US Steel Suit Tossed

    Cleveland-Cliffs and its CEO have asked a Pennsylvania judge to toss a lawsuit filed against them by Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, calling the suit "un-American" while claiming that the plaintiffs' "sputtering disapproval" of the defendants' statements doesn't hold up in court.

  • February 04, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    February is off to a rip-roaring start in several circuits, and there's plenty more action ahead, including a moment of truth for judiciary policymaking that has managed to anger both the defense and plaintiffs bars. We'll explore all that in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing, which also includes an appellate quiz pegged to recent presidential news.

  • February 04, 2025

    Del. Judge Tells Fuel Cell Co. Investors To Filter Imprecise Suit

    A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday ruled that investors of hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power Inc. must submit more particular details to support their allegation that shareholders were damaged by the company's failure to disclose production challenges, saying it is not the court's responsibility to filter out evidence.

  • February 04, 2025

    Calif. Partly Beats Challenge To Climate Disclosure Laws

    A California federal judge has trimmed a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups over the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, finding the groups failed to state a claim with respect to two causes of action.

  • February 04, 2025

    'Every Breath' A 'Struggle' For Lyondell Leak Worker, Jury Told

    A lung specialist told a Houston jury Tuesday that he would be "surprised" if the only surviving repairman who worked on a leak at a Texas LyondellBasell plant lived longer than 15 years without major medical intervention due to his chemical exposure four years ago.

  • February 04, 2025

    5th Circ. Mulls If Green Orgs. Have Injury In Injection Well Case

    A Fifth Circuit panel pondered whether environmental groups will suffer an injury adequate to challenge underground injection wells in Louisiana, asking during oral arguments Tuesday whether the groups can bring a legal claim for an event 50 years down the road.

  • February 04, 2025

    EPA, Interior Leaders Unveil Focus On US Energy Production

    The heads of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled plans for their agencies that largely focus on bolstering President Donald Trump's U.S. energy dominance policy. 

  • February 04, 2025

    AI Clean Energy Co. SPAC Suit Should Be Zapped, Judge Says

    A federal magistrate judge has recommended dismissing, without prejudice, a derivative shareholder suit accusing the top brass of Stem Inc., an artificial intelligence-driven clean energy company, of making misleading statements leading up to a conflicted merger with a special purpose acquisition company, saying no one should have to "connect the dots" to figure out what is specifically being alleged against them. 

  • February 04, 2025

    Pushing The Envelope In Climate Law: Murder Charges

    Climate change legal advocates are pointing to wildfires in Los Angeles, hurricanes in the Southeast and a regulation-averse presidential administration as evidence that local prosecutors should begin going after fossil fuel companies with criminal charges — up to and including homicide.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority

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    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.

  • Series

    After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed

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    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.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • Navigating The Uncertain Landscape Of Solar Tariffs

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    Solar cell and module manufacturers, exporters and importers must navigate an uncertain compliance landscape, given ongoing challenges to U.S. Department of Commerce antidumping and countervailing duty determinations, which have been mounted both by U.S. and non-U.S. manufacturers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Amid SEC Rule Limbo, US Cos. Subject To ESG Regs In EU

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    Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is facing legal challenges to its climate-disclosure rulemaking, the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in the European Union will force U.S. companies to comply with exactly the kinds of ESG disclosures that are not yet mandated in the U.S., say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law

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    The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.

  • Carbon Offset Case A Win For CFTC Enviro Fraud Task Force

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    An Illinois federal court's decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ikkurty — earning the CFTC a sizeable monetary award that will likely incentivize similar enforcement pursuit — shows the impact of the commission's Environmental Fraud Task Force, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • DC Circ. Int'l Arb. Ruling Leaves Award Holders In Legal Limbo

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    In NextEra v. Spain, the D.C. Circuit recently ruled that district courts could enforce arbitral awards in energy investors' decadelong dispute with Spain, suggesting award holders could succeed in U.S. courts, but also that foreign sovereigns could render any such victories economically meaningless, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

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