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Energy
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August 14, 2024
CFTC Hits Vitol With First-Of-Its-Kind Position Limits Fine
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued its first-ever fine Wednesday against a trader exceeding position limits by holding the same contract across multiple exchanges, penalizing Swiss energy and commodities company Vitol SA for its positions on cattle and crude oil futures.
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August 14, 2024
10th Circ. Wipes Out Fight Over Obama-Era Methane Rule
The Tenth Circuit has thrown out a lower court ruling partially invalidating an Obama-era rule limiting venting and flaring from oil and gas wells on federal land, saying a new rule crafted by the Biden administration moots the entire case.
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August 14, 2024
EU OKs Siemens' $3.8B Sale Of Innomotics To PE Firm KPS
European Union antitrust enforcers signed off Wednesday on German tech conglomerate Siemens AG's plan to sell its Innomotics large motors and drives unit to New York City-based private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, finding that the deal, with an enterprise value of €3.5 billion ($3.9 billion), poses "limited" overlap concerns.
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August 14, 2024
Judge Blocks Missouri's Anti-ESG Rules, Handing SIFMA Win
A Missouri federal judge found Wednesday that the state's anti-ESG rules for brokers and advisers violate the First Amendment and are preempted by federal laws, handing the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association an early win in its suit against state officials.
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August 14, 2024
The Biggest Enviro Decisions Of 2024: Midyear Report
2024 has already been one of the most consequential years for environmental law, and it's only half over. The U.S. Supreme Court issued groundbreaking administrative law decisions, while lower appeals courts resolved questions about California's right to promulgate its own vehicle emissions standards, among other rulings.
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August 14, 2024
Oil Equipment Co. Says Ex-Workers Took Patent-Pending Tech
An oilfield equipment company has taken two of its former workers and the competitor they left for to Texas federal court over claims the ex-employees absconded with its patent-pending oil valve technology and then shared it and other trade secrets with their new employer.
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August 13, 2024
Texas Court Affirms Sole Arbitrator In Oilfield Machinery Fight
A Texas appeals court affirmed on Tuesday that arbitration over more than $1 million owed on an invoice for oilfield machinery should be heard by a sole arbitrator, ruling that a subsequent agreement between a Mexican drill rig manufacturer and a Houston company trumped the wording in their initial contract.
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August 13, 2024
Anadarko Settles Wyo. Landowners' Antitrust Case For $12M
Occidental Petroleum Corp. unit Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will pay $12 million to resolve a federal class action from Wyoming landowners accusing the extraction company of anticompetitively hoarding permits to block and control local oil and gas development, resolving the suit Monday — very nearly on the courthouse steps.
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August 13, 2024
Halliburton Gets PTAB To Mostly Invalidate US Well Patent
A Patent Trial and Appeal Board panel largely invalidated claims of a fracturing patent owned by U.S. Well Services LLC challenged by Halliburton Energy Services Inc.
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August 13, 2024
No Cause To Revisit Maple Leaf Standard Yet, Fed. Circ. Says
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday declined a solar industry group's push to review a decades-old, "breathtakingly deferential" precedent a panel invoked in a decision affirming the president's Trade Act authority to make existing solar safeguard tariffs more trade restrictive.
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August 13, 2024
10th Circ. Says Mine Can't Undo Worker's Black Lung Benefits
A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday rejected a coal mining company's attempt to prevent a retired Utah miner from getting benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act, finding the miner's time working in above-ground facilities did not remove the law's presumption in his favor.
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August 13, 2024
Quarry Liable For Layoff Notices, NLRB Tells DC Circ.
The National Labor Relations Board correctly found that a quarry operator illegally issued layoff notices to union supporters, the agency argued to the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday, saying the company hadn't followed its practice of laying people off during cold weather.
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August 13, 2024
Ariz. Tribe, Green Groups Want In On Industry Copper Rule Suit
A Native American tribe and the Sierra Club are squaring off against mining companies challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent rule, which is intended to reduce toxic, cancer-causing emissions from copper-smelting facilities.
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August 13, 2024
Tesla, Stockholder Feud In Del. Over Texas Move's Validity
Tesla inc. has fired a Delaware Court of Chancery broadside at a stockholder claim that the company failed to collect a required two-thirds majority vote to convert from a Delaware to a Texas-chartered company, saying the supermajority applies to charter changes rather than Tesla's corporate "redomestication."
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August 13, 2024
DOD Says Missing License Is Needed To Dispute $1B Fuel Deal
The Defense Logistics Agency has urged the Court of Federal Claims to toss a protest alleging a $1 billion African fuel supply deal requires a license that can only be secured through bribery, saying not already having the license dooms the protester's case.
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August 13, 2024
Air Taxi Co. Investor Ends Suit After Exec Indemnity Vote Fails
A stockholder suit against electric air taxi developer Archer Aviation Inc. has been declared moot after the company acknowledged it didn't have enough shareholder votes in favor of a measure that would indemnify its executives.
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August 13, 2024
Youth Plead To Save Constitutional Climate Lawsuit
Youth plaintiffs on Monday defended their right to continue their lawsuit alleging the federal government unconstitutionally discriminates against them by favoring the fossil fuel industry's interests.
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August 13, 2024
Tar Sands Firm Strikes SPAC Merger With Integrated Rail
Tar Sands Holdings II LLC, advised by Holland & Hart LLP, plans to go public following a merger with Winston & Strawn LLP-led special purpose acquisition company Integrated Rail and Resources Acquisition Corp., according to a Monday statement.
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August 13, 2024
FirstEnergy Makes Nonprosecution Deal To End Ohio AG Probe
FirstEnergy said Tuesday that it has secured a nonprosecution agreement with Ohio's attorney general stemming from an alleged $1 billion bribery scandal involving the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, with both parties touting the utility company's remediation and compliance improvements.
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August 13, 2024
Quantum Energy Sued For Docs In Del. After SEC Action
A director of Quantum Energy Holdings LLC who joined the company after one of its directors was indicted has sued the firm in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking books and records and alleging the company's other directors have "repeatedly thwarted" his efforts to understand the business and its financial condition.
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August 13, 2024
United Customer's Greenwashing Suit Preempted, Judge Says
A Maryland federal judge ruled Tuesday that federal law preempts a proposed class action alleging United Airlines misled customers by deceptively marketing its use of sustainable aviation fuels and its efforts to be green and carbon-neutral.
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August 13, 2024
3 International Trade Cases To Watch: Midyear Report
The Federal Circuit is on track to issue its final word in challenges to duties on Chinese products and a lumber dispute seeking the court's guidance despite an ongoing trade pact arbitration, while the World Trade Organization's dispute tribunal is hashing out Brussels' beef over Colombia's tariffs on frozen french fries. Here, Law360 highlights three cases to watch during the second half of this year.
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August 13, 2024
Eversource Hit With $450M Suit Over Fatal Gas Explosion
The family of a Massachusetts man who died in a 2021 natural gas explosion caused by a corroded and leaking pipe says utility provider Eversource put profits ahead of public safety, according to a wrongful death suit filed Tuesday that seeks $450 million in damages.
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August 13, 2024
Jackson Walker Slams 'Draconian' Judge Romance Fees Bid
Jackson Walker LLP is pushing back on a U.S. Trustee Office's attempt to roll back at least $13 million in fees and reimbursements awards, saying the firm is just the latest bystander to become "collateral damage" from a concealed romance between an ex-firm partner and a former federal bankruptcy judge.
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August 13, 2024
EPA Defends Approval Of La. Injection Well Authority
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday urged the Fifth Circuit to dismiss a lawsuit by green groups challenging the EPA's decision to give Louisiana authority over some underground injection wells, which can be used for carbon capture and sequestration.
Expert Analysis
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors
Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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FERC Rule Is A Big Step Forward For Transmission Planning
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent electric transmission system overhaul marks significant progress to ensure the grid can deliver electricity at reasonable prices, with a 20-year planning requirement and other criteria going further than prior attempted reforms, say Tom Millar and Gwendolyn Hicks at Winston & Strawn.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Series
After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Electrifying Transportation With Public-Private Partnerships
Many clean energy goals remain public policy abstractions that face a challenging road to realization — but public-private partnership models could be a valuable tool to electrify the transportation sector, says Michael Blackwell at Husch Blackwell.
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Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation
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.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
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.
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How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges
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.
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First-Of-Its-Kind Chancery Ruling Will Aid SPAC Defendants
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.
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Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects
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.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
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.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.