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December 12, 2024
Ex-FBI Informant Admits To False Accusations In Biden Case
A former FBI informant accused of making fake criminal accusations against President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, will plead guilty to tax evasion and falsifying records in a federal investigation, according to a deal filed Thursday in a California federal court.
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December 12, 2024
Energy Co. Gets Redo Of $150M Power Plant Explosion Trial
A California appeals court has ordered a new trial and vacated a $150 million verdict against Diamond Generating Corp. in a suit by the family of a worker killed in a power plant explosion, saying the jury should have been instructed to determine whether DGC retained enough control over the plant's operations to be held liable.
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December 11, 2024
Gold Miner Sarama Hits Burkina Faso With $115M Claim
A gold exploration and development company with operations in West Africa said Wednesday it has commenced arbitration proceedings against Burkina Faso, seeking damages of AU$180 million ($115 million) in a dispute over the state's alleged expropriation of a mining project.
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December 11, 2024
Tesla Stockholder Contests $345M Musk Pay Fight Fee In Del.
A Tesla Inc. stockholder has asked to intervene in the Delaware Court of Chancery class derivative case that scuttled CEO Elon Musk's 10-year, $55.6 billion compensation plan, citing objections to court approval of a stock or cash fee award for class attorneys worth $345 million.
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December 11, 2024
Justices Won't Block EPA Coal Ash Rule During Court Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Kentucky electric utility's effort to halt implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule strengthening federal regulations for the safe management of coal ash.
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December 11, 2024
Mixed 5th Circ. Backs $14M Exxon Texas Air Pollution Fine
A mixed Fifth Circuit on Wednesday backed a $14 million fine against ExxonMobil Corp. over air pollution in southeast Texas, with a per curiam opinion stating the court wouldn't have reheard the case if it had known it would take more than 18 months to issue an opinion.
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December 11, 2024
Metal Recycler Accused Of Polluting Connecticut Streams
Global industrial recycling firm Sims Metal was hit with a Clean Water Act lawsuit by an environmental watchdog group claiming the company lets stormwater and snow runoff drag metal particles and other pollutants into streams that enter Long Island Sound in greater New Haven, Connecticut.
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December 11, 2024
EPA Gives States, Tribes Clearer Path To Water Permit Power
States and Native American tribes have a clearer path to gaining the authority to set water pollution standards that may be even stronger than federal ones under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule finalized Wednesday.
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December 11, 2024
Del. Bar Urged To Push Back On Musk's Chancery Criticism
Nearly 100 legal professionals, mainly plaintiffs bar attorneys and law professors, have called on the Delaware State Bar Association to defend the state's chancellor against attacks that tech and social media billionaire Elon Musk launched after a stinging defeat of his nearly $56 billion, multiyear Tesla Inc. package in January.
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December 11, 2024
DC Circ. Lets Pipeline Safety Rule Remain Amid Agency Fix
The D.C. Circuit has agreed to leave in place one of four new safety standards for gas transmission pipelines while the U.S. Department of Transportation works to amend them, after an industry group said not doing so could cause unnecessary repair costs.
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December 11, 2024
Law Firm Must Share Files, Face Malpractice Claim, Suit Says
A mining company wants Pittsburgh-based Sherrard German & Kelly PC to hand over its files regarding the representation of a former client who was on the losing end of a multimillion-dollar judgment in 2022 and assigned its malpractice claim to the mining company.
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December 11, 2024
Developer, Feds Ask Justices To Pass On Offshore Wind Case
The federal government and Vineyard Wind 1 LLC are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a Massachusetts group's latest bid to block the large offshore wind farm taking shape in waters off Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.
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December 11, 2024
ConEd Escapes Fired In-House Atty's Gender, Age Bias Suit
A New York federal judge tossed an attorney's suit claiming she was fired by Con Edison out of age and gender animus after complaining that her boss unfairly criticized her, ruling she failed to show that her identity rather than her yearslong performance issues got her canned.
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December 10, 2024
Feds Tell Justices To Stay Out Of Climate Change Tort Fights
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to weigh in on climate change torts filed against fossil fuel companies, arguing in a pair of briefs that the state court cases aren't the correct vehicles for resolving the issues, at least not yet.
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December 10, 2024
BNP Paribas Seeks High Court Appeal In Sudan Refugee Case
BNP Paribas has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the standard for permitting immediate appeals of class certifications, arguing the Second Circuit was wrong to deny it such review in a class action accusing the bank of enabling human rights abuses in Sudan.
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December 10, 2024
Wash. Woman Accused Of Smuggling Oil, Gas Parts To Russia
A Washington-based regional manager of a freight forwarding company is accused of helping Russians evade U.S. export controls and sanctions issued after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine by illegally shipping industrial oil and gas equipment to Russia through intermediary countries like China, New York federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
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December 10, 2024
Feds Propose Enviro Protections For Monarch Butterfly
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule on Tuesday that would list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and designate 4,395 acres of critical habitat in coastal California.
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December 10, 2024
Kid Climate Activists Ask Justices To Save Twice-Nixed Case
Youth plaintiffs have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their climate change lawsuit against the federal government but said the court should decide a key death penalty case first that involves a similar constitutional question.
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December 10, 2024
Venezuela Oil Cos. Say $23M Suit Wasn't Properly Served
Two Venezuelan oil companies urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to undo a $23 million judgment for a Florida-based chemical distributor, arguing neither company was properly served the summons and complaint.
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December 10, 2024
Ga. Justices Say Courts To Decide Whether Utilities Are Taxes
A Georgia trial court wrongly decided it could not judge whether a county's utility rates are a backdoor tax on property owners, the state's highest court said Tuesday, ruling that a restriction on the state Legislature's power to "regulate or fix" rates doesn't bar review by the judicial branch.
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December 10, 2024
Utah Counties' Narrow NEPA Test Meets High Court Critics
Utah counties looking to narrow courts' ability to review federal agencies' environmental analyses of proposed projects hit roadblocks Tuesday from skeptical U.S. Supreme Court justices and the U.S. Department of Justice, who said the proposed limits go too far.
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December 10, 2024
Judge Says Indiana Grid Project Law Is Discriminatory
An Indiana federal judge has blocked the state's right of first refusal law granting Indiana-based utilities the first attempt at securing new transmission project contracts in the state, saying the law discriminates against out-of-state economic interests.
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December 10, 2024
Insurer QBE Settles Suit Over Failed $18M Wind Support Deal
Belgium-based insurer QBE Europe has settled a lawsuit accusing it of wasting available policy limits on pointless litigation rather than make a reasonable offer in a separate $18 million dispute over a failed wind support vessel deal, according to a Tuesday filing.
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December 10, 2024
Google, TPG To Help Steer $20B Clean Energy Investment
Google and an arm of private equity shop TPG that is focused on solutions to combat climate change revealed plans to partner with clean energy company Intersect Power to invest $20 billion in renewable power infrastructure by the end of the decade, with an initial plug of $800 million announced on Tuesday.
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December 10, 2024
Ex-Conn. Utility Execs Win Pretrial Diversion Bid In 2nd Case
A Connecticut federal judge has approved pretrial diversion agreements between federal prosecutors and two former public utility executives, pausing a second prosecution as the duo prepare to serve prison sentences in a case alleging they misused public funds.
Expert Analysis
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
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.
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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Spanish Assets At Risk Abroad
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.
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'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG
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.
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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.