Energy

  • January 30, 2025

    Former North Dakota Gov. Confirmed As Interior Secretary

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 79-18 to confirm President Donald Trump's selection for secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who's vowed to advocate for expanded fossil fuel production.

  • January 30, 2025

    Lower Court Altered Contract Reading, Texas Justices Told

    An Energy Transfer subsidiary told the Texas Supreme Court that a lower court upended the way contracts are interpreted in the state when it found no remedy for alleged losses from a soured $1 billion deal with an Exxon Mobil Corp. unit.

  • January 30, 2025

    FERC Says Pacific NW Pipeline Approval Was By The Book

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is defending its approval of a controversial TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest, telling the Fifth Circuit it reasonably determined that the project was needed and adequately reviewed its environmental impacts.

  • January 30, 2025

    Kirkland-Led Oil And Gas Producer Infinity Prices $265M IPO

    Oil and gas producer Infinity Natural Resources priced a $265 million initial public offering Thursday within its range, represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and underwriters counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, adding to a recent wave of energy-related IPOs.

  • January 30, 2025

    Peruvians Tell High Court Smelter Lawsuit Should Proceed

    Peruvian nationals suing U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert's The Renco Group Inc. for allegedly poisoning them with toxic chemicals from a smelting and refining complex in a rural part of the country are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let their litigation move forward.

  • January 30, 2025

    Valve Maker Had Decades To Prevent Lyondell Leak, Jury Told

    Eight men injured in a chemical leak at a LyondellBasell facility in La Porte, Texas, told a Houston jury Thursday that a pipe valve manufacturer knew its product posed a "serious and deadly hazard" for workers decades before the 2021 leak.

  • January 30, 2025

    Tribe's Alaskan Burial Site Dispute Paused During Talks

    An Alaska federal court has agreed to pause a tribe's suit against state entities and the Federal Aviation Administration over excavations of archaeological artifacts and ancestral remains found during construction of an airport runway as the parties talk about resolving the dispute without further litigation.

  • January 30, 2025

    Energy Co. Takes Aim At FERC Enforcement Powers

    A North Carolina-based energy efficiency aggregator is challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authority to investigate it and order it to explain why it should not face nearly $1 billion in penalties for disputed market manipulation and tariff violation allegations.

  • January 30, 2025

    EPA Says Okla. Must Give Tribes Say In Enviro Policies

    Oklahoma must work with its tribal nations in administering dozens of environmental polices, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said in a decision modifying a previous order that allowed the Sooner State full regulatory authority over the majority of Indian Country.

  • January 30, 2025

    Atty Should Lose License In Billing Scandal Case, Judge Says

    A San Fernando Valley attorney colluded with attorneys for the city of Los Angeles in a water utility class action for which he received a $1.65 million fee and later sought to hire hackers to spy on the judge presiding over the class suit, a State Bar of California judge has found.

  • January 30, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Sanctions Miss, Philip Morris Refund

    In the second half of January, the North Carolina Business Court tussled with sanctions against a biogas company, heard claims an insurer tried to deliberately embarrass Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and ordered an $11 million tax refund for Philip Morris.

  • January 30, 2025

    Dentons Partner Joins Mintz's Energy And Sustainability Team

    Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC has hired a former Dentons partner who will split time between New York and Washington, D.C., working with clients on project finance matters in the energy space, the firm recently announced.

  • January 29, 2025

    SEC Wins $11.3M In Texas Oil Investment Fraud Case

    A Texas federal judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in an 11-year-old case accusing brokers of soliciting more than 340 "partners" to invest in drilling projects that were actually unregistered investment vehicles, granting the request for over $11 million in disgorgement, interest and a civil penalty from one of the brokers and his companies.

  • January 29, 2025

    Mich. Judge Doubts Discovery Dispute Should DQ Firm

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday said a law firm's alleged "bad behavior" doesn't necessarily mean it can't represent a former CEO of a solar energy company, telling residents who sought to disqualify the firm because of a supposed conflict that their complaints may be better dealt with through discovery motions.

  • January 29, 2025

    Comet Lands $17M Fee Award After $40M Trade Secret Win

    A California federal judge has ordered Singapore-headquartered XP Power to pay $17 million to Comet Technologies USA for the tech company's legal fees in the wake of Comet's $40 million trial win, saying the award will deter "malicious trade secret misappropriation" and "encourage trade secret defendants to make reasonable litigation decisions."

  • January 29, 2025

    Cobalt Refiner Hits Ch. 11 With Plan To Cut $164M In Debt

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday put the operator of one of the world's largest cobalt refineries on course for a March hearing on a Chapter 11 plan to shed nearly $164 million in debt as it deals with depressed cobalt prices it blames on Chinese oversupply.

  • January 29, 2025

    New DOT Chief Orders Fuel Economy Standards Redo

    U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to retool its "extraordinarily stringent" vehicle fuel economy standards, immediately diving into President Donald Trump's rollback of Biden-era policies aimed at bolstering electric vehicles.

  • January 29, 2025

    Senate Confirms Former Rep. Lee Zeldin To Lead EPA

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  • January 29, 2025

    Chevron, Ex-Manager End Bias Suit Over Altered COVID Tests

    Chevron and a former manager agreed to end the worker's lawsuit claiming she was fired for not speaking up about workers changing COVID-19 test records to avoid travel restrictions while men who did the same thing kept their jobs, according to Texas federal court filings.

  • January 29, 2025

    4 Questions About Trump's Federal Worker Resignation Policy

    President Donald Trump’s offer of letting federal workers resign with several months of paid administrative leave raises questions about its legality and whether workers will actually get paid, attorneys said. Here, Law360 explores four questions that stem from the policy.

  • January 29, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says DOE Pool Pump Rule Detractor Failed To Object

    A Third Circuit panel unanimously denied on Wednesday a swimming pool pump manufacturer's challenge of the U.S. Department of Energy's conservation standards for pump motors, ruling that the company had waived its argument.

  • January 29, 2025

    Orrick Adds Bradley Arant Energy Regulatory Pro In DC

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has grown its energy capabilities in the nation's capital with the addition of an attorney from Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

  • January 29, 2025

    Tribal Leaders Call Funding Freeze A 'Step In Wrong Direction'

    Native American nonprofit groups and tribal leaders are weighing the effects of the Trump administration's possible federal funding freeze, calling the president's directive, which was revoked on Wednesday, shocking and vowing to bring legal action if necessary to protect Indian Country and the nation's Indigenous citizens.

  • January 29, 2025

    $7.8B ChampionX Deal Gets Added Scrutiny Across The Pond

    SLB's path to closing its proposed $7.8 billion acquisition of ChampionX got a little trickier Wednesday as the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority launched a formal investigation into a deal that is also under the scrutiny of U.S. regulators. 

  • January 29, 2025

    White House Rescinds Trump's Spending Freeze

    The White House on Wednesday rescinded a directive freezing federal funding, saying it wants to end litigation and confusion, but said the move will not end a review of spending to ensure compliance with a series of executive orders by the president.

Expert Analysis

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Review Shipping Terms In Light Of These 3 Global Challenges

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    Given tensions in the Middle East, labor unrest at U.S. ports and the ongoing consequences of climate change, parties involved in maritime shipping must understand the relevant contract provisions and laws that may be implicated during supply chain disruptions in order to mitigate risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races

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    This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.

  • How The 2025 Tax Policy Debate Will Affect The Energy Sector

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    Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. election, 2025 will bring a major tax policy debate that could affect the energy sector more than any other part of the economy — so stakeholders who could be affected should be engaging now to make sure they understand the stakes, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • 3rd Circ. Hertz Ruling Highlights Flawed Bankruptcy Theory

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    The Third Circuit, in its recent Hertz bankruptcy decision, became the latest appeals court to hold that noteholders were entitled to interest before shareholders under the absolute priority rule, but risked going astray by invoking the flawed theory of code impairment, say Matthew McGill and David Casazza at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal

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    By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

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    As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.

  • Conn. Court Split May Lead To Vertical Forum Shopping

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    As shown by a recent ruling in State v. Exxon Mobil, Connecticut state and federal courts are split on personal jurisdiction, and until the Connecticut Supreme Court steps in, parties may be incentivized to forum shop, causing foreign entities to endure costly litigation and uncertain liability, says Matthew Gibbons at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Enviro Policy Trends That Will Continue Beyond The Election

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    Come October in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a winner-take-all scenario, with the outcome of the vote determining how or even whether we are regulated — but there are several key ongoing trends that will continue to drive environmental regulation regardless of the election results, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.

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