Trump Energy Order Disrupts High-Profile NEPA Cases

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

One of President Donald Trump's first energy-related executive orders is unsettling closely watched litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit regarding the executive branch's power to implement the National Environmental Policy Act.

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Judge To Inspect Winston & Strawn Docs In Malpractice Row

By Catherine Marfin

A Texas state judge said Friday that he plans to personally review more than 100 Winston & Strawn LLP documents to determine whether the firm must turn them over to Houston-based energy companies in connection with their $175 million malpractice suit.

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US Steel Will Pay $6.1M To End Suit Over Pa. Plant's Dust

By Matthew Santoni

U.S. Steel will invest $4.6 million in efforts to reduce dust pollution from its Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and will pay another $1.5 million to be split among residents of six neighboring communities, under a class action settlement that a state judge gave his preliminary approval.

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Brief

Trump Admin Requests Justices Pause Three Energy Cases

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause three cases so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can review Biden-era regulatory decisions that may alter the government's legal positions.

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11th Circ. Upholds $23M Ruling Against Venezuelan Oil Cos.

By David Minsky

The Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday that two Venezuelan oil companies can't reverse a $23 million judgment over breach of contract for the sale of chemicals, saying they waived challenges to personal jurisdiction at key points in the litigation, and the record shows no genuine factual issues surrounding the broken agreements.

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5th Circ. Won't Remand New Orleans Coastal Damage Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Fifth Circuit panel denied New Orleans' bid to have a lawsuit alleging that Chevron, ExxonMobil and other pipeline companies damaged its coastal areas returned to a Pelican State court, affirming a decision that kept the litigation in federal courts as the companies requested.

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Anschutz Gets Trade Secrets Trial Delayed Amid Sale Dispute

By Rachel Scharf

A Colorado state judge on Friday delayed an upcoming trial in a trade secrets suit brought by Anschutz Exploration Corp., giving the parties more time to deal with a discovery fight over a recent sale that left the jurist "totally dumbfounded" and "furious" at a Denver oil prospector earlier this week.

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La. Judge Returns $22M Hurricane Ida Claim To State Court

By Elliot Weld

A Louisiana federal judge has sent a $22 million insurance dispute over oil drilling equipment damaged by Hurricane Ida back to state court, citing an invalid arbitration clause between the parties.

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Conn. Oil Trader Says Timing Of Money Moves Sinks Verdict

By Aaron Keller

A onetime Connecticut oil trader has asked a federal judge to erase a September 2024 conviction on charges he used a go-between to bribe an official at Brazilian oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA, arguing the jury verdict hinged on third-party wire transfers that occurred beyond the statute of limitations.

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Conn. Residents Lose Appeal Challenging Propane Facility

By Hayley Fowler

A group of citizens in Connecticut who opposed their town's plans to build a bulk propane storage facility can't show how they were aggrieved and, therefore, don't have standing to sue, a state appellate panel ruled Friday in affirming the trial court's dismissal of their case.

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Blackstone To Buy $1B Power Plant In Va. Data Center Mecca

By Charlie Innis

Blackstone, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, plans to purchase a natural gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia — a region known for having the biggest data center market in the world — for $1 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.

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Norway's Orkla Selling Hydropower Portfolio In $545M Deal

By Al Barbarino

Norwegian industrial investment company Orkla said Friday it has agreed to sell its entire hydropower portfolio in two separate transactions that value the portfolio at NOK 6.1 billion ($544.9 million).

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Ill. Justices Say Performance Bonuses Count In OT Math

By Irene Spezzamonte

Two workers will have another shot at arguing an electric company failed to pay the proper amount of overtime because state law doesn't exclude performance bonuses from overtime math, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Friday.

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Musk Can't Yet Appeal Twitter Investors' Cert., 9th Circ. Says

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Friday rebuffed Elon Musk's request to immediately appeal a California federal judge's decision to certify a class of thousands of Twitter investors over claims the billionaire businessman fraudulently tweeted about the social media company's alleged bot problem to get out of his $44 billion acquisition.

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Boies Schiller Int'l Arbitration Pro Joins Baker Botts In Texas

By Christine DeRosa

A veteran international arbitration pro has jumped from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP to Baker Botts LLP in Texas.

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Trump's Energy Plans For Generation, Transmission And More

The executive orders and presidential memoranda issued by President Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration, unwinding the Biden administration's energy policies and encouraging development of fossil fuels, may have significant impacts on the generation mix, electric transmission construction and the state regulatory environment, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

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Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.

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Analysis

Companies Risk White House Wrath By Keeping DEI Programs

By Sarah Jarvis

For companies pushing forward with their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives amid a torrent of attacks from President Donald Trump and his allies, there are myriad potential risks ahead — and murky questions about the legal parameters of Trump's anti-DEI agenda.

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Law Students Scramble As Federal Gov't Yanks Job Offers

By Alison Knezevich

Law students across the country are scrambling to figure out their next steps after a range of federal agencies yanked job and internship offers this week because of the new hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration.

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Mass Tort Atty Files Ch. 11 Owing $202M To Litigation Funders

By Hilary Russ

A Houston plaintiffs attorney has filed for personal Chapter 11 protection with more than $202 million of litigation funding liabilities, according to his petition in the Southern District of Texas.

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Feud Heats Up Over Estate Of Wife Killed By Ex-BigLaw Atty

By Emily Johnson

The godson of a Georgia woman killed by her husband, former Fisher Phillips partner Claud "Tex" McIver, has said her cousins shouldn't get proceeds from a settlement of an underlying wrongful death suit, calling them "strangers" to her and claiming "the redistributive windfall" they're asking for "has no place in Georgia law."

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Boston Firm Says IT Vendor Holding Computers 'Hostage'

By Julie Manganis

Boston-based law firm Melick & Porter LLP says a company it hired to manage its information technology is now holding its computer network and data "hostage" by refusing to cooperate with the transition to a new vendor unless Melick pays it $380,000.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Phillips Black Inc., Ridley McGreevy & Winocur PC and King & Spalding LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court revived claims from a woman on death row in Oklahoma that prosecutors unfairly sex-shamed her and relied on gender-based stereotypes to convince a jury that she had killed her estranged husband for insurance money.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A new Law360 Pulse survey shows that more than 90% of in-house counsel have no regrets about their decisions to join companies. In litigation stemming from Purdue Pharma's sales of OxyContin that fueled the opioid crisis, the Sackler family would lose control of Purdue and pay $6.5 billion in the latest proposed settlement. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.​

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen Axa Insurance and Admiral face a claim from a former lawyer recently exposed for personal injury fraud, the owner of Reading Football Club sue a prospective buyer and mobile network Lycamobile tackle action by Spanish network Yogio. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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