Energy

  • November 22, 2024

    Chinese EV Maker's European Unit Eyes $410M SPAC Merger

    Hudson Acquisition I Corp. and Aiways Automobile Europe GmbH said Friday they have inked an agreement to go public through a SPAC merger, with the electric vehicle maker achieving a $410 million pre-merger equity valuation. 

  • November 22, 2024

    Navajo Co. Dismisses Case Alleging Paralegal Took Docs

    A natural resources company owned by the Navajo Nation has dismissed a lawsuit against a paralegal it accused of failing to turn in her computer for removal of its privileged documents, after the paralegal said she had already arranged to surrender her device before the lawsuit was even filed.

  • November 22, 2024

    Bondi Vowed Trump Payback. Ex-Colleagues Aren't Worried.

    U.S. attorney general nominee Pam Bondi is an outspoken ally of President-elect Donald Trump and vowed during the campaign that his "prosecutors will be prosecuted," but people who've worked with her say she's well qualified to serve as the nation's top cop and downplayed concerns that she would politicize the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • November 22, 2024

    LA Power Dept. Inks $60M Settlement Over Valley Gas Leak

    The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has reached a $59.9 million settlement over allegations that it hid a dangerous natural gas leak from San Fernando Valley residents for over three years, according to the plaintiffs' counsel.

  • November 22, 2024

    EPA, Pa. Nab $5.3M In Penalties Against Oil, Gas Producers

    The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday they have secured two settlements amounting to $5.3 million with XTO Energy Inc. and Hilcorp Energy Company, resolving alleged Clean Air Act and Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act violations.

  • November 22, 2024

    Pa. Rate Deal Halves FirstEnergy's $502M Customer Hike Bid

    FirstEnergy will be able to increase its base electrical rates in Pennsylvania to bring in an additional $225 million in annual revenue starting in 2025 — less than half of the rate hike the company initially proposed, according to a settlement approved by the state's Public Utility Commission.

  • November 22, 2024

    Honeywell Restructure Continues With $1.3B PPE Biz Sale

    Honeywell said Friday it has agreed to sell its personal protective equipment business to Protective Industrial Products Inc. for $1.325 billion in cash, as the industrial conglomerate forges ahead with a multipronged restructuring program while also facing pressure from an activist investor to split itself in two. 

  • November 22, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen cash-strapped Thurrock Borough Council bring a £40 million ($50 million) negligence claim against 23 other local authorities over its solar investments from a not-for-profit local government body, AstraZeneca sue a fire safety company following a blaze at its Cambridge headquarters last year, and a director who was convicted in 2016 for corporate manslaughter face action by Manolete Partners. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • November 22, 2024

    Ex-Invenergy Atty Joins McDermott's Energy Team In DC

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP announced Friday its Washington, D.C., office has brought on an in-house renewable energy and taxation expert with more than a decade of experience to further help the firm's clients utilize energy transition tax credits available in the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • November 21, 2024

    Special Master Ordered To Turn Over Citgo Pact To Venezuela

    A Delaware federal judge has ordered his court-appointed special master to give Venezuela an unredacted version of a stock purchase agreement in the upcoming auction of oil giant Citgo's parent company, ruling the document must be made available to the public as well as the republic.

  • November 21, 2024

    US Strikes At Last Of Russia's Major Non-Sanctioned Banks

    The United States has now sanctioned all of Russia's major banks after freezing the assets of Gazprombank and its six foreign subsidiaries on Thursday for channeling military equipment purchases for Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine.

  • November 21, 2024

    FirstEnergy Investors Slam Ex-Execs' Info 'Bogeyman' Story

    FirstEnergy shareholders have accused two former executives of the energy company of exploiting confidentiality rules by seeking to shield documents relevant to their suit over a stock plummet that followed a massive bribery scheme, telling an Ohio federal judge he should reject the executives' "informational bogeyman" story.

  • November 21, 2024

    FERC Heeds States' Worries With Grid Planning Policy Rewrite

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved changes to its sweeping revision of its regional transmission planning policies, and a heftier role for states in the planning process was enough to assuage the concerns of a commissioner who dissented from the original rule.

  • November 21, 2024

    Fuel Economy Regs Are Unlawful Path To EVs, 6th Circ. Told

    Republican-led states and fuel industry groups have told the Sixth Circuit that the U.S. Department of Transportation overstepped with new vehicle fuel-economy standards that amount to an unlawful electric vehicles mandate, while environmental groups say the standards don't go far enough to meaningfully combat climate change.

  • November 21, 2024

    DC Circ. Judges Disagree On Standing In Drilling Permit Suit

    The judges of the D.C. Circuit stepped on each other's toes Thursday during oral arguments over a challenge to the approvals of thousands of drilling permits in New Mexico and Wyoming, appearing to be at odds over whether the environmental groups' stance on standing had legs.

  • November 21, 2024

    Key Informant Who Recorded Madigan Takes The Stand

    A former Chicago alderman who prosecutors have deemed one of their "most significant cooperators in the last several decades" took the stand Thursday afternoon and began what is expected to be multiple days of testimony in the racketeering trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, whom he secretly recorded while working with the government.

  • November 21, 2024

    Trump Selects Ex-Fla. AG Pam Bondi As New AG Pick

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for U.S. attorney general, just hours after former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

  • November 21, 2024

    EPA Announces National Strategy To Tackle Plastic Pollution

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday unveiled its national strategy outlining how government agencies, businesses, nonprofits and communities can prevent plastic pollution. 

  • November 21, 2024

    EPA Floats New Draft Framework On Cumulative Impacts

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday further fleshed out exactly what it means when it tells its employees to consider the "cumulative impacts" of pollution on particular communities.

  • November 21, 2024

    Settlement Doesn't Void Injury Coverage Ruling, Judge Says

    A Colorado federal court refused to set aside its September ruling that an oil and gas production company isn't owed coverage by an electrical drilling company for a worker's underlying injury lawsuit, saying the parties' settlement negotiations don't justify vacating a valid court order.

  • November 21, 2024

    Legal Fee Suit Widens Paragon Tech Control Fight In Del.

    A running feud at the top of publicly traded investment company Paragon Technologies Inc. widened Thursday with a former CEO's filing of a Delaware Court of Chancery suit for company-paid legal fees prompted by the ex-CEO's ouster, a board investigation and other recent developments.

  • November 21, 2024

    Ill. Justices Give Marathon Chance To Avoid $15M Fuel Tax

    Marathon Petroleum presented enough evidence to rebut claims by officials of an Illinois county that it owed about $15 million in fuel taxes on transactions stemming from cash settlements for delivery contracts, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, reversing an appellate court.

  • November 21, 2024

    Swedish EV Battery Co. Files For Ch. 11 With $5B Of Debt

    Swedish electric vehicle battery maker Northvolt AB filed a Chapter 11 case in Texas bankruptcy court Thursday, saying it wants to find a partner to enable the company's innovation to continue in the burgeoning space while it addresses a significant liquidity shortfall.

  • November 21, 2024

    California Tribe Looks To Increase Trinity River Water Flows

    The Yurok Tribe slapped the Bureau of Reclamation with a complaint in California federal court, alleging its operation of the Trinity River Division provides only minimum flows to the Trinity River in the winter and early spring, modifying and harming salmon habitat and population.

  • November 21, 2024

    Phillips 66 Charged With Dumping Wastewater In LA County

    A federal grand jury has indicted Phillips 66 on charges of violating the Clean Water Act by illegally discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater into the Los Angeles County sewer system without reporting the violations to authorities, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Spanish Assets At Risk Abroad

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    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.

  • 'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG

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    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.

  • Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules

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    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.

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address

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    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.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges

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    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.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Big Oil Climate Ruling Sets Dangerous Liability Precedent

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    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.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    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.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    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.

  • ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations

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    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.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    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.

  • 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.

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