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Energy
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October 11, 2024
Tribes, Enviro Orgs. Can Defend EPA In Pebble Mine Row
A federal judge in Alaska has allowed a slew of environmental groups and Alaskan tribes to defend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to block the planned creation of the controversial Pebble Mine, saying they made a convincing argument that intervention is warranted.
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October 11, 2024
6th Circ. Blocks Work On Tenn. Pipeline For TVA Gas Plant
A split Sixth Circuit panel on Friday temporarily blocked construction of a Kinder Morgan unit's pipeline that would serve a Tennessee Valley Authority natural gas-fired power plant in Cumberland City, as conservation groups challenge Clean Water Act permits Tennessee and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued for the pipeline.
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October 11, 2024
Secret Docs May Delay Foreign Agent Case, Ex-Fla. Rep Says
A former Florida congressman told a Miami federal judge on Friday that he's requested evidence from prosecutors that may exonerate him on criminal charges of failing to register as a foreign agent while lobbying for Venezuela, saying the discovery implicates classified information that may delay proceedings in his case.
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October 11, 2024
Bellwether Plaintiffs Let Halliburton Escape Pollution Dispute
Two bellwether plaintiffs in litigation seeking to hold the owners and operators of a former pipe manufacturing facility liable for contamination have agreed to permanently drop their claims against Halliburton Energy Services.
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October 11, 2024
J&J Should Pay $30M For Developer's Cancer, Conn. Jury Told
Attorneys for a western Massachusetts real estate developer on Friday urged a Connecticut jury to award $30 million for past and future suffering to a lifelong Johnson & Johnson baby powder user diagnosed with mesothelioma, but the company's attorneys suggested $4 million was a more reasonable figure while contesting liability whatsoever.
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October 11, 2024
DOI Defends Offshore Lease Schedule At DC Circ.
The U.S. Department of the Interior defended its scaled-back offshore leasing program for 2024-2029 from dueling challenges at the D.C. Circuit, arguing it relied on "extensive quantitative and qualitative analyses" that it prepared over several years to reach its decision.
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October 11, 2024
FERC Defends Keeping Calif. In Hydro Permitting Role
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defended its conclusion that California's water board didn't waive its Clean Water Act permitting authority over two hydroelectric dams, telling the D.C. Circuit there's nothing to suggest there was a coordinated effort to string out the permitting process.
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October 11, 2024
Conn. Judge OKs $5M Deal To Resolve AG's Vision Solar Case
A Connecticut state judge approved a $5 million judgment to resolve an unfair trade practices suit Attorney General William Tong brought against Vision Solar LLC.
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October 11, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says USMCA Review Bars Importer's Duty Suit
The Federal Circuit has backed the U.S. Court of International Trade's dismissal of a Canadian lumber company's challenge to increased tariffs, saying the U.S. court couldn't take the case once a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement panel began reviewing the duties.
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October 11, 2024
Xcel, Colo. Co-Op Reach Deal To End Power Plant Appeal
Xcel Energy and a Colorado electric cooperative have told an intermediate state appellate court that they've reached a settlement in principle to avoid further appeals of a $26 million jury verdict against Xcel in a fight over the closure of a power plant.
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October 11, 2024
2 Finance Partners Added To Hunton's London Office
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP has welcomed two new lawyers, Alan Cunningham and Richard Skipper, as finance partners in its London office.
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October 11, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen billionaire Lakshmi Mittal sue steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta in a long-running clash to claw back €140 million ($153 million) of debt, a high-profile AI researcher take action against the Intellectual Property Office to register his software as a listed patent inventor and troubled housing trust Home Reit face a claim by a real estate developer. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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October 10, 2024
Colo. Hemp Farm Says Solar Co. Work Caused $200M Loss
Two Colorado hemp growers are suing a subsidiary of energy company AES Corp. for $200 million, claiming it damaged their water lines while constructing a solar panel project, ultimately causing most of their crop to die.
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October 10, 2024
Oregon Gas Customers Sue Over 'Greenwashing' Program
Northwest Natural Gas Co. has been accused by customers of engaging in "greenwashing" by advertising its Smart Energy program as a way for them to offset their natural gas emissions, while directing the program's funds to methane-generating industrial dairy farms.
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October 10, 2024
Boulder Says Exxon Can't Twist Law To Avoid Climate Fight
Boulder, Colorado, accused Exxon on Wednesday of twisting preemption standards to avoid a suit over the impacts of climate change, telling the Colorado Supreme Court that it doesn't need explicit permission from the Clean Air Act to bring its state law claims.
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October 10, 2024
Norfolk Southern Says Tank Car Cos. Should Help Pay $600M Deal
Norfolk Southern and tank car companies sparred in Ohio federal court over key questions of liability related to the February 2023 East Palestine derailment and toxic chemical spill, as the rail giant seeks to offload at least some damages, including a recent $600 million settlement to affected residents and businesses.
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October 10, 2024
Ohio Seeks To Halt Depositions In FirstEnergy Investor Suit
The state of Ohio wants to halt certain depositions and other discovery in a securities suit stemming from the FirstEnergy bribery scandal, saying it could interfere with criminal charges against two of the utility company's former executives, according to an intervenor motion filed Thursday.
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October 10, 2024
8th Circ. Won't Block EPA Power Plant Effluent Rule
The Eighth Circuit rejected on Thursday efforts by nearly two dozen states, utility companies and trade groups to block the implementation of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule setting new wastewater limitations for coal-fired power plants.
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October 10, 2024
Sanctioned Afghan Officials Drop Suit For Treasury's Review
Two former Afghan lawmakers withdrew their lawsuit challenging the financial and immigration restrictions they face in the U.S., while the U.S. Department of Treasury considers a request to remove the sanctions.
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October 10, 2024
Exxon Suing Netherlands Over Gas Phaseout Plans
An ExxonMobil unit has accused the Netherlands of reneging on its contractual obligations related to the phasedown of gas extraction activities in the country's earthquake-stricken Groningen oil field.
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October 10, 2024
Balch & Bingham Energy Partner Rejoins McGuireWoods
An attorney who has more than 25 years of experience working on energy regulatory matters and most recently spent several years as a partner at Balch & Bingham LLP is rejoining McGuireWoods LLP's Washington office, where he previously worked for over five and a half years, the firm announced Thursday.
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October 10, 2024
Brazilian Firm Cites Market Conditions In Delaying US IPO
Private equity-backed lubricants maker Moove Lubricants Holdings is hitting pause on initial public offering plans because of "adverse market conditions," according to a Wednesday securities filing from its parent company.
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October 09, 2024
Alaskan Tribes Ask Court To Reconsider Gold Mine Ruling
A group of Alaskan tribes is urging a federal district court to reconsider its ruling that two U.S. government agencies did not take a realistic look at the potential spill risks associated with a large open-pit gold mine, arguing that it erred in its determination concerning the project's barge traffic.
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October 09, 2024
Co-Ops Say FCC Should Use Meter Data For Broadband Maps
The Federal Communications Commission ought to take advantage of the power meter data that electric cooperatives have access to when trying to find wrinkles or gaps in the agency's broadband maps, a group representing rural electric co-ops says.
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October 09, 2024
NC AG Urges NC Justices To Ax Duke Energy Rate Hike
The North Carolina Supreme Court has been hit with a barrage of briefs urging the justices to overturn the State Utilities Commission's allegedly "unlawful" rate increase for Duke Energy Carolinas, with North Carolina Attorney General Joshua H. Stein calling the rate change "arbitrary and capricious."
Expert Analysis
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Series
After Chevron: 7 FERC Takeaways From Loper Bright
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine, it's likely that the majority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's orders will not be affected, but the commission has nonetheless lost an important fallback argument and will have to approach rulemaking more cautiously, says Norman Bay at Willkie Farr.
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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.