Energy

  • October 15, 2024

    Feds Seek Court's OK On $350M Norfolk Southern Spill Deal

    The federal government has asked an Ohio federal judge to approve a nearly $350 million settlement to close out the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's legal claims against Norfolk Southern over the fiery February 2023 train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine.

  • October 15, 2024

    $5M Alcoa Unit Deal Ends EPA's Smelter Foul-Air Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday approved an Alcoa Corp. subsidiary's $5.25 million settlement with the federal government over the alleged release of illegal levels of pollutants at a now-shuttered Washington aluminum smelting plant.

  • October 15, 2024

    EPA Says GHG Power Plant Rule Is In 'Heartland' Of Authority

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is urging the D.C. Circuit to approve its plan to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying its prescribed methods for controlling releases are legally sound, effective, reliable and reasonably affordable for the facilities that must implement them.

  • October 15, 2024

    3rd Circ. Won't Reinstate Exxon OSHA Whistleblowers

    A Third Circuit panel declined Tuesday to enforce an order reinstating two former Exxon Mobil Corp. analysts who claim they were fired after The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming the company overestimated its earnings by billions of dollars, similar to concerns the plaintiffs raised internally before the news report.

  • October 15, 2024

    US Ups Energy Sanctions On Iran After Israel Missile Attack

    U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has unveiled expanded sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including "new and significant measures to more effectively target Iran's energy trade," following its Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel.

  • October 15, 2024

    FERC Can't Pass On LNG Pipeline Review, DC Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shirked its legal obligations when, through inaction, it effectively greenlit the expansion of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Puerto Rico, environmental and community groups told the D.C. Circuit on Friday.

  • October 15, 2024

    J&J Hit With $15M Verdict In Builder's Mesothelioma Suit

    A Connecticut state court jury on Tuesday slammed Johnson & Johnson and several subsidiaries with a $15 million compensatory damages verdict for a real estate developer who sought to hold the companies liable for his mesothelioma diagnosis.

  • October 15, 2024

    PE-Backed Ingram Micro Leads 2 IPOs Seeking $466M Total

    Private equity-backed information technology company Ingram Micro Holding Corp. on Tuesday unveiled a price range on an estimated $400 million initial public offering set to price next week, one of two companies to launch plans for IPOs that could net $466 million combined.

  • October 15, 2024

    Skadden Picks Up Arbitration Co-Head From Sidley In Asia

    The co-leader of Sidley Austin LLP's global arbitration, trade and advocacy group has been tapped to lead Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's international litigation and arbitration group in Asia, the firm announced on Monday.

  • October 15, 2024

    Polsinelli Adds Merck Legal Director To Energy Group In Philly

    An attorney who specializes in representing energy and utility clients and has experience as in-house counsel has left Merck, where she was a legal director for nearly three years, to become the first new lateral shareholder to join Polsinelli's Philadelphia office since the firm opened its doors there in August.

  • October 15, 2024

    V&E Adds Energy Tax Pro From Bracewell In Houston

    Vinson & Elkins LLP has bolstered its energy transition and tax practices with a partner in Houston who came aboard from Bracewell LLP and whose background includes substantial in-house experience advising on renewable projects.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

  • October 15, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders

    Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.

  • October 11, 2024

    Natural Gas Co. Says More Info Needed In $195M Award FIght

    A Spanish natural gas company has asked a New York federal court to let it seek discovery as it looks to vacate a $195 million arbitral award issued against it following a dispute over a liquefied natural gas swap transaction, saying it needs more information about an alleged fraud.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

    Author Photo

    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Must Halt For-Profit Climate Tort Proliferation

    Author Photo

    If the U.S. Supreme Court does not seize the opportunity presented by Honolulu v. Sunoco to reassert federal authority over interstate pollution regulation, the resulting frenzy of profit-driven environmental mass torts against energy companies will stunt American competitiveness and muddle climate policy, says Gale Norton at Liberty Energy.

  • Takeaways From TOTSA Settlement And Critical CFTC Dissent

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent settlement with TOTSA highlights the agency's commitment to enforcing market integrity and deterring manipulative practices, while Commissioner Caroline Pham's dissent to the settlement spotlights the need for transparency and consistency in enforcement actions, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

    Author Photo

    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

    Author Photo

    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

    Author Photo

    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

    Author Photo

    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

  • Opinion

    FERC Penalty Adjudication Unconstitutional Under Jarkesy

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's holding in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy that the SEC's use of in-house proceedings to adjudicate civil penalties is unconstitutional should equally apply to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's statutory penalty assessment schemes, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Energy archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!