Energy

  • October 18, 2024

    States, Public Health Groups Defend EPA Power Plant Rule

    A group of 21 states and the District of Columbia called on the D.C. Circuit on Friday to reject myriad challengers' attempts to unravel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

  • October 18, 2024

    US Fights PetroSaudi Bid To Limit $380M Seizure

    The U.S. on Friday slammed a PetroSaudi company's request for a California federal court to clarify that officials can only seize 5% of a $380 million award, calling the request an improper attempt at revisiting a 3-year-old court ruling.

  • October 18, 2024

    Judge Blasts Feds' 'Utter Failure' To Quantify Climate Impact

    A Colorado federal judge has ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the Clean Water Act and other federal guidelines in approving a dredging permit for a Denver dam project, calling out the agency's "utter failure" to study the impacts of climate change and alternatives that would avoid impacting wetlands.

  • October 18, 2024

    Natural Gas Producer Will Pay $9.4M For Excess Air Pollution

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico Environment Department have reached a $9.4 million settlement with Hilcorp Energy Co., resolving claims the company failed to reduce emissions during well completion operations, in violation of the Clean Air Act and New Mexico state law.

  • October 18, 2024

    Ore. Water Rights Issues Grounded In State Law, 9th Circ. Told

    The Klamath Irrigation District is asking the Ninth Circuit to certify two questions to the Oregon Supreme Court concerning the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's authority to use and control the use of water under Oregon law.

  • October 18, 2024

    SunPower Corp. Gets OK For Chapter 11 Plan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Friday approved residential solar technology company SunPower Corp.'s plans to distribute the proceeds of its asset sales to the creditors in its Chapter 11 case after hearing all objections had been resolved or put off.

  • October 18, 2024

    $50B Russia, Yukos Case Poses New Questions For DC Circ.

    A D.C. Circuit panel suggested during oral arguments Friday that Russia's bid to revive its sovereign immunity claim in a $50 billion arbitration enforcement case poses some new legal questions for the appeals court.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Partly Restores Suit Over Utility Line Patent

    The Federal Circuit has revived part of a lawsuit that alleged Metrotech Corp. infringed a competitor's patent covering ways for finding underground utility lines, finding that a lower court needs to take another look at key patent terminology.

  • October 18, 2024

    FERC Extension For MVP Spur Was Warranted, DC Circ. Told

    The developer of a southern spur of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and two potential customers are asking the D.C. Circuit to nix conservation groups' challenge of a construction deadline extension the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted for the so-called Southgate project.

  • October 18, 2024

    Conn. Brother Wants No Jail Time In Brazilian Oil Scheme

    A Connecticut man who pled guilty to laundering money in a Brazilian oil bribery scheme that also ensnared his brother says he should not be sentenced to jail time because he needs cancer treatments and has been "devastated financially."

  • October 18, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen Professor Cat Jarman, Earl Spencer's new girlfriend, sue his ex-wife, Bitcoin fraudster Craig Wright file a £911 billion ($1.18 trillion) claim against BTC Core, journalist Oliver Kamm hit novelist Ros Barber with a defamation claim, and a barrister at Cloisters face a claim from a former client. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • October 18, 2024

    Dechert Business Litigation Partner Joins Womble Bond In DC

    Womble Bond Dickinson LLP has hired a business litigation partner who spent nearly a decade at Dechert LLP, where he practiced with an attorney who moved to Womble Bond last month to lead its international disputes practice.

  • October 17, 2024

    Mexico Phosphate Case Shines Light On 3rd-Party Funding

    A U.S. deep ocean exploration company's announcement last month that most, if not all, of a $37 million award it won against Mexico would go toward satisfying its obligations to its third-party funder has helped to fuel questions about whether such funding arrangements belong in investor-state arbitration.

  • October 17, 2024

    No Fraud In $195M Natural Gas Feud, Court Hears

    A Portuguese electricity and gas provider that won a $195 million arbitral award against a Spanish natural gas company has opposed its discovery motion as it looks to vacate the award on fraud claims following their dispute over a liquefied natural gas swap transaction.

  • October 17, 2024

    DOL, Red States Spar Over Loper Bright Impact On ESG Rule

    Conservative-led states suing the U.S. Department of Labor have told a Texas federal court that the end of the Chevron doctrine boosts their bid to end a rule allowing retirement plan advisers to consider environmental, social and governance factors in investment choices, while the DOL argued that it deserves another summary judgment win.

  • October 17, 2024

    Engineer Wood PLC Faces Contempt Bid Amid Pipeline Spat

    A contractor facing claims that it mismanaged the construction of a $22 million Colonial Pipeline Co. fuel terminal in Georgia asked a federal judge Thursday to hold multinational engineering firm John L. Wood PLC in contempt of court for playing "word games" with a recent subpoena.

  • October 17, 2024

    Supreme Court Signals Skepticism On Staying Federal Rules

    A recent string of refusals to block major Biden administration energy and climate change rules suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court is setting limits on its willingness to elbow aside lower courts that are considering challenges to such rules, legal experts say.

  • October 17, 2024

    FERC Adds Tribal Protections To Transmission Siting Rule

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously finalized its rule updating how the agency plans to carry out its limited authority over siting transmission lines during its monthly meeting on Thursday.

  • October 17, 2024

    Infrastructure Co. Owes $2.4M In Arb. Fees In Solar Plant Fight

    A federal judge has upheld an award of $2.4 million in fees to a Spanish construction firm in its dispute with an infrastructure company over a failed energy project in the Nevada desert, ruling an arbitration tribunal did not ignore the law in the breach of contract action.

  • October 17, 2024

    Groups Challenge Utah Permit For Green River Lithium Project

    Conservation groups hit the Utah state engineer and an Anson Resources subsidiary with a suit challenging a water permit issued last month for a lithium extraction project along the Green River, the Colorado River's largest tributary.

  • October 17, 2024

    Jury Says Phillips 66 Owes $605M In Fuel Trade Secrets Fight

    A jury in California state court said Wednesday a retailer of low-carbon fuels is owed $604.9 million after finding that Phillips 66 swiped trade secrets relating to data, such as sales information and pricing methods.

  • October 17, 2024

    Mich. Urges 6th Circ. To Toss Enbridge's Line 5 Countersuit

    Michigan's governor has told the Sixth Circuit she and another state official are immune from Enbridge Energy LP's lawsuit over efforts to shut down a natural gas and oil pipeline because the dispute implicates state sovereignty issues that place it beyond federal jurisdiction.

  • October 17, 2024

    $20B Verizon-Frontier Deal Faces Scrutiny, And Other Rumors

    A growing list of Frontier Communications' largest shareholders are concerned about its planned $20 billion takeover by Verizon Communications, and a group of former professional athletes are in talks to buy a stake in the NFL's Buffalo Bills. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable rumors from the past week.

  • October 17, 2024

    Solar Site Settles Conn. AG's Claims Over Social Media Ads

    The Connecticut attorney general's office has reached a settlement with EnergyBillCruncher.com to resolve claims that it ran deceptive social media ads falsely claiming that the "government will cover the cost" of solar panel installation and improperly displaying the state seal.

  • October 17, 2024

    Industrial Pipe Co. Hits Rival, Ex-Exec With Trade Secrets Suit

    Industrial pipe manufacturer Atkore International Inc. took one of its former senior-level executives and the rival company he went to work for to North Carolina state court, alleging the former employee sabotaged operations on his way out the door and took valuable trade secrets with him.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • A Narrow Window Of Opportunity To Fix Energy Transmission

    Author Photo

    A post-election effort of the coming lame-duck congressional session may be the only possibility to pass bipartisan legislation to solve the national grid's capacity deficiencies, which present the greatest impediment to realizing state and federal energy transition and emissions reduction goals, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • How Project 2025 Could Upend Federal ESG Policies

    Author Photo

    If implemented, Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy playbook for a Republican presidential administration, would likely seek to deploy antitrust law to target ESG initiatives, limit pension fund managers' focus to pecuniary factors and spell doom for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate rule, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling

    Author Photo

    In Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance, the Hawaii Supreme Court became the first state court to classify greenhouse gasses as pollutants barred from insurance coverage, a ruling likely to be afforded great weight by courts across the country, say Scott Seaman and Gar Lauerman at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

    Author Photo

    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

    Author Photo

    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Perspectives

    Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

    Author Photo

    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • With Esmark Case, SEC Returns Focus To Tender Offer Rules

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Esmark in connection with its failed bid to acquire U.S. Steel indicates the SEC's renewed attention under Rule 14e‑8 of the Exchange Act on offerors' financial resources as a measure of the veracity of their tender offer communications, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Spain Faces Award Enforcement

    Author Photo

    Spain's loss in its Australian court case against Infrastructure Services Luxembourg underlines the resilience of international arbitration enforcement mechanisms, with implications extending far beyond this case, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • 6th Circ. Preemption Ruling Adds Uncertainty For Car Cos.

    Author Photo

    Automakers and their suppliers need uniformity under the law to create sufficient scale and viable markets — but the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Fenner v. General Motors creates more uncertainty around the question of when state law consumer claims related to violations of federal vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards are preempted, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
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!