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Energy
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August 01, 2024
Senate Energy Panel Advances Permitting Overhaul Bill
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at expanding and speeding up the permitting process for fossil fuel, renewable energy and transmission projects.
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August 01, 2024
Ga. County To End Shipwreck Spill Suit
Glynn County told a Georgia federal judge Wednesday it plans to drop all claims against shipping companies it alleged were responsible for a 2019 shipwreck that contaminated its coastline and harmed the seafood industry.
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August 01, 2024
Paul Hastings Adds Enviro Atty As Practice Co-Head
An environmental lawyer from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP — known for his high-profile work for such clients as BP in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — has joined Paul Hastings LLP as a partner and to co-lead its environmental litigation practice.
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July 31, 2024
Ghanaian Oil Co. Hit With Sanctions In Discovery Fight
A Texas federal judge has slapped sanctions against an African energy company after finding that it lied in Ghanaian court about a discovery dispute related to a case in Ghana, saying attorney fees and costs are appropriate in relation to several proceedings.
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July 31, 2024
Calif. Bar Says Atty Can't End Billing Scandal's Hacking Claim
A San Fernando Valley attorney cannot escape an ethics charge alleging he plotted to hack the email and phone of a judge overseeing a public utility class action, the California Bar has told the State Bar Court, urging the court to reject the attorney's argument that merely "discussing plans" for a hack is not an offense.
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July 31, 2024
EPA Looks To Dismiss States' Water Rule Challenge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking a Louisiana federal court to toss a group of conservative-leaning states' and energy industry groups' lawsuit attempting to sink its rule broadening states' and tribes' power to veto infrastructure projects over water quality concerns.
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July 31, 2024
Pipeline Cos. Can Join FERC Approval Fight
Companies behind a liquefied natural gas facility in Sonora, Mexico, and the Saguaro Connector Pipeline that will help serve it can weigh in on a challenge of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals for the pipeline, the D.C. Circuit said Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Telecom Trespassing On Reservation Land, Oregon Tribes Say
Lumen Technologies Inc. is trespassing on territory that belongs to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation and has been for years, according to a lawsuit accusing the telecom of continuing to operate on an expired lease instead of striking a new deal for miles of laid fiber.
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July 31, 2024
Fla. Electric Co. Ex-CEO Gets 4 Years For Privatization Plot
A Jacksonville, Florida, federal judge sentenced a former CEO of the city's electric company to four years in prison after a jury convicted him of fraud conspiracy charges in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme connected to a process to privatize the public utility, prosecutors said Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Historical Association Backs Tribes In SunZia Power Line Row
The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers is asking the Ninth Circuit to intervene in a challenge by a coalition of Native American tribes and environmentalists seeking to block SunZia Transmission from routing a 520-mile power line through important cultural and historical sites in the San Pedro Valley.
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July 31, 2024
Metal Recycler Loses Contract Fight With Shredder Co.
The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday ruled against a North Carolina metal recycler in its bid to hold a heavy-equipment maker liable for backing out of a deal to sell a shredder, with the court reasoning that the recycler never signed paperwork to solidify the deal.
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July 31, 2024
Wash. Court To Rethink Gas Chain's Tax Duty On Fuel Cards
A Washington state appeals court said it would reconsider its May decision that a Pacific Northwest gas station chain that issued fuel cards to customers must pay the state business and occupation tax when holders of those cards purchase gas from other participating gas station chains.
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July 31, 2024
Honesty Worries Justify Gas Co. Worker Firing, 4th Circ. Says
The Fourth Circuit upheld a Baltimore gas company's win over a former mechanic's lawsuit alleging he was unlawfully terminated for taking medical leave because of a diabetes-related condition, ruling Wednesday that suspicions of dishonesty provided a credible reason for letting him go.
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July 31, 2024
Attys Can Seek Security Clearance In Cuellar Bribery Case
Attorneys for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar can apply for a security clearance to facilitate potential discussions of classified information in connection with bribery charges against the congressman, a Texas federal judge said Wednesday, remarking multiple times that federal prosecutors had taken "inconsistent" positions on classified material connected to the case.
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July 31, 2024
Rising Star: McGuireWoods' Emilie McNally
Emilie McNally of McGuireWoods LLP has guided NiSource Inc. through the $2.15 billion sale of a minority stake in its subsidiary to Blackstone, and represented Dominion Energy Inc. in its $14 billion sale of three local natural gas distribution companies, earning her a spot among the energy law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 31, 2024
Southern Co. Beats Retirees' Suit Over Mortality Data
Federal benefits law doesn't mandate specific actuarial assumptions in the calculation of pension payments, a Georgia federal judge ruled as he tossed a proposed class action alleging that a Southern Co. subsidiary's use of decades-old mortality tables shorted retirees by thousands of dollars.
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July 31, 2024
Willkie-Led Silver Hill Secures $1.13B For 4th Fund
Energy-focused private equity shop Silver Hill Energy Partners, advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, on Wednesday announced that it clinched its fourth fund after racking up $1.13 billion of total investor commitments.
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July 30, 2024
Prosecutors Say Bribery Ruling Won't Disrupt Madigan Trial
Prosecutors accusing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of corruption said Monday night his case is unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, saying the government's allegations do not rely on gratuities, so "this dog will not hunt."
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July 30, 2024
Texas Appeals Court Says $10M Verdict For Railcar Co. Stands
A Texas appeals court said that Trinity Industries Leasing Co. is entitled to the full $10.6 million verdict that a jury previously awarded the company, finding Monday that corrosion on a railcar by itself didn't trigger limitations on Trinity's breach claim.
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July 30, 2024
Tanzania To Pay Indiana Resources $90M In ICSID Dispute
Tanzania has agreed to pay $90 million to a trio of Indiana Resources Ltd.'s majority-owned firms in a settlement over the African country's alleged unlawful expropriation of a nickel sulfide project, according to the Australian mining company.
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July 30, 2024
Colo. Justices Step Into Boulder Climate Change Case
The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to defend its decision greenlighting the bulk of municipalities' attempts to make Suncor subsidiaries and Exxon pay for damages allegedly caused by climate change.
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July 30, 2024
DC Circ. Must Block EPA Mercury Rule, Challengers Say
Challengers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule tightening mercury and other toxic metal emission standards for some coal-fired power plants are hitting back against arguments by the agency and its supporters that their requested stay of the rule isn't warranted.
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July 30, 2024
High Court Ruling Dooms EPA Smog Plan, DC Circ. Told
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce smog-forming emissions across several states is reason enough for the D.C. Circuit to invalidate the rule, several states, industry groups and energy companies argued.
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July 30, 2024
NJ Men Accused Of Running $6.7M Fuel Investment Scam
Two Middlesex County men ran a scheme using fake identities and "sham companies" to defraud investors out of about $6.7 million that they thought was going into fuel products businesses, according to an indictment announced Monday by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.
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July 30, 2024
Exxon Loses Bid For Avangrid Docs In Mass. Climate Suit
ExxonMobil will not gain access to potentially millions of documents from wind energy company Avangrid as part of the Massachusetts attorney general's long-running climate change suit, after a state court judge found it "inconceivable" that the sought-after material could be relevant to the case.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
US Solar Import Probe's Focus On China Is Misguided
The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation focuses on the apparent Chinese ownership of solar device importers in four Southeast Asian countries — a point that is irrelevant under the controlling statute, says John Anwesen at Lighthill.
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3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up
Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.
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New TSCA Risk Rule Gives EPA Broad Discretion On Science
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent final amendments to its framework for evaluating the risks of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act give it vast discretion over consideration of scientific information, without objective criteria to guide that discretion, say John McGahren and Debra Carfora at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Key Insurance Considerations After $725M Benzene Verdict
The recent massive benzene verdict in Gill v. Exxon Mobil will certainly trigger insurance questions — and likely a new wave of benzene suits — so potential defendants should study Radiator Specialty v. Arrowood Indemnity, the only state high court decision regarding benzene claim coverage, says Jonathan Hardin at Perkins Coie.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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Contractors Must Prep For FAR Council GHG Emissions Rule
With the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council expected to finalize its proposed rule on the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risk this year, government contractors should take key steps now to get ready, say Thomas Daley at DLA Piper, Steven Rothstein at the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, and John Kostyack at Kostyack Strategies.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Opinion
We Need A Legislative Path To Power Plant Emissions Cuts
With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's newest regulation targeting power plant carbon emissions likely to be overturned by courts or a future administration, it's time for bipartisan legislation to preserve affordable, reliable electricity while substantially decarbonizing the sector by midcentury, say Jeffrey Holmstead at Bracewell and Samuel Thernstrom at the Energy Innovation Reform Project.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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2 Oil Trader FCPA Pleas Highlight Fine-Reduction Factors
Recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlements with Gunvor and Trafigura — the latest actions in a yearslong sweep of the commodities trading industry — reveal useful data points related to U.S. Department of Justice policies on cooperation credit and past misconduct, say Michael DeBernardis and Laura Perkins at Hughes Hubbard.
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Opinion
NEPA Final Rule Unlikely To Speed Clean Energy Projects
A recent final rule from the White House Council on Environmental Quality purports to streamline federal environmental reviews to accelerate the construction of renewable energy infrastructure — but it also expands consideration of climate change and environmental justice, creating vast new opportunities for litigation and delay, says Thomas Prevas at Saul Ewing.
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Tips For Companies Tapping Into Commercial Cleantech
A recent report from the European Patent Office and European Investment Bank examining the global financing and commercialization of cleantech innovation necessary for the green energy transition can help companies understand and solve the issues in developing and implementing the full potential of cleantech, says Eleanor Maciver at Mewburn Ellis.
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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.