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Project Finance
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March 07, 2024
Baker Botts Adds Stoel Rives Energy Finance Partner In DC
Baker Botts LLP has added a partner from Stoel Rives LLP, who joins the firm in Washington, D.C., to continue his practice focused on advising private lenders and multilateral development banks in a range of energy-related transactional matters, the firm recently announced.
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March 06, 2024
Exxon Kicks Off Arbitration Over Guyana Offshore Oil Project
ExxonMobil has initiated arbitration in order to retain its right of first refusal over Hess Corp.'s stake in a lucrative oil block off Guyana's Atlantic coast, an Exxon spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.
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March 06, 2024
Enviro Groups Say Colo. Trail Will Increase Cancer Risks
A D.C. federal judge strained to square two directly conflicting assertions in an ongoing challenge to a Fish and Wildlife Service trail in Colorado Wednesday, one from environmental and health groups claiming that plutonium from the site was certain to cause rare and deadly illnesses to trail-goers and nearby residents, and another from the federal government claiming that the trace levels of plutonium near a former-weapons plant were well below thresholds for concern.
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March 06, 2024
FCC To Explore 'Amnesty' For Rural Deployment Defaults
The Federal Communications Commission has asked the public for its views on a proposal to release internet service providers from some obligations to deploy rural broadband under FCC subsidy programs so that affected communities can still obtain federal funding.
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March 06, 2024
Cruz Wants FCC Subsidy System Turned Over To Congress
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday floated a plan to convert the Federal Communications Commission's multibillion-dollar subsidy system for low-income telecom services to direct congressional control, citing spiraling costs.
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March 06, 2024
Judge Won't Revisit Contempt Order In Gold Mine Control Suit
A Colorado federal judge refused Tuesday to reconsider or amend his 2022 contempt order sanctioning mineral exploration company DynaResource in a decade-old arbitration dispute over control of a Mexican gold mine, finding that DynaResource's arguments are untimely and "at best" tangentially related to the arbitration award.
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March 06, 2024
DLA Piper Adds Environmental Credit Atty To NY Energy Team
DLA Piper has hired an energy attorney whose specialties include environmental credits, advising clients on energy regulatory matters and working with a range of carbon-specific investment structures, the firm announced Tuesday.
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March 05, 2024
Settlement Gets 'Tire Spinning' EB-5 Fraud Suit Unstuck
Winter thawed in a Florida courthouse on Tuesday when the last remaining defendant in a nearly decade-long $50 million investment fraud suit agreed to settle the case, surprising the judge and opposing counsel after refusing for years to strike a deal.
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March 05, 2024
Court Has No Cause To Deny Casino Land Request, Tribe Says
A Michigan tribe urged the D.C. Circuit to reverse a lower court's ruling blocking it from acquiring land for two casino developments, arguing there's no dispute it bought the land to generate gaming revenue and that the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized its endeavor.
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March 05, 2024
DC Circ. Leery Of Challenges To Nuke Waste Storage Site
A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday didn't appear convinced by challenges to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of a temporary nuclear waste storage site in New Mexico.
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March 05, 2024
Rochester, NY, Denied Early Win In SEC's $119M Bond Suit
A New York federal judge has declined to grant early wins to the city of Rochester, New York; its former finance director; and an advisory firm named in a suit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging they misled investors in a $119 million bond offering.
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March 05, 2024
Senate Dem Sees Votes For Broadband Discount Funding
A key Democratic senator said late Tuesday he sees momentum growing on Capitol Hill for at least a short-term funding renewal for the embattled Affordable Connectivity Program.
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March 05, 2024
8th Circ. Affirms Ax Of Tribe's Drilling Approval Challenge
The Eighth Circuit upheld the U.S. Department of the Interior's approval of eight drilling applications on Tuesday, rejecting the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation's argument the drilling sites violated a tribal "setback" regulation barring drilling within 1,000 feet of Lake Sakakawea.
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March 05, 2024
Mich. Appeals Court Speeds Up Ford Battery Factory Dispute
A Michigan appeals judge agreed Tuesday to fast-track a case brought by opponents of a planned $3.5 billion Ford battery plant who want to put a ballot question to voters in the next election.
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March 05, 2024
Callon Sued Over Disclosures Prior To $4.5B APA Deal
A Callon Petroleum Company shareholder has alleged in a proposed class action in Delaware Chancery Court that the company breached its fiduciary duties in connection with a pending $4.5 billion acquisition by APA Corp. by not fully disclosing the details of another proposal.
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March 05, 2024
FERC LNG Approvals Flout Court's Orders, DC Circ. Told
Environmental and local community groups have told the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's reapproval of two Texas liquefied natural gas terminals must be thrown out because it failed to undertake additional analysis of the projects' greenhouse gas emissions and environmental justice impacts.
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March 05, 2024
Wind Farm Challengers Meet Resistance At 1st Circ.
A First Circuit panel on Tuesday appeared unlikely to undo the government's approval of a 62-turbine wind farm off the coasts of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, questioning the effort of opponents to get the court to consider data on right whales that it did not present to agencies during the review process.
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March 05, 2024
Feds Say Neb. Tribe's Suit Over Debt Collections Is Untimely
The U.S. government is asking a Nebraska federal judge to dismiss a time-barred Santee Sioux Nation suit claiming the government has repeatedly tried to collect on an already paid debt related to the depreciation costs of a health and wellness center built 15 years ago.
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March 05, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Direct Pay Rules For Energy Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday finalized regulations governing direct payments of several clean energy tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act but said it was still mulling how to address so-called chaining of payments and co-ownership arrangements.
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March 04, 2024
Panama Skirts $100M Claim Over Biofuel Regulations
An international tribunal has tossed a $100 million claim accusing Panama of enacting regulatory changes that led to the shuttering of a biofuels company, ruling that a group of Italian investors could not prove they controlled the Panamanian company.
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March 04, 2024
Puerto Rico Fiscal Board Argues For Utility Reorg Plan
Puerto Rico's fiscal oversight board told a federal judge on Monday that it had the only plan to save the island's troubled electric utility, while bondholders claimed the board had created the plan specifically to shortchange them.
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March 04, 2024
What To Know About 9th Circ. Ruling On Tribe's Sacred Site
A split Ninth Circuit ruling that a sacred tribal site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest can be transferred to a copper mining company is certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, which contends that the decision effectively bulldozes a long-held worship site and ultimately denies the tribe's freedom of religious expression, despite the panel's skepticism of that claim.
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March 04, 2024
FERC Slams Brakes On $1.1B Bridgepoint-ECP Deal
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has blocked U.K. asset manager Bridgepoint Group PLC's proposed £835 million ($1.1 billion) purchase of Energy Capital Partners LP, saying the companies haven't shown the merger wouldn't affect competition in U.S. electricity markets.
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March 04, 2024
Ohio Agency Puts Discovery On Hold In FirstEnergy Probes
The Ohio utilities commission will hold off discovery for its just-unfrozen investigations arising from FirstEnergy Corp.'s notorious bribery scandal after the state attorney general's office warned that compelling testimony from anyone allegedly involved in the scheme could make them immune from criminal prosecution.
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March 01, 2024
McDermott Investors' Cert. Bid Should Be Denied, Judge Says
Investors in energy industry engineering company McDermott International Inc. shouldn't be granted class certification in their suit over the company's $6 billion all-stock acquisition of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., a federal magistrate judge has determined.
Expert Analysis
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How Focus On Congruency Affects Corporate Political Activity
Congruency — whether the contributions made by a company-sponsored political action committee align with the corporation's public statements on issues of social responsibility — is undoubtedly the next frontier in the battle over corporate political activity, despite the limited success of shareholder proposals on the issue, says Carol Laham at Wiley.
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Mont. Kids' Climate Decision Reflects 3 Enviro Trends
A Montana district court's recent ruling in Held v. Montana represents a rare win for activist plaintiffs seeking to use rights-based theories to address climate change concerns — and calls attention to three environmental trends that are increasingly influencing climate litigation and policy, says J. Michael Showalter at ArentFox Schiff.
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To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation
Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.
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Strategies For Enforcing Arbitral Awards Against Sovereigns
When a large project or investment in a foreign country is unexpectedly expropriated by a new government, companies often prevail in arbitration — but if the sovereign refuses to pay up, collecting the arbitral award may require persistence, creativity, and a mixture of hard and soft approaches, say Gabe Bluestone and Jeff Newton at OmniBridgeway.
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Calif. Protected Species Law Changes: Real Fix Or Red Tape?
California's recent amendments to its "fully protected species" statutes create a temporary permitting regime intended to accelerate the building of renewable energy, transportation and water infrastructure in response to climate change — but the new legislation could become another obstacle to the projects it purports to benefit, says Paul Weiland at Nossaman.
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Perspectives
More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap
Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.
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What New Offshore Drilling Bond Rules Would Mean For Cos.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's recently proposed changes to when offshore oil, gas and sulfur lessees must post supplemental financial assurance related to their operations provides greater clarity for stakeholders, but some smaller operators may not satisfy the proposal's new credit rating requirements, say attorneys at V&E.
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Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure
Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.
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Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing
While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.
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NHTSA Fuel Proposal May Boost EVs — Given More Chargers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recently proposed revised fuel economy standards may spur automakers to further advance development and sales of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles — but only if consumer concerns over inadequate infrastructure are addressed, say Levi McAllister and Mark Fanelli at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'
Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.
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What Legal Personhood For DAOs Means For Crypto Industry
A California federal court's recent ruling in U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ooki DAO that a decentralized autonomous organization is a legal person, despite lacking a centralized coordinating authority, has several potentially significant implications for decentralized finance, say Jeffry Henderson and Douglas Arend at Greenberg Traurig.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Chinese Investment In Latin America Raises Corruption Risks
A wave of Chinese investments in Latin America has increased an already elevated risk profile, so U.S. companies that operate in the region would be wise to bolster their compliance programs as more bribery and corruption-related enforcement activity is sure to come, say Drew Costello, Brian Ross and Jordan Basich at Forensic Risk Alliance.
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Opinion
3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point
The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.