Energy

  • January 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Seems Of Split Mind On EPA Air Compliance Suit

    The D.C. Circuit seemed split Friday on what to do about a Republican state-led appeal accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of stepping on their toes when issuing a rule that changed the deadline for submitting Clean Air Act compliance plans for power plants.

  • January 17, 2025

    Texas-Led States Join Challenge To EPA Methane Tax

    A coalition of Texas-led states has joined a slew of industry groups challenging a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that imposes fees oil and gas companies must pay if their methane emissions exceed certain thresholds.

  • January 17, 2025

    FirstEnergy Execs Hit With RICO Charges Over Bribe Scandal

    Two former executives of FirstEnergy Corp. have been hit with federal racketeering charges over their alleged scheme to bribe Ohio House of Representatives members for a billion-dollar bailout that has drawn scrutiny from government agencies and led to long prison sentences for others involved in the scandal.

  • January 17, 2025

    Sidley-Led Hennessy Capital's 7th SPAC Raises $175M

    Blank-check company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VII began trading publicly on Friday after raising $175 million in its initial public offering, which will be used to merge with a company in the industrial technology or energy transition sectors.

  • January 17, 2025

    GOP Reps. Look To End President's National Monument Power

    Two Republican members of Congress have launched a bill seeking to strip the president's power to declare national monuments, saying the Antiquities Act of 1906 is in dire need of reform that would hand over that authority to Congress.

  • January 17, 2025

    Colo. Judge Rejects Xcel's Bid To Move Wildfire Trial

    A Colorado state judge has rejected Xcel Energy's bid to move a September trial over its alleged liability for a 2021 wildfire away from where the fire took place, finding the utility company failed to show six fair jurors can't be found in a county of more than 300,000 people.

  • January 17, 2025

    US Steel Can't Quicken Probe Into Alleged Merger Plot

    U.S. Steel won't get an expedited look into communications between rival Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers to look for evidence of an alleged conspiracy to sabotage its $14.9 billion merger with Japan's Nippon Steel Corp., after a Pittsburgh federal judge deemed the request "premature" on Friday.

  • January 17, 2025

    Energy Co. To Pay $19M SEC Fine Over Ohio Bribery Scandal

    American Electric Power Inc. on Friday agreed to pay $19 million to resolve claims from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the utility company violated federal securities laws in connection with a bribery scandal embroiling the Ohio Legislature.

  • January 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Sends LNG-By-Rail Rule Back To Drawing Board

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday wiped out a Trump-era rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be transported by rail and said any replacement rule must contain an extensive environmental review given the catastrophic risks of an accident or spill.

  • January 17, 2025

    Mich. Local Power Rule Needs Stricter Scrutiny, 6th Circ. Says

    A split Sixth Circuit panel said a requirement for Michigan electricity suppliers to source some of their power locally may be unconstitutional and must be reviewed again by a lower court because it disadvantages out-of-state energy producers.

  • January 17, 2025

    PE-Backed M&A Values, Megadeals Surged In 2024

    Private equity-backed merger and acquisition values jumped nearly 25% year-over-year in 2024, while PE-backed megadeals valued above $5 billion more than doubled, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

  • January 17, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen the family of the late chairman of Leicester City FC sue a helicopter manufacturer for £2.15 billion ($2.63 billion), Vivienne Westwood bring a copyright claim against the late designer's foundation and blockchain giant Tether file a new claim in its ongoing dispute with crypto trading firm Swan Bitcoin. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • January 16, 2025

    US Could Soon Find Itself On Wrong End Of Energy Disputes

    America's energy landscape has been marked in recent years by the Biden administration's enthusiastic support of renewable energy projects, but international disputes experts are predicting that the incoming Trump administration's promise to derail such projects could land the U.S. in legal hot water.

  • January 16, 2025

    Nicaragua Co. In Solar Row Asks Texas Justices For New Trial

    A Nicaragua company tapped to build a solar park in that country asked the Texas Supreme Court to wade into its long-running dispute with companies that allegedly conspired to sell it tens of thousands of counterfeit solar panels.

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump's DOT Pick Says Air Safety, New Tech Big Priorities

    President-elect Donald Trump's would-be transportation secretary pledged to oversee a leaner and more efficient U.S. Department of Transportation focused on expediting project permitting, prioritizing mega infrastructure projects, and ensuring that Boeing and aviation safety gets "back on track."

  • January 16, 2025

    Quarry, Conn. Town Eye Settlement In $9.5M Shutdown Feud

    The town of East Haven, Connecticut, and a quarry owner are in settlement talks to end both a lawsuit and an appeal of the owner's $10.6 million bench trial win on claims he was forced to shut down operations for improper political reasons, a federal district court filing indicates.

  • January 16, 2025

    Mining Co. Can Intervene In Nevada Lithium Project Suit

    A Nevada federal judge is allowing the owner and developer behind the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Mine to intervene in a dispute over the U.S. Department of the Interior's authorization of the project, saying the company satisfies all intervention requirements.

  • January 16, 2025

    Chancery Nixes More Docs For Exxon-Pioneer Merger Suit

    Ruling that "any further intrusions are unwarranted," Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday rejected a Pioneer Natural Resources stockholder bid for additional emails and text messages between the company's former CEO and Exxon Mobil Corp.'s top executive related to the two company's $60 billion merger.

  • January 16, 2025

    Trump EPA Pick Faces Climate Questions, Dodges Details

    President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday tried to steer clear of controversy at a Senate confirmation hearing, taking a conciliatory tone, deferring judgment on specific matters and promising to exercise independence.

  • January 16, 2025

    Interior Nom Stresses Need For More Fossil Fuels

    Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum said on Thursday that he will promote U.S. energy dominance and add more fossil fuel-derived electricity to the grid, as Democrats and Republican senators sparred over how much emphasis should be given to renewables.

  • January 16, 2025

    Boiler Co. Blamed For Carbon Monoxide Deaths In $18M Suit

    The home-heating boiler in a Massachusetts home where three people died of carbon monoxide poisoning last year lacked a sensor or switch that would have shut it down after water from condensation blocked an improperly installed vent pipe, a lawsuit filed in state court Wednesday alleges.

  • January 16, 2025

    Texas Ozone Fight A Repeat Of 2007, EPA Tells 5th Circ.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that Texas is feigning a misunderstanding of the Clean Air Act, saying it couldn't have hit the state with a "surprise switcheroo" because it was in an identical situation more than a decade earlier.

  • January 16, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Judge Bids Adieu, TikTok Wants Out

    The North Carolina Business Court's former chief judge hung up his robes for the last time as the court entered the new year with a ruling that shapes the fate of beset real estate company MV Realty's consumer fraud trial and arguments by TikTok Inc. that its platform being "too engaging" isn't enough for the state to begin an enforcement action.

  • January 16, 2025

    Madigan Racketeering Case Will Go To Jury

    The Illinois federal judge overseeing a criminal racketeering trial against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime friend and political ally made certain Thursday that the jury will deliberate and decide the case, rejecting severance and acquittal requests on the last day of evidence.

  • January 16, 2025

    Phillips Mum On Future As FERC Chairmanship Nears End

    Willie Phillips on Thursday acknowledged that his time as Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman is coming to an end, but wouldn't say whether he will leave the agency once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Expert Analysis

  • The Ups And Downs Of SEC's Now-Dissolved ESG Task Force

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force, which was quietly disbanded sometime over the summer, was marked by three years of resistance from some stakeholders to ESG regulation, a mixed record in the courts and several successful enforcement actions, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What Hawaii High Court Got Right And Wrong In AIG Ruling

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    Though the Hawaii Supreme Court in its recent Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance decision correctly adopted the majority rule that recklessly caused harm is an accident for coverage purposes, it erred in its interpretation of the pollution exclusion by characterizing climate change as "traditional environmental pollution," say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Useful Product Doctrine May Not Shield Against PFAS Liability

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    Courts have recognized that companies transferring hazardous recycled materials can defeat liability under environmental laws by showing they were selling a useful product — but new laws in California and elsewhere restricting the sale of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances may change the legal landscape, says Kyle Girouard at Dickinson Wright.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Sound The Alarm About Lost Labor Rights

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    In the Fifth Circuit, recent rulings from judges appointed by former President Donald Trump have dismantled workers’ core labor rights, a troubling trend that we cannot risk extending under another Trump administration, say Sharon Block and Raj Nayak at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy.

  • CFTC Anti-Fraud Blitz Is A Warning To Carbon Credit Sellers

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    With its recent enforcement actions against a carbon offset project developer and its senior executives for reporting false information about the energy savings of the company's projects, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is staking out its position as a primary regulator in the voluntary carbon credit market, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    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.

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