Energy

  • January 08, 2025

    Chancery Awards $176M Atty Fee In Tesla Board Pay Suit

    Delaware's chancellor approved on Wednesday a $176.16 million Tesla stockholder class attorney fee award to three firms for a settlement of an excessive director compensation suit that is expected to return $734 million to the company through a combination of director stock, option and cash givebacks.

  • January 07, 2025

    JPMorgan Ditches Climate Coalition Ahead Of Trump 2.0

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday joined a slew of banks in departing the United Nations-convened Net Zero Banking Alliance, apparently bowing to regulatory pressure and jumping ship ahead of a second Trump term.

  • January 07, 2025

    Energy Co. Inks $126 Million Deal To End SPAC Merger Suit

    Investors suing the now-bankrupt oil and gas company Alta Mesa Resources Inc. have asked a Texas federal judge to preliminarily approve a $126.3 million deal to settle claims that the company and its executives misled investors about the value of a 2017 merger.

  • January 07, 2025

    Oilfield Services Firm Flowco Set to Drill Down On $392M IPO

    Oilfield equipment and services provider Flowco Holdings Inc. on Tuesday launched plans for an estimated $392 million initial public offering, represented by Sidley Austin LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, marking the latest company to join the new year's IPO pipeline.

  • January 07, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Testifies In His Racketeering Trial

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan took the stand in his own defense Tuesday, testifying that he neither traded his public office for private gain nor demanded or accepted anything valuable in exchange for his official action, adding that he was "very angry" to learn that people who he'd recommended for jobs did little to no work.

  • January 07, 2025

    Biden Designates Two New National Monuments In California

    President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated two sites in California as national monuments amid years of calls from Native American tribes and state and federal lawmakers, in turn protecting 848,000 acres from development.

  • January 07, 2025

    Canada Needs Catalysts To Heat Up Cold IPO Market

    Following another chilly year for initial public offerings in Canada, capital markets lawyers in the Great White North are approaching 2025 with caution, hoping that a few catalysts can break through and thaw an otherwise frozen market for public listings.

  • January 07, 2025

    Mont. Bill Floats Mine, Data Center Property Tax Changes

    Montana would lower the property tax rate imposed on metal mines, certain agricultural land and railroads but raise the rate on data center property as part of a bill introduced in the state Senate.

  • January 07, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel Says NAFTA Case Irrelevant In DQ Bid

    A Mexican oil company and its subsidiaries cannot add "undisputedly irrelevant" supplementary information about former counsel Quinn Emanuel amid a disqualification bid, the law firm has told a Miami federal court, arguing that the requested documents, including the dismissal of a NAFTA arbitration Quinn Emanuel brought against Mexico, are either unrelated to the underlying litigation or duplicative.

  • January 07, 2025

    DC Circ. OKs FERC's Approval For Indiana Pipeline

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday rejected a challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a 24-mile pipeline serving two new natural gas turbines in Indiana, ruling that an advocacy group wrongly suggested FERC could "second-guess" state regulators' choice of energy generation.

  • January 07, 2025

    No Problem With $217M Dam Repair Tax, Mich. Panel Says

    A Michigan appellate panel on Monday said a $217 million special assessment levied on property owners for dam repairs and lake level restoration after devastating 2020 floods was established through a legally sound process, ruling the owners were never entitled to have a pseudo-judicial review of the tax.

  • January 07, 2025

    Eckert Seamans Adds Former Trump Interior Dept. Atty

    Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC is the latest firm to get in on the exploding lateral movement in the energy legal market following the 2024 presidential election, adding a former Trump administration attorney who served in a first-of-its-kind role in the first administration's Interior Department.

  • January 07, 2025

    FTC Imposes Record $5.6M 'Gun Jumping' Penalty On Oil Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission brought a rare merger "gun jumping" action Tuesday under which Verdun Oil Co. will pay $5.6 million for exerting control over EP Energy LLC before the mandatory waiting period under U.S. antitrust law expired and its purchase of the company closed.

  • January 07, 2025

    CFTC Chair Behnam To Step Down When Trump Takes Office

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam announced Tuesday that he will resign his chairmanship on Inauguration Day in order to make way for new agency leadership under incoming President Donald Trump, who has yet to name Behnam's successor.

  • January 06, 2025

    Exxon Says Calif. AG, Green Groups Defamed Recycling Effort

    Exxon Mobil Corp. claims California's attorney general and a coalition of conservation groups have disparaged its reputation by declaring that the petrochemical company misled people about the effectiveness of plastic recycling and that its "advanced recycling" doesn't mitigate the problem, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Texas federal court.

  • January 06, 2025

    New Rules Won't Lift Political Clouds Over Hydrogen Projects

    The Biden administration's new rules to make hydrogen production tax credits more accessible for project developers and investors may not move the needle much for the industry given President-elect Donald Trump's vow to at least partially repeal the statute that created the credits.

  • January 06, 2025

    Mich. Residents Say Solar Investors Can't Arbitrate Fraud Suit

    Michigan residents who allege Florida investment firms funded a company that duped them into buying defective solar panels have urged a federal judge to deny the firms' bid to arbitrate or dismiss the claims, saying the court has already rejected the investors' arguments.

  • January 06, 2025

    DOD Adds WeChat Owner, CATL To Chinese Military Co. List

    The U.S. Department of Defense added dozens of businesses Monday to its list of companies affiliated with the Chinese military, including electric-car battery maker CATL and Tencent Holdings Ltd. — owner of the popular text-messaging app WeChat — prompting Tencent to slam the designation as "clearly a mistake."

  • January 06, 2025

    Pa. Lawmaker's 'Defamatory' Memo Is Deemed Immune

    Legislative immunity protects a Pennsylvania state senator from an energy executive's claims that he was defamed with a memo about legislation to close a legal loophole associated with his name, according to a ruling from a state appellate court.

  • January 06, 2025

    Seacrest Oil Co. Launches $71M Arbitration Against Petrobras

    Oil and gas production company Seacrest Petroleo said Monday that two subsidiaries have initiated arbitration proceedings against Petrobras, seeking compensation for the Brazilian state-owned oil company's failure to complete pipeline repair work.

  • January 06, 2025

    4 Firms Ask To Helm Hybrid Jeep Exploding Battery Class

    Drivers claiming certain hybrid Jeep vehicles were sold with defective batteries that risk exploding or catching fire have asked a Michigan federal judge to appoint four law firms to steer the case as co-interim class counsel.

  • January 06, 2025

    Biden Closes Off Coastal Areas To Offshore Drilling

    President Joe Biden on Monday announced a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S. waters on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in Alaska after determining that the environmental and economic risks and harms outweigh the benefits of drilling.

  • January 06, 2025

    Bracewell Adds Pioneer Natural Resources Associate GC

    Bracewell LLP has expanded its energy offerings in Texas with the addition of the former managing associate general counsel for Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc., the firm said Monday.

  • January 06, 2025

    Pa. Coal Co. Hits Ch. 11 With Up To $50M In Debt, Sale Plans

    Corsa Coal Corp., which operates coal mines in Pennsylvania and Maryland, filed for bankruptcy Monday saying it planned to sell itself in Chapter 11 after it wasn't able to secure a U.S. Department of Agriculture-backed loan fast enough to refinance some $16.3 million of debt.

  • January 06, 2025

    Nippon, US Steel Hit Back With Suits After Biden Blocks Deal

    Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. have filed two lawsuits following President Joe Biden's Friday decision to block their planned $14.9 billion merger, claiming Monday that the deal was blocked for "purely political reasons." 

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed

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    Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • Navigating The Uncertain Landscape Of Solar Tariffs

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    Solar cell and module manufacturers, exporters and importers must navigate an uncertain compliance landscape, given ongoing challenges to U.S. Department of Commerce antidumping and countervailing duty determinations, which have been mounted both by U.S. and non-U.S. manufacturers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Amid SEC Rule Limbo, US Cos. Subject To ESG Regs In EU

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    Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is facing legal challenges to its climate-disclosure rulemaking, the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in the European Union will force U.S. companies to comply with exactly the kinds of ESG disclosures that are not yet mandated in the U.S., say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law

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    The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.

  • Carbon Offset Case A Win For CFTC Enviro Fraud Task Force

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    An Illinois federal court's decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ikkurty — earning the CFTC a sizeable monetary award that will likely incentivize similar enforcement pursuit — shows the impact of the commission's Environmental Fraud Task Force, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • DC Circ. Int'l Arb. Ruling Leaves Award Holders In Legal Limbo

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    In NextEra v. Spain, the D.C. Circuit recently ruled that district courts could enforce arbitral awards in energy investors' decadelong dispute with Spain, suggesting award holders could succeed in U.S. courts, but also that foreign sovereigns could render any such victories economically meaningless, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support

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    A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus

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    Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.

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