Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Energy
-
May 21, 2013
EU Oil Price-Fixing Probe Could Rival Libor Scandal
The European Commission's probe of alleged manipulation of crude oil benchmark prices has expanded beyond major oil companies to include energy trading firms, in a crackdown experts say could echo the ongoing Libor scandal in both its sprawling scope and the avalanche of litigation it could bring from energy consumers.
-
May 21, 2013
New DOE Head Says Energy Efficiency Is Top Priority
Newly confirmed Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz told Department of Energy employees at his swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday that his top priority as head of the agency will be advancing clean energy projects and improving energy efficiency.
-
May 21, 2013
Chevron Gas Pumpers Fight To Revive ZIP Code Privacy Suit
Motorists who allege Chevron USA Inc. illegally required them to provide their ZIP codes when they paid for gas at the pump with a credit card urged a California appeals court Tuesday to revive their class action, saying their privacy rights trumped Chevron's fraud concerns.
-
May 21, 2013
Biz Groups Warn House Panel To Keep Cyber Reforms Flexible
Leaders in the energy, banking and security fields urged the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday to make sure the government uses flexible, nonprescriptive standards to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, so businesses can adapt to rapidly evolving threats.
-
May 21, 2013
White House Calls Keystone Bill A Bid To Skirt Obama
The White House on Tuesday came out strongly against a U.S. House of Representatives bill that would speed up government approval of TransCanada Corp.'s controversial Keystone XL pipeline, insisting that President Barack Obama must have final say on whether or not the project goes ahead.
-
May 21, 2013
Lawmakers Receptive To Industry Push For More LNG Exports
Energy producers and industry groups told a receptive Senate committee on Tuesday that a critical opportunity for exporting liquefied natural gas markets will be closing soon and called for federal regulators to quickly approve pending export terminal projects.
-
May 21, 2013
BP, La. Fend Off Deepwater Berm Claims In 5th Circ.
A group of commercial oyster harvesters suing BP PLC, Louisiana and several contractors over alleged damages from berms built in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster was dealt serious setbacks on Monday by the Fifth Circuit and a Louisiana federal court.
-
May 21, 2013
Chevron Sues Sunoco Over Texas Pipeline Deal
A unit of Chevron Corp. fired off a derivative lawsuit Monday in Delaware Chancery Court on behalf of West Texas Gulf Pipeline Co. and against a subsidiary of Sunoco Inc., alleging that Sunoco's representatives on WTG's board approved an unfair pipeline lease.
-
May 21, 2013
Edison Strikes $37M Deal Over Malibu Wildfire Damage
Southern California Edison Co. said Monday that it has reached a $37 million settlement with the California Public Utilities Commission over its role in the 2007 Malibu Canyon Fire that charred nearly 4,000 acres.
-
May 21, 2013
Sens. Urge DOE Chief To Address Gasoline Price Spikes
The top two Democrats on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee on Monday urged newly minted Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to restore the agency's monitoring of planned U.S. oil refinery outages, claiming simultaneous refinery shutdowns are leading to spikes in gasoline prices across the country.
-
May 21, 2013
Akin Gump Aids Laredo On $438M Asset Sale To EnerVest
Laredo Petroleum Holdings Inc. will sell all of its oil and gas assets in the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas to EnerVest Ltd. for $438 million in cash, the Oklahoma-based independent energy company said Tuesday.
-
May 21, 2013
US, EU Want To Settle Chinese Solar Panel Fight
The U.S. and the European Union will attempt to negotiate settlements with China that could resolve their long-running gripes over cheap imports of Chinese solar panels, according to media reports on Monday.
-
May 20, 2013
Ex-BP Exec Gets Obstruction Charge Thrown Out
A Louisiana federal judge on Monday dropped an obstruction charge from the indictment of the former BP PLC executive who was second-in-command during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, finding the government didn’t allege he knew of the congressional investigation he was charged with obstructing.
-
May 20, 2013
Fighting Agencies May Be Tougher After High Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's Monday ruling in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which held that courts should apply a deferential standard of review when federal agencies interpret the limits of their own authority, may make it tougher for regulated businesses to fight agency actions, attorneys say.
-
May 20, 2013
5 Problems The New DOE Chief Can't Ignore
Ernest Moniz will be sworn in as U.S. energy secretary on Tuesday morning, officially putting the former Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist at the center of fierce regulatory debates on everything from natural gas exports to nuclear waste. Here, energy attorneys offer Law360 the top five issues he'll be expected to address quickly.
-
May 20, 2013
SOCAR Inks $4B Deal To Build Refinery In Turkey
State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic said Monday it has awarded a $4 billion contract to a consortium of firms to build a new refinery in western Turkey that will be able to produce 10 million tons of diesel fuel and other materials when it is completed in 2023.
-
May 20, 2013
Senate Dems Press CFTC To Revisit Energy Swap Market Regs
Six Senate Democrats from the West Coast urged the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday to investigate its swaps trader registration regulations, claiming the majority of energy swaps traders are exempt from CFTC monitoring based on current standards and that decision violates Dodd-Frank Act requirements.
-
May 20, 2013
Exxon Can't Nix Ex-VP's $5M In Stock, Texas Justices Told
A former Exxon Mobil Corp. vice president on Friday told Texas’ highest court that compensation agreements he inked with the oil and gas giant allowing it to cancel $5 million in stock incentives he held after he went to work for a rival are unenforceable.
-
May 20, 2013
Cybersecurity Standards Need Flexibility, NIST Told
The National Institute of Standards and Technology on Thursday released an analysis of hundreds of initial comments on proposed cybersecurity measures to protect critical infrastructure, with respondents stressing that the framework should allow for flexibility and emphasize risk management over compliance standards.
-
May 20, 2013
Wiley Rein Lures Enviro Pro From Van Ness Feldman
A veteran natural resources attorney has jumped to Wiley Rein LLP's environment and safety practice in Washington, D.C., after more than a decade as partner at Van Ness Feldman LLP, the 275-attorney Wiley Rein announced Monday.
Expert Analysis
-
DC Circ. Backs FERC's Approach To Return On Equity
Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Southern California Edison’s challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's methodology for determining a company’s base return on equity. One noteworthy lesson from the case is that this method can have a material affect on the ROE, with a large revenue impact, say attorneys with Day Pitney LLP.
-
Recent FERC Ruling Dashes Hopes Of Oil Pipeline Watchers
The outcome of High Prairie LLC v. Enbridge Energy LP turned out to be a disappointment for industry watchers hoping for a definitive ruling on whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would break with well-established precedent and require an interstate oil pipeline to interconnect with another pipeline, say attorneys with Bracewell & Giuliani LLP.
-
Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
-
The Oil And Gas Operator's Texas Advantage
The interpretation by the Supreme Court of Texas in Reeder v. Wood County Energy LLC grants vast protection to oil and gas operators, but by doing so, it is perceived by some as muddling the differences between tort and contract law, says Michael Bolton and Kate Kalanick of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
-
4th Circ. Weighs In On Bona Fide Purchaser Defense
The Fourth Circuit recently issued a ruling in PCS Nitrogen Inc. v. Ashley II of Charleston that may limit the availability of the bona fide prospective purchaser defense. By narrowly construing one of the elements of the BFPP defense, the court has underscored the importance of strict compliance with all requirements of the defense, say attorneys with K&L Gates LLP.
-
Another Challenge To Calif. Cap-And-Trade Law
The California Air Resources Board has again been sued over its implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act in Morning Star Packing Co., et al. v. CARB, which resembles an earlier action brought by the California Chamber of Commerce. Petitioners of both cases face the difficult challenge of convincing the court to derail a massive regulatory scheme that is now well underway, say attorneys with Marten Law PLLC.
-
The Who, What And Why Of Public-Private Partnerships
Public-private partnerships have been used in a wide range of sectors to provide public services, from power plants and railroads to hospitals and sanitation plants. Yet there are a variety of potential contractual arrangements and the financing of a PPP can be complex, say Maryam Khosharay and Herbert Glaser of Haynes and Boone LLP.
-
Latest In EPA's Series Of Aggressive Coal Plant Rules
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed technology-based effluent limitation guidelines and standards for steam electric power-generating units. These guidelines will certainly impose significant costs, and when coupled with the cost of the EPA’s rules under the Clean Air Act, there can be little question that some coal-fired facilities will close as a result, say attorneys with Latham & Watkins LLP.
-
E-Discovery In The Cloud: Who Can Get Your Data?
Many lawyers are asking whether placing electronically stored information in the cloud could inadvertently waive the attorney-client privilege and whether the government or a civil litigant could obtain ESI directly from a cloud service provider. In answering these questions, there are a number of aspects of the cloud worth considering, say Timothy Broas and Matthew Saxon of Winston & Strawn LLP.
-
5 Reasons For Optimism In The Venture Capital Community
Not every company can be the next Facebook. But thankfully, for many startups, generating one billion users is not the end goal, nor should it be. Enter “narrowcasting” — one of a few reasons to be optimistic about venture capital, despite the first quarter of 2013 being the slowest for fundraising since 2002, says David Kaufman of Thompson Coburn LLP.