Energy

  • February 23, 2024

    Ex-Metals Co. Exec Says He Was Denied Promised Bonuses

    A former vice president for finance and administration at a Pennsylvania metals company told a state court that he was promised yearly performance-based bonuses of about $20,000, but was thwarted by the company's lack of goals and its claim that it wasn't performing well enough even as other employees got bonuses.

  • February 23, 2024

    Project Finance Group Of The Year: Mayer Brown

    Mayer Brown LLP guided financing for a Pennsylvania bridge replacement project of unrivaled proportions and navigated a first-of-its-kind tax credit transfer transaction amid a renewable energy portfolio buy, landing the firm a spot among Law360's 2024 Project Finance Groups of the Year.

  • February 23, 2024

    Woodside Selling 15.1% Stake In Aussie Gas Project For $1.4B

    Australia's Woodside Energy said Friday it will sell a 15.1% stake in its Scarborough gas project to Japan-based JERA at a $1.4 billion value, creating a partnership that will help boost the project's development while creating opportunities for further collaboration. 

  • February 23, 2024

    US Hits Russia With Largest Sanctions Since Ukraine Invasion

    The U.S. announced over 500 new sanctions on Russia Friday following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, marking the largest number of sanctions since Moscow invaded Ukraine two years ago.

  • February 22, 2024

    10th Circ. Won't Enforce $2.3M Award In Shipping Feud

    The Tenth Circuit has shut down a shipowner's bid to enforce a $2.3 million arbitral award against a charterer's founder following a dispute over a stymied Venezuelan oil shipping deal, rejecting arguments that the shipowner could hold the founder liable as his company's alter ego.

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-FBI Source Charged With Biden Bribery Lies Is Rearrested

    The former FBI informant charged with fabricating reports that President Joe Biden and his son took $10 million in bribes from a Ukrainian energy company was rearrested Thursday morning in Las Vegas, as prosecutors fight to undo his bail in the California federal criminal case.

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-BP Exec's Husband Cops To $1.7M Insider Trading

    The husband of a former manager at British oil and gas company BP PLC on Thursday pled guilty to securities fraud in Texas federal court and agreed to forfeit the $1.7 million he made with the help of insider trading, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-Vitol Trader Denies Knowing Of Bribes, As Trial Nears End

    Counsel for a former Vitol Group executive told a New York federal jury in closing arguments Thursday that his client wasn't aware of bribes being paid to officials in Ecuador and Mexico in order to obtain $500 million in state contracts, while a prosecutor insisted that the former oil trader was the linchpin to the corruption scheme.

  • February 22, 2024

    No Early Win For Geothermal Co. Founder In Ownership Row

    A Colorado federal judge Thursday declined to give a geothermal startup founder an early win in a bitter fight over ownership of the company, concluding in an order that there are too many disputes over a noncompete agreement for the case to be resolved through summary judgment.

  • February 22, 2024

    Feds Back Fed. Circ. Deference To Trump Solar Duty Change

    The Biden administration urged the full Federal Circuit not to rehear energy companies' challenge to modified safeguard duties on solar goods, disagreeing with the importers' contention that a panel gave former President Donald Trump too much deference when allowing the safeguards.

  • February 22, 2024

    Exxon Wants To Press Forward With Activist Investor Case

    ExxonMobil Corp. says it should be allowed to move forward with a lawsuit against a pair of activist investors who proposed that the company speed up the pace of its greenhouse gas emission reductions, arguing that the investors' decision to withdraw the proposal will not prevent a similar one from being filed in the future.

  • February 22, 2024

    NY Offshore Wind Project Gets Final Green Light From Feds

    The Biden administration said Thursday it has approved the Empire Wind offshore wind energy project's construction and operations plan, clearing the way for construction of two wind facilities off the coast of Long Island, New York.

  • February 22, 2024

    IP Forecast: Samsung Eyes Ex-Attys' Litigation Funder Chats

    Samsung plans to ask a Texas court to force a patent litigation business to disclose communications with litigation funders ahead of a trial next month over whether the tech giant's former in-house counsel stole trade secrets. Here's a look at that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • February 22, 2024

    Feds Can't Offset Nuclear Cleanup Bill With Trusts' Earnings

    The U.S. Department of Energy wasn't able to convince the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that nuclear utilities' high earnings on nuclear decommissioning funds should erase their $149 million damages claim against the department for delayed nuclear waste cleanup, according to an opinion made public this week.

  • February 22, 2024

    Va. Oil Terminal's Tax Value Upheld By Appeals Court

    A petroleum terminal was correctly valued by a local assessor at about $63 million for 2018 and $66 million for 2020, the Virginia Court of Appeals said, rejecting the owner's argument that the property's business prospects had plummeted, lowering its value.

  • February 22, 2024

    SoCal Edison Faces More Suits Over 2022 Fairview Fire

    Southern California Edison has been slapped in state court with two additional lawsuits by California residents alleging the company should be held liable for causing the deadly Fairview Fire in September 2022 that charred more than 28,000 acres, destroyed 36 structures and killed at least two people.

  • February 22, 2024

    FERC Squeezes Ketchup Co. For $27M Power Market Fraud

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is proposing $27 million in penalties for a Texas company that made in-car ketchup holders and its co-owner for allegedly manipulating a Midwest grid operator's electricity markets, saying the company "operated as a fraudulent enterprise with no legitimate market activity."

  • February 22, 2024

    FirstEnergy Faces Renewed Consumer Probes Amid Scandal

    The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has decided to lift its stay on four separate consumer protection investigations into three FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiaries, stemming from corruption surrounding a law paving the way for a $1.3 billion nuclear energy bailout.

  • February 22, 2024

    Alcoa Stockholder Challenges Board Nominee Rules In Del.

    Alcoa Corp. was hit with a proposed class action in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday by a shareholder seeking to invalidate a "highly problematic" and "coercive" company bylaw that allegedly serves to deter stockholder nominations.

  • February 22, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Occidental, Kroger-Albertsons, BuzzFeed

    Occidental explores a $20 billion sale of Western Midstream, the FTC and some states could sue to block the $24.6 billion Kroger-Albertsons deal, and The Independent is taking over BuzzFeed's U.K. and Irish operations. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • February 22, 2024

    5 Firms Steer $11B Chord Energy-Enerplus Combo

    Vinson & Elkins LLP, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Goodmans LLP are steering Chord Energy Corp. on its agreement to buy Canada's Enerplus Corp., which will create an $11 billion company that Chord said will be a premier Williston Basin-focused energy player.

  • February 21, 2024

    Tribes Say Oil Co. Must Face Tribal Court In $12M Award Fight

    Two Native American tribes have asked a Wyoming district court to block a bid by Merit Energy attempting to stop them from using their tribal judicial system to vacate a $12.6 million arbitration award, saying the company has not yet exhausted all tribal remedies.

  • February 21, 2024

    Alaska Tribes Seek Rights Declaration Over BC Gold Mines

    A consortium of southeast Alaska tribes is asking the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to hold an investigative hearing and declare that Canada is violating their human rights by considering and approving mines that threaten to pollute cross-border rivers and harm vital salmon fisheries without seeking the tribes' input or consent.

  • February 21, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Federal Coal Lease Ban Case 'Is Moot'

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday vacated and remanded a district court's ruling that had reinstated a 2016 moratorium on federal coal leasing, with a recommendation that the litigation be dismissed as moot, saying there's no basis to conclude that a challenge to a defunct order is still alive.

  • February 21, 2024

    Chinese Silicon Co. Says CBP Can't Back Forced Labor Finding

    A Chinese silicon producer is challenging U.S. Customs and Border Protection blocking its imports, arguing that the agency has provided no evidence to back up its finding that the company relied on forced labor.

Expert Analysis

  • Del. Dispatch: Refining M&A Terms After Twitter Investor Suit

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Crispo v. Musk — invalidating a merger agreement provision that has been commonly used to disincentivize buyers from wrongful merger termination — should cause target companies to consider new approaches to ensure the payment of lost premium damages, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Biden Climate Push Expands With Contractor GHG Focus

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    President Joe Biden's recent announcement that federal agencies will consider contractors' greenhouse gas emissions when making procurement decisions demonstrates his administration's continued interest in using government contracting as a vehicle for reducing climate-related impacts — a theme first established in the early months of his term, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Key Shifts In EU, UK Emissions Credits: Challenges For Cos.

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    An upcoming deadline to apply for free carbon dioxide emissions allowances in the European Union, and a reduction in the supply of similar allowances in the U.K., are likely to increase competition for allowances, and cause production, supply chain and contract issues for companies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • How Shareholder Activists Are Targeting Insurers

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    As shareholder activists take a closer look at the insurance industry, they are pushing insurers to take value-enhancing and climate-related measures — but insurers can prepare by anticipating activist concerns, maintaining robust shareholder engagement, and considering changes in response to the universal proxy rules, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Takeaways From Iran Missile Procurement Advisory

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    Companies should familiarize themselves with the entities and practices highlighted in the recent multiagency Iran Ballistic Missile Procurement Advisory, to avoid falling prey to deceptive practices that help bad actors evade sanctions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • New CFTC Enforcement Policy May Finally Deter Recidivists

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recently announced policies designed to crack down on market misconduct recidivists may finally raise the stakes enough to motivate institutions to improve their compliance infrastructure, say Dan Chirlin and Marc Armas at Walden Macht.

  • House Bill Could Help Resolve 'Waters Of US' Questions

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    Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House that would restore Clean Water Act protection to areas excluded from it by the U.S. Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA decision faces an uphill battle, but could help settle the endless debates over the definition of "waters of the United States," says Richard Leland at Akerman.

  • 8 Tips On Mining Disclosures For Foreign Issuers

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued dozens of comment letters in the years since adopting new disclosure requirements for mining issuers, reflecting continued scrutiny of foreign issuers’ filings, but several key pointers can help companies navigate the requirements, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Calif. Climate Disclosure Laws: Next Steps For Companies

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    A trio of new climate disclosure laws in California will impose far-reaching corporate reporting requirements — so companies doing business in the state must immediately begin working to substantiate their climate claims and update marketing materials, and consider getting involved in rulemaking that will shape the legislation's impact, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • California's Offshore Turbine Plans Face Stiff Headwinds

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    To realize its innovative plans for floating offshore wind farms, California will face numerous challenges as companies investing in the industry will be looking for permitting transparency, predictable timelines, and meaningful coordination between jurisdictions, agencies, and stakeholders, say David Smith and David McGrath at Manatt.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Why Public Cos. Should Also Comply With SEC's Names Rule

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's updated Names Rule specifically clarifies that funds must consider ESG factors in their investment strategies if their names so imply, public companies should also heed the message and conduct business consistent with the way they market or advertise themselves, says Spencer Feldman at Olshan Frome.

  • The Growing Need For FLSA Private Settlement Rule Clarity

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    A Pennsylvania district court's recent ruling in Walker v. Marathon Petroleum echoes an interesting and growing trend of jurists questioning the need for — and legality of — judicial approval of private Fair Labor Standards Act settlements, which provides more options for parties to efficiently resolve their claims, says Rachael Coe at Moore & Van Allen.

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