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Energy
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April 24, 2024
Solar Panel Co. Loses Calif. Appeal Over PAGA Arbitration
A California appellate panel sided with a lower court as it ruled in a published opinion that a carveout in a home solar panel company's employment agreement did not require a former worker to arbitrate his individual Private Attorneys General Act claims, keeping his suit in court.
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April 24, 2024
Private Equity Lag Continues To Stunt M&A Growth
Large leveraged buyout activity remained muted in the first quarter as the refinancing of old private equity loans took precedence over new loans, contributing to a slower-than-anticipated rebound in overall mergers and acquisitions, according to a new report from data provider PitchBook.
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April 24, 2024
Conn. Justices Say Notice Wasn't 'Filed' Until It Was Received
The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that a contractor filed notice with the state Workers' Compensation Commission to contest liability for a worker's alleged injury too late — the key word being "filed," as the justices concluded the notice was not actually filed until the commission received it, rather than when it was sent.
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April 23, 2024
Houston Firm Sues Client For Fees In Explosion Settlement
The Daspit Law Firm PLLC is taking a former client to court in order to recoup money allegedly owed from a settlement to a personal injury lawsuit stemming from a chemical plant fire almost six years ago.
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April 23, 2024
Sharper Sustainability Rule May Strengthen Bid Protests
A new regulation for more environmentally friendly government purchases puts teeth into a long-standing requirement for sustainable procurement, and is likely to strengthen businesses' arguments in bid protests as agencies wrestle with the full scope of the rule.
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April 23, 2024
Sierra Club Sues EPA Over NY Aluminum Plant's Air Pollution
The Sierra Club slapped U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan with a complaint in D.C. federal court Tuesday accusing the agency of failing to require the state of New York to cut sulfur dioxide emissions from a 112-year-old aluminum smelting plant.
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April 23, 2024
BNSF Lowballing Oil Train Trespass Payout, Tribe Says
A Washington tribe said Monday that BNSF Railway Co. raked in $500 million for shipping crude oil across its reservation for nearly a decade, calling the railroad's calculation that it should pay less than $175,000 for the illegal trespass an affront to the tribe's sovereign and treaty rights.
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April 23, 2024
Nuclear Plant Contractor Inks $18.4M Deal To End FCA Claims
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC will pay $18.4 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims for time not worked at a nuclear weapons plant.
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April 23, 2024
4 Things Attys Should Know About NJ's $56B Spending Plan
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has crafted a spending plan that furthers his vision of the state as an innovator in offshore wind and artificial intelligence, while drawing pushback for a proposed corporate transit fee and warehouse tax.
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April 23, 2024
EPA Tells 5th Circ. To Sink Texas' Ozone Plan Challenge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency urged the Fifth Circuit to reject Texas' attempt to challenge the agency's denial of its revised plan to control ozone in the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas, saying the Lone Star State's arguments "do not withstand scrutiny."
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April 23, 2024
Tesla's Risky Ride To Revive Musk's Multibillion-Dollar Pay
Tesla Inc. and its mercurial CEO Elon Musk are banking on a bold strategy to salvage his multibillion-dollar compensation plan, invoking a recently enacted corporate power to first patch Tesla's charter and then reincorporate in Texas, potentially triggering stockholder claims of fiduciary breaches and waste.
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April 23, 2024
Blue States Leap To Defend EPA Vehicle Emissions Rule
California and 21 other blue states, along with a smattering of cities and the District of Columbia, have told the D.C. Circuit that they want to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defend its rule requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans from legal attack by red states.
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April 23, 2024
NJ Appeals Court Backs State's Siting Regs For Solar Projects
A New Jersey state appeals court on Tuesday upheld project-siting requirements under a Garden State law encouraging new solar development, rejecting a renewable energy industry group's argument that the requirements are unlawfully strict.
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April 23, 2024
EPA Finishes Stronger Chemical Risk Evaluation Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced stronger and broader regulations to assess chemicals' health and environmental risks, completing a process that started when the Ninth Circuit struck down parts of the initial rule as too weak.
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April 23, 2024
$45B DOE Deal Backed By Common Sense, Contractor Says
A U.S. Department of Energy contractor urged the Federal Circuit to restore a $45 billion deal it won, saying the department was allowed to award the deal despite the contractor not being continuously registered in a federal award management database.
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April 23, 2024
Cleveland-Cliffs Execs Say US Steel-Nippon Deal Is 'Dead'
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. executives said Tuesday that U.S. Steel is "denying reality" as it continues to pursue its $14.9 billion sale to Japan's Nippon Steel, suggesting that the deal is effectively "dead" following President Joe Biden's opposition to it and that the Ohio-based steel manufacturer remains the only viable buyer.
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April 23, 2024
Locke Lord Wins Appellate Review Of Malpractice Suit
Locke Lord LLP has convinced a New Jersey state appellate court to review a trial court's ruling rejecting the firm's attempt to evade a malpractice suit alleging that it mishandled a transaction involving an oil refinery project in North Dakota.
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April 23, 2024
Buchanan Ingersoll Lands Former PTAB Judge In Del.
A former administrative judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is going back to private practice, helping build Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC's Delaware presence of patent professionals.
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April 23, 2024
Jury Finds Ex-Ecuadorian Official Guilty Of Money Laundering
A Florida federal jury on Tuesday found the former comptroller of Ecuador guilty on all counts charged against him by the government, which accused him of taking millions of dollars in bribes and directing his son, a banker in Miami, to launder the money.
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April 23, 2024
Clifford Chance Adds Infrastructure Ace From V&E In Houston
Clifford Chance LLP has bolstered its energy-related infrastructure practice with a counsel in Houston who came aboard from Vinson & Elkins LLP.
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April 23, 2024
Energy Biz Kistos Completes £25M Buy Of EDF Unit
Kistos Holdings PLC said on Tuesday that it has completed its £25 million ($31 million) purchase of EDF Energy (Gas Storage) Ltd. after winning the necessary clearance required under national security rules.
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April 22, 2024
4 Biggest Takeaways From New EPA 'Forever Chemicals' Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule listing two "forever chemicals" as hazardous substances under the Superfund law will introduce costly new cleanup requirements at polluted sites — that is, if the rule survives probable legal challenges targeting its novel legal foundation and the accuracy of asserted health risks.
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April 22, 2024
Los Angeles Sues 3M, DuPont Over 'Forever Chemicals'
The city of Los Angeles is the latest to sue 3M, DuPont and other chemical companies over contamination caused by "forever chemicals," saying the substances from firefighting foam leech into the environment and that the companies "should pay to help clean up the mess that they created."
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April 22, 2024
Ecuadorian Voters Reject Investor-State Arbitration
Voters in Ecuador on Sunday decisively rejected a government proposal to recognize international arbitration to resolve investment disputes, nearly a year after the country's Constitutional Court found that the dispute resolution mechanism violates Ecuadorian law.
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April 22, 2024
Jury Begins Deliberating In Ex-Ecuador Official's Bribery Trial
Jurors began deliberating Monday afternoon in Florida federal court on the fate of the former comptroller of Ecuador, who prosecutors say took millions of dollars in bribes and directed his son, a banker in Miami, to launder the money.
Expert Analysis
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Strategies For Single-Member Special Litigation Committees
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent order in the Baker Hughes derivative litigation allowing testimony from a single-member special litigation committee highlights the fact that, while single-member SLCs are subject to heightened scrutiny, they can also provide unique opportunities, says Josh Bloom at MoloLamken.
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10th Circ. Ruling Means More Okla. Oilfield Pollution Litigation
By applying Oklahoma's statutory definitions of pollution to a private landowner's claim for negligence for the first time, the Tenth Circuit's recent decision in Lazy S Ranch v. Valero will likely make it harder to obtain summary judgment in oilfield contamination cases, and will lead to more litigation, say attorneys at GableGotwals.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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Proposed RCRA Regs For PFAS: What Cos. Must Know
Two rules recently proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would lead to more per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances being regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and would increase the frequency and scope of corrective action — so affected industries should prepare for more significant cleanup efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Proposed Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs May Be Legally Flawed
While the recently proposed regulations for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit have been lauded by some in the environmental community, it is unclear whether they are sufficiently grounded in law, result from valid rulemaking processes, or accord with other administrative law principles, say Hunter Johnston and Steven Dixon at Steptoe.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Unpacking The New Russia Sanctions And Export Controls
Although geographically broad new prohibitions the U.S., U.K. and EU issued last week are somewhat underwhelming in their efforts to target third-country facilitators of Russia sanctions evasion, companies with exposure to noncompliant jurisdictions should pay close attention to their potential impacts, say attorneys at Shearman.
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Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power
In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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Mitigating Whistleblower Risks After High Court UBS Ruling
While it is always good practice for companies to periodically review whistleblower trainings, policies and procedures, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent whistleblower-friendly ruling in Murray v. UBS Securities helps demonstrate their importance in reducing litigation risk, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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What Recent Setbacks In Court Mean For Enviro Justice
Two courts in Louisiana last month limited the federal government's ability to require consideration of Civil Rights Act disparate impacts when evaluating state-issued permits — likely providing a framework for opposition to environmental justice initiatives in other states, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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New Hydrogen Regulations Show The Need For IP Protections
The introduction of hydrogen regulations, such as the IRS' proposed tax credit for clean hydrogen under the Inflation Reduction Act, are reshaping the competitive landscape, with intellectual property rights an area of increased emphasis, say Evan Glass and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
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Series
ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council
The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Steps For Companies New To Sanctions Compliance
Businesses newly required to implement compliance programs due to the increased breadth of mandatory sanctions and export controls, including 500 additional Russia sanctions announced last Friday, should closely follow the guidance issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and other regulators, say Jennifer Schubert and Megan Church at MoloLamken.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.