Energy

  • March 21, 2024

    Exxon Wants Mass. Oil Purchase Docs In Greenwashing Suit

    The Massachusetts attorney general's office told a judge Thursday that Exxon Mobil Corp. is attempting to relitigate already-barred defenses in an alleged "greenwashing" case by seeking documents from at least a dozen state agencies, including ones concerning decisions by those agencies to purchase the energy company's products.

  • March 21, 2024

    Oil Worker's $4M Injury Verdict Tossed By Texas Justices

    A Texas appeals court on Thursday erased an oil worker's nearly $4 million jobsite injury award, ruling jurors should have had to determine if one of the companies held responsible for the accident was shielded from liability for lending employees to the other defendant.

  • March 21, 2024

    FERC Nominees Carefully Walk Climate Line In Senate Hearing

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominees on Thursday told a U.S. Senate panel that the agency isn't a climate change regulator, but they didn't close the door on FERC ever considering climate impacts in its decision making either.

  • March 21, 2024

    Anadarko Wants Defense Coverage In 2013 La. Kickback Case

    Anadarko told a Houston federal court that an environmental remediation company should be required to defend it in a decade-old Louisiana kickback lawsuit that has already made its way through an appeals court twice.

  • March 21, 2024

    8th Circ. Wins SEC Climate Rule Litigation Lottery

    The wave of cases against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently finalized climate disclosure rules will be consolidated and proceed in the Eighth Circuit, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered Thursday, after the agency requested a random draw.

  • March 21, 2024

    Ky. Coal Mine Owner Tells 6th Circ. Lease Sale Was Improper

    The owner of a sprawling Kentucky coal mine told the Sixth Circuit on Thursday that a sale of leases by the mine's bankrupt operator was improper because the bankruptcy court didn't hold a required hearing on changes to the assignment of leases.

  • March 20, 2024

    Faegre Drinker Adds Former Honigman Construction Pro

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has strengthened its construction and real estate litigation group in Chicago with Raj Patel, previously a partner with Honigman LLP, the firm said Wednesday.

  • March 20, 2024

    Proposed W.Va. Rig Worker OT Collective Will Go Forward

    A proposed collective action alleging that oil and gas exploration and production company Tug Hill Operating LLC misclassified rig workers as independent contractors, resulting in overtime violations, will proceed, as a West Virginia federal court on Wednesday declined to send the claims to arbitration.

  • March 20, 2024

    Mayer Brown Draws Energy Deals Pro From Clifford Chance

    Mayer Brown LLP has hired an energy transition and project finance expert, as the international firm looks to strengthen its energy transactions practice across Europe.

  • March 20, 2024

    Gas Buyers Want Judge Recused From Shale Cartel Suits

    A would-be class of gasoline buyers pursuing antitrust claims against a string of shale oil producers told a Nevada federal judge on Tuesday that her admitted ownership of stock in Exxon Mobil Corp. required her to recuse herself from presiding over the litigation.

  • March 20, 2024

    SEC Proxy Roundup: Verizon, UPS Escape ESG Proposals

    Verizon and UPS may exclude from their proxy statements shareholder proposals on social policy and climate change matters, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff, who also denied various other requests from corporations looking to escape separate social and politics-related proposals.

  • March 20, 2024

    How The Supreme Court Could Narrow Chevron

    After hours of oral argument in a closely watched administrative law case, it appeared that some U.S. Supreme Court justices could be open to limiting the opportunities for lower courts to defer to federal agencies' legal interpretations in disputes over rulemaking — and legal experts said there are a number of ways they could do it.

  • March 20, 2024

    EPA Tightens Auto Emissions Rules But Relaxes Timetable

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a rule that requires reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans through 2032, although automakers, labor unions and dealers convinced the EPA to relax its timetable.

  • March 20, 2024

    Slaughter And May Cuts Partner Promotions By Half In 2024

    Slaughter and May said on Wednesday that it is adding to its bench of up-and-coming leaders by promoting five lawyers to its partnership — only half the number it elevated in 2023.

  • March 20, 2024

    Breaking Down Each State's Climate Priority Policies

    Forty-five states have now completed climate action plans outlining how they'll advance federal climate goals through policy and programs in coming years, with most focusing at least in part on real estate development as a way to reduce emissions.

  • March 20, 2024

    Feds Didn't Consider LNG Rule's Impact On Tribe, Court Told

    The Puyallup Tribe of Indians has fired back at the U.S. Department of Transportation's defense of a rule permitting bulk rail transport of liquefied natural gas, telling the D.C. Circuit the agency failed to engage in meaningful dialogue during the rule's development.

  • March 20, 2024

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2024 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 20, 2024

    King & Spalding Adds Ex-PwC Tax Pro As Partner In NY

    An experienced tax attorney has joined King & Spalding LLP in New York after working at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for six years.

  • March 20, 2024

    Pillsbury Energy Ace Jumps To Baker Botts In NY

    A former Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP partner with close to 20 years of experience has made the leap to Baker Botts LLP, bolstering the energy, projects and transactions section of the firm's global projects department.

  • March 20, 2024

    US Chamber's Litigation Funding Concerns Spur 2 State Laws

    Amid concerns from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about third-party litigation funding, including from potentially hostile foreign entities, state legislatures in Indiana and West Virginia have recently passed bills imposing restrictions on the practice.

  • March 19, 2024

    2 Men Behind Chinese Co. Stole Tesla Trade Secrets, Feds Say

    Brooklyn federal prosecutors have charged a Canadian man residing in China and his Chinese business partner with scheming to sell secret battery manufacturing technology that belongs to Tesla, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

  • March 19, 2024

    Texas Energy Co. Should Put Service Before Price, Court Hints

    Texas Supreme Court justices questioned an electricity provider about its argument that the Public Utility Commission of Texas' policy setting price caps during extreme events goes against state law, asking if the agency should prioritize competition over keeping "the lights on" during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • March 19, 2024

    Wash. Hydro Co. Says Dam Removal Plan Follows Court Order

    A Washington hydroelectric company insists it is not disobeying a court order to remove part of a temporary rock dam that harms migrating fish, telling a federal judge that a tribe's alternative is not structurally sound and cannot be permitted.

  • March 19, 2024

    Hydro Co. Asks FERC To Redo Tribe Opposition Permit Denial

    A Massachusetts company pursuing hydroelectric projects on Navajo Nation land is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revisit an order that denied preliminary permits because the nation opposed them, maintaining it has secured support from tribal entities to show otherwise — an assertion the nation's attorney general disputes.

  • March 19, 2024

    Think Tanks Say Wind Turbine Project Would Harm Whales

    A group of conservative think tanks, including those with a history of opposing government climate change initiatives, want a D.C. federal judge to block a wind turbine project off the shore of Virginia, saying federal agencies failed to properly analyze and take steps to prevent the project's likely harm to endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion

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    ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.

  • Challenges Remain In Financing Energy Transition Minerals

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    COP28, the latest U.N. climate conference, reached a consensus on a just and equitable transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, but more action and funding will be needed to ensure that developed countries responsibly source the minerals that will be critical for this process, say attorneys at Watson Farley.

  • Exxon ESG Proxy Statement Suit May Chill Investor Proposals

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    Exxon Mobil’s recent use of a Texas federal lawsuit to intimidate shareholders into withdrawing a climate-friendly proxy proposal could inspire more public companies to sue to avoid adopting ESG resolutions — a power move that would chill activist investor participation and unbalance shareholder-corporate relations, say Domenico Minerva and James Fee at Labaton Keller.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • What To Know About RWI In Acquisition And Divestiture Deals

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    As a slower pace of merger activity turns underwriters toward new industries, representations and warranties insurance policies are increasingly being written for acquisition and divestiture energy deals, making it important for contracting parties to understand how the RWI underwriting process works in this new sector, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Opinion

    New La. Gas Pipeline Projects Must Respect Rules And Rights

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    As pipeline developers rush to join in Louisiana's Haynesville Shale gas boom, established operators like Energy Transfer are justified in demanding that newer entrants respect safety rules, regulatory requirements and property rights when proposing routes that would cross existing pipelines, says Joshua Campbell at Campbell Law.

  • Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo

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    Freight forwarders and other nonprincipal parties involved in global cargo movement should follow the guidance in the multi-agency know-your-cargo compliance note to avoid enforcement actions should they fail to spot evasive tactics used in supply chains to circumvent U.S. sanctions and export controls, say attorneys at Venable.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • The Latest Antitrust Areas For In-House Counsel To Watch

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    The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's increasingly aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement means in-house counsel should closely monitor five key compliance issues, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Del.'s Tesla Pay Takedown Tells Boards What Not To Do

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s ruthless dissection of the Tesla board’s extreme departures from standard corporate governance in its January opinion striking down CEO Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay package offers a blow-by-blow guide to mistakes Delaware public companies can avoid when negotiating executive compensation, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues

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    The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • 3 Administrative Law Lessons From 5th Circ. Appliance Ruling

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    Showing that mundane details can be outcome-determinative, the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Louisiana v. U.S. Department of Energy — that the government's repeal of rules affecting dishwashers and laundry machines is invalid — highlights the relationship between regulatory actions and statutory language, say Michael Showalter and Vyasa Babu at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Aviation Back On Course, But Keep Seat Belts Fastened

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    While the airline industry finally returned to profitability last year for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, and is poised for historic levels of traffic in 2024, supply chain problems and economic and geopolitical uncertainty persist — so more turbulence may lie ahead, say Kevin Lewis and Bart Biggers at Sidley.

  • Employer Trial Tips For Fighting Worker PPE Pay Claims

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    Courts have struggled for decades to reach consensus on whether employees must be paid for time spent donning and doffing personal protective equipment, but this convoluted legal history points to practical trial strategies to help employers defeat these Fair Labor Standards Act claims, say Michael Mueller and Evangeline Paschal at Hunton.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

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