Analysis

Budget Bill Would Deepen Residential Solar's Woes

By Keith Goldberg

A Sunnova unit's bankruptcy declaration — the latest among dozens of solar companies that have struggled to stay afloat — adds to evidence of a floundering residential solar industry, which now faces further diminishing prospects under the federal budget reconciliation bill.

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Sunnova Energy Sends Unit Into Ch. 11 With Over $100M Debt

By Alex Wittenberg

A unit of residential solar company Sunnova Energy International Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in Texas bankruptcy court with up to $500 million in both assets and debt, saying it has considered a potential sale of the business or a restructuring deal.

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Trump Taps Vinson & Elkins Atty To Replace FERC Chair

By Keith Goldberg

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a Vinson & Elkins LLP attorney to replace current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie, whose term expires on June 30.

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PacificCorp Fights Wash.'s Carbon Limit Program At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

PacificCorp urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to revive claims alleging Washington's carbon emissions cap-and-invest program unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state customers by imposing emissions allowances for power exported out of state, while Washington argued that the lawsuit seeks to create a "loophole" that would result in a "free pass" on emissions.

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DOI Looks To Void Biden Era Rule On Alaska Arctic Drilling

By Joyce Hanson

The U.S. Department of the Interior said Monday it wants to rescind a 2024 Biden administration rule limiting fossil fuel production in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, saying the regulation hinders energy development in a 23-million-acre area on the state's North Slope.

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Ashurst, King & Wood Guide $9.1B Soul Patts Merger Plan

By Al Barbarino

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd. and building products maker Brickworks Ltd. plan to merge into a company with a market capitalization of AU$14 billion ($9.1 billion), aiming to eliminate a decades-old cross-shareholding structure and create a unified entity, the Australian investment firm disclosed on Monday.

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Trump Renews Call For Justices To Lift Gov't Overhaul Pause

By Katie Buehler

President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to lift a California federal judge's order barring the implementation of layoffs and reorganization plans at various federal departments and agencies, arguing the order imposes nonexistent congressional limits on his presidential authority.

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FERC 'Never' Considered Costs Of NW Pipeline, 5th Circ. Told

By Catherine Marfin

The state of Washington told a Fifth Circuit panel Monday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission " never rationally considered what the true costs" were for a TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest.

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US Looks To Dodge Suit Over Gulf Oil Well Risks

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The federal government is asking a federal court to toss environmentalists' lawsuit alleging that it's ignoring the fact that owners of retired offshore oil and gas drilling infrastructure are failing to properly shut down the facilities.

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Brief

Bracewell-Led Cactus Paying $345M For Baker Hughes Stake

By Al Barbarino

Houston-based oilfield equipment maker Cactus Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to acquire a 65% stake in Baker Hughes' surface pressure control business for $344.5 million, bolstering its foothold in the Middle East.

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PG&E, Lenders Hit With Suit Over Solar Panel 'Scheme'

By Isaac Monterose

Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. and several other companies were accused in California federal court of running a "bait-and-switch" scheme in which they saddle homeowners with hidden fees after tricking them into financing solar panel installations through zero-interest loans.

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Dominion Opposes Cable Plan To Ease Utility Pole Fixes

By Jared Foretek

Dominion Energy is again criticizing a telecom industry proposal meant to expedite the process for putting communications attachments on utility poles, saying the telecom trade association behind the push is conflating simpler work lower on poles and more dangerous work above the space on poles where communications lines typically go.

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Brief

Justices Want Gov't View On Duke Energy Monopoly Suit

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General on Monday to provide the government's view on a ruling that revived antitrust claims accusing Duke Energy of squeezing a rival out of the power market in North Carolina.

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The Ins And Outs Of Consensual Judicial References

As parties consider the possibility of judicial reference to resolve complex disputes, it is critical to understand how the process works, why it's gaining traction, and why carefully crafted agreements make all the difference, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Crowell & Moring Opens In Boston With Faber Daeufer Tie-Up

By Tracey Read

Crowell & Moring LLP and Faber Daeufer & Itrato PC announced Tuesday they have combined, allowing Crowell & Moring to open an office in Boston that builds on Faber Daeufer's strong presence in the city's life sciences community.

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Retired Judges Call Wis. Judge's Prosecution 'Dangerous'

By Ryan Boysen

The Trump administration's prosecution of a Wisconsin state judge who refused to help federal agents arrest an immigrant is an "extraordinary and direct assault on the independence of the entire judicial system," according to a bipartisan group of 138 former state and federal judges.

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Jenner & Block Ruling 'Meant What It Said,' Judge Tells Feds

By Lauren Berg

The order striking down the Trump administration's executive order targeting Jenner & Block LLP "meant what it said," a Washington, D.C., federal judge ruled Monday, saying the government must rescind enforcement of all parts of the president's directive.

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Susman Godfrey Founder, 'Preeminent' Litigator, Dies

By Jack Karp

H. Lee Godfrey, one of the founders of litigation boutique Susman Godfrey LLP, died on Monday, leaving behind a legacy as a thoughtful leader who performed exceptional work as a trial attorney, firm leaders said.

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Girardi's Dropped Pants Don't Sway Judge From Sentencing

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge ruled Monday she will sentence Tom Girardi this week for his wire fraud conviction, finding him mentally competent enough to potentially serve prison time following a bizarre hearing where the disbarred attorney made an appearance on the witness stand that culminated in his pants falling down.

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Brief

Jackson Walker, US Trustee Agree To Mediator In Fees Case

By Hilary Russ

Jackson Walker LLP and the federal government's bankruptcy watchdog have agreed to mediation in their fee dispute stemming from an ethics scandal in Texas, with the two sides agreeing that retired judge Joan N. Feeney should mediate.

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Report Finds Del. Court Jumbo Fees Rival Federal System

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's corporation law courts have overshadowed the entire federal court system for some class attorney fees based on multiples of usual rate benchmarks, according to two Stanford Law School researchers whose findings have already caught the attention of a top state lawmaker.

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Brief

Schumer Pledges To Fight GOP's Limits On Court Power

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has vowed to challenge a provision in House Republicans' budget reconciliation package that would curtail courts' ability to issue contempt citations.

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Jackson, Sotomayor Bristle As High Court Skips Bias Suit

By Anne Cullen

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Monday to pass on a Black dancer's race discrimination case sparked objections from Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, who said the Fifth Circuit's conclusion that the performer filed suit too late was "patently erroneous."

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CFTC Announces 2nd Enforcement Head In 3 Months

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday named a new head of enforcement for the second time in three months, appointing its longtime deputy director to head the division.

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High Court Skips AR-15 Ban Constitutionality For Now

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to weigh in on the debate over whether AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles are protected under the Second Amendment or potentially subject to state bans because of their military-like capabilities.

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Fla. Sanitizer Co. Faces Penalties Over Fake AI Legal Citations

By David Minsky

Two Florida federal judges have ordered a disinfectant sprayer business to explain why artificial intelligence-generated fake citations and quotes appeared in filings in lawsuits over corporate wrongdoing from a Canadian breach of contract case, saying it could face serious penalties for alleged intentional misrepresentations.

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Brief

Third Round Of Fixes Sought In Botched Calif. Bar Exam

By Emily Sawicki

The California state bar's committee of bar examiners has approved two additional remedies in an effort to help applicants who failed the troubled February exam, including asking the state Supreme Court to approve a further scoring adjustment that would bring the passing rate up to about 63%.

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Despite 11-1 Split Warning, 7th Circ. Limits Use Of Mandamus

By Jeff Overley

The Seventh Circuit shrugged off assertions that it has inexplicably adopted one-of-a-kind restrictions on change-of-venue challenges, refusing Monday to rethink its recent rejection of mandamus as a mechanism to fight forum selection decisions.

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The Top In-House Hires Of May

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires over the past month included high-profile appointments at Adobe, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Duke Energy. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from May.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Labaton Keller's Ned Weinberger

By Katryna Perera

Ned Weinberger, a partner at Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP, said he never expected that his clients' suit challenging a $23.9 billion Dell Technologies Inc. stock swap would reach a whopping $1 billion settlement, let alone result in the largest prejudgment recovery ever achieved in a fiduciary duty action in the Delaware Chancery Court.

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