6th Circ. Questions FERC's Moves On Ohio Utility Grid Perk

By Keith Goldberg

A Sixth Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned the role of a rate perk given to transmission companies for choosing to join a regional transmission organization as it weighed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to yank the incentive for several Ohio utilities while preserving it for others.

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DOE Unveils Preliminary National Transmission Corridors List

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Department of Energy unveiled Wednesday a preliminary list of 10 national interest electric transmission corridors as part of its plan to accelerate the development of transmission projects in areas with urgent need for expanded capacity.

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Auto Cos. Brace For EV Battery Compliance Hurdles

By Linda Chiem

New federal regulations aimed at shoring up the domestic electric vehicle manufacturing supply chain give automakers a much-needed two-year cushion to navigate a compliance minefield, and to figure out how to reinvigorate the recent waning consumer demand for electric vehicles.

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Fed. Circ. Denies Siemens' Bid For Navy Energy Audit Costs

By Daniel Wilson

The Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Navy doesn't owe a Siemens unit $5.7 million for costs the company incurred to investigate potential energy savings measures at two military installations, saying a related contract clearly didn't cover those costs. 

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Chevron's $52M Iran Oil Seizure Loss Not Covered, Court Told

By Ganesh Setty

Three insurers have told a California federal court they owe no coverage to Chevron under separate marine cargo and war risks policies after the oil giant said the Iranian military seized a vessel carrying nearly $52 million worth of Chevron's crude oil in retaliation for U.S. economic sanctions.

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BIA Tells 8th Circ. Energy Co. Can't Revive Lease Suit

By Joyce Hanson

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked the Eighth Circuit to uphold a North Dakota federal judge's dismissal of Prima Exploration Inc.'s oil and gas lease termination suit, saying the lower court correctly dismissed the case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

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GAO Backs DLA's Sole-Source Fuel Deal With Iraqi Contractor

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has dismissed a Virginia company's protest of a jet fuel contract the Defense Logistics Agency awarded to an Iraqi competitor, saying the protester's challenge of the deal was based on factual inaccuracies.

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Oil Field Workers File Proposed Class Suit Over Unpaid Wages

By Madeline Lyskawa

Three oil field workers have slapped their employers with a proposed collective and class action in Texas federal court accusing the companies of failing to pay overtime and straight-time wages to hourly, day rate and salaried workers in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

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Hawaii Utility Seeks Exit From Shareholder Suit Over Maui Fire

By Katryna Perera

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. has asked a California federal judge to toss an investor suit over a downturn in the company's stock price after a deadly fire broke out on Maui, saying it did not mislead investors about efforts to mitigate fire risk or completely outrule the risk of fire.

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4th Circ. Says Purpose Of Inmate Labor Affects Classification

By Irene Spezzamonte

The primary purpose of prisoners' work at a Baltimore County recycling plant should determine whether a group of incarcerated people were employees under federal law, a Fourth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, rejecting the county's view that any amount of rehabilitative-oriented work spared it from minimum wage obligations.

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Tesla Slams Class Bid For Musk Shares Lockdown In Del.

By Jeff Montgomery

Attorneys for Elon Musk and Tesla Inc. and its board have blasted class attorney motions to sequester billions worth of the automotive company's shares as an improper attempt to shield a nonfinal court ruling on Musk's 10-year compensation plan and as potential interference in a Tesla bid to reincorporate in Texas.

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5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

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What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

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8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

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Series

Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

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Analysis

In Story Of Sex And Lies, Can Cohen Write Final Chapter?

By Phillip Bantz

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has told a story of scandal and scheming to the jury in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, setting the stage for the prosecution's star witness to take the stand and wrap up the narrative.

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Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Cops To $1.5M Theft From Firm

By George Woolston

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer admitted Wednesday to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and failing to pay income tax, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.

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Lewis Brisbois Atty Fatally Shot In McDonald's Altercation

By Ryan Boysen

A Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorney was fatally shot at a McDonald's in Houston after reportedly stepping in as a good Samaritan and attempting to calm down an irate customer who'd been arguing with staff at the fast food restaurant.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Kelly Dermody

By Irene Spezzamonte

A semester off from Harvard University in the late 1980s meant for reflection instead turned into a pivotal moment in Kelly Dermody's life, settling the roots for her successful career during which she has become a lighthouse for employment and discrimination cases.

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ABA Will Study Rape Questions' Necessity For Bar Applicants

By Cara Bayles

An American Bar Association commission will issue a report and recommendations by August on the practice of requiring would-be lawyers to disclose and discuss their experiences of sexual violence during the attorney licensure process.

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ABA Directs Attys To Avoid Sharing Client Info On Listservs

By Emily Sawicki

It is in the best interest of clients for their legal counsel to avoid sharing information related to representation while seeking advice in an online listserv forum, if the comments or questions could be connected to a client's identity, according to American Bar Association guidance published Wednesday.

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Ga. Appeals Court Will Review Trump DQ Bid In Election Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to review a judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump.

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Fani Willis Is Outraising Primary Challenger More Than 5 To 1

By Chart Riggall

Less than two weeks from the first hurdle in her bid for reelection, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis is boasting a​​ campaign war chest more than five times heftier than her Democratic challenger's, according to campaign finance disclosures filed this week.

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Biden Picks US Magistrate Judge In Fla. For 11th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his intent to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd to the Eleventh Circuit.

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Robins Kaplan File Flub Bad Look For Both Sides, Panel Says

By Rachel Scharf

A Manhattan appeals panel expressed concern Wednesday that Robins Kaplan LLP had poked through an opposing party's Dropbox database that was accidentally shared in investor litigation, while also criticizing the other side for failing to catch the error.

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NJ Justices Approve Measures For Helping Atty Well-Being

By Emily Johnson

The New Jersey Supreme Court has accepted several recommendations from its committee focused on attorney well-being, paving the way for the committee to examine how attorneys can briefly postpone court dates or possibly receive an extension to meet deadlines so they can handle pressing wellness needs.

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Legal Access Program Being Set Up For Separated Families

By Alyssa Aquino

The Biden administration has tapped the Acacia Center for Justice to manage a court-ordered legal access program to help migrant families stay in the U.S. after they were separated under a Trump-era policy to prosecute anybody caught entering the country unlawfully.

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Colo. Judges Urge Attys To Take On More Pro Se Cases

By Thy Vo

A group of Colorado federal judges tried Wednesday to recruit more lawyers to help pro se litigants, who file about a third of the district's cases each year, with the judges recounting tactical mistakes and case delays that attorneys could have prevented.

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