The explosion of artificial intelligence has created a sharp demand for new data centers with no signs of slowing down, posing challenges that have some real estate attorneys turning to well-worn playbooks from other industries.
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Real Estate Attys 'Not Going In Blind' Amid Data Center Boom

By Chris Villani

The explosion of artificial intelligence has created a sharp demand for new data centers with no signs of slowing down, posing challenges that have some real estate attorneys turning to well-worn playbooks from other industries.

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Mich. Can't Shake Residents' Water Suit Based On Timeliness

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan appellate court has allowed lead contamination claims from Benton Harbor residents to proceed, affirming that state officials did not make clear the level of danger in the city's water system for purposes of starting the clock on the statute of limitations.

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Judge Signs Off On Idaho Mine Pollution Settlement

By Tom Lotshaw

An Idaho federal judge has approved a proposed consent decree calling for two Nu-West companies and the U.S. government to share costs to implement remediation work for a North Maybe Mine site in Caribou County.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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DEALS

4 Firms Build Sale Of $622M Energy Assets To GeoPark

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Canadian oil and natural gas company Frontera Energy Corp. on Friday announced plans to sell its Frontera Petroleum International Holdings B.V. to independent energy company GeoPark Ltd. in a deal that values the assets at $622 million and was built by four law firms.

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LITIGATION

DOE-Created Climate Panel Was Unlawful, Judge Rules

By Rae Ann Varona

A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy violated the law when it formed a climate change science advisory panel that environmental groups alleged was created to undermine findings on the harmful impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

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Trump Says Court Can't Review Rule Delay For Chemical Cos.

By Gina Kim

The Trump administration has urged a D.C. federal judge to nix a lawsuit by green groups that claim it violated the Clean Air Act by postponing emission standard compliance deadlines for 50 chemical manufacturing facilities, arguing they lack standing since they fail to sufficiently allege injury from all facilities that received exemption.

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9th Circ. Says DOJ Can Withhold VW Grand Jury Records

By Emily Field

The Ninth Circuit on Friday held that the U.S. Department of Justice couldn't be forced to hand over about 6 million Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal, as the government obtained them through a grand jury subpoena.

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Okla. Gov. Challenges AG's Tribal Hunting Policy Opinion

By Joyce Hanson

Oklahoma's governor and wildlife department have urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court to give them control over hunting and fishing rights on tribal reservation lands so they can issue state-managed permits, arguing that an opinion by the state's attorney general wrongly says federal law prohibits such permitting.

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Feds Say Suit To Block Trump From Painting Building Is Moot

By Isaac Monterose

The federal government asked a D.C. federal court to toss a lawsuit seeking to stop President Donald Trump from painting a historic building white, saying the president has already agreed to pause his plan until environmental reviews are completed.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

FTC Warns 42 Law Firms Of DEI 'Anticompetitive Collusion'

By Sarah Jarvis

The Federal Trade Commission announced Friday that it has sent warning letters to 42 major law firms for their purported participation in an outside diversity, equity and inclusion program, alleging their participation could constitute anticompetitive collusion.

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Susman Faces Suit After Ex-Client's Arbitration Loss

By Adam Lidgett

Susman Godfrey LLP and a litigation funding business were hit with a lawsuit in Texas state court by an Irish patent litigation business that is challenging the outcome of an arbitration proceeding putting it on the hook for more than $37.8 million.

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Attys Rip Judge-Shopping Sanctions As Bid To 'Rewrite' Rules

By Jake Maher

Two Alabama attorneys who were sanctioned for allegedly judge shopping in a civil rights case urged the Eleventh Circuit to toss the sanctions Friday, arguing the judges accusing them were seeking to "rewrite" the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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Brief

Bill Regulating Attorney AI Use Passes California Senate

By Emily Sawicki

A proposed California law that would regulate attorneys and arbitrators' use of generative artificial intelligence statewide has headed to the Assembly after the state Senate unanimously approved the measure.

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Colo. Firm Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado law firm failed to properly care for the personal information of clients and their customers and did not provide adequate notice of a February 2025 data breach, according to a proposed class action in state court.

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Litigation Funder Suit Against Janus Henderson Can Proceed

By Ryan Boysen

A lawsuit that claims a Janus Henderson Group subsidiary schemed to take over a mass torts litigation funder can go forward, after a Delaware Chancery Court judge ruled the funder's case was compelling enough to survive a motion to dismiss.

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House To Vote On Reform Of Court Nondisclosure Orders

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., fumed at the House on Friday for trying to undo a provision that allows him and other senators investigated by special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages and held up the government funding vote as a result. But a bill the House is poised to take up next week could alleviate some of his concerns.

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Analysis

The Message From Delaware Courts: Change Is Coming

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's Supreme Court delivered a reminder to the state's corporation law ecosystem recently with a reversal of a Court of Chancery decision invalidating a 7-year-old stockholder agreement that granted broad corporate powers to investment bank Moelis & Co.'s founder.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London saw collapsed solar bonds company Rockfire Capital sue the Royal Bank of Scotland, e-ticket platform Eventbrite target the owners of Salford Red Devils rugby club over an alleged contract breach, and Scottish distiller William Grant & Sons square off against a former MP in a trademark tussle tied to its Glenfiddich whisky. 

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

When Minnesota-based companies publicly called for de-escalation after two fatal shootings by federal ICE agents, the nation saw how CEOs and their general counsel can step up amid controversy. And a new study shows that white collar offenders received more than half of all recent pardons. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a D.C. Circuit panel revived a lawsuit that accuses pharmaceutical companies of aiding a Hezbollah-linked militia's terrorism in Iraq.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Addleshaw Goddard

Advisors LLC

Alston & Bird

Alston Asquith

Arnold & Itkin

Arnold & Porter

Bailey & Glasser

Baker & Hostetler

Baker McKenzie

Bennett Jones

Blake Cassels

Bradley Arant

CJ Jones Solicitors

CMS Cameron McKenna

Charhon Callahan

Christensen Law LLC

Cleary Gottlieb

Clyde & Co

Cooley LLP

Coulson PC

Covington & Burling

Cultural Heritage Partners

DAC Beachcroft

DLA Piper

DWF LLP

Davis Malm & D’Agostine

Davis Polk

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Dentons

Dominick Feld

Donahue Goldberg

Faegre Drinker

Finnegan

Foley & Lardner

Fox Rothschild

Fried Frank

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

Gordon Rees

Greenberg Traurig

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Husch Blackwell

JCP Solicitors

Jackson Lewis PC

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kaplan & Grady

Kellogg Hansen

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Knights PLC

Kuit Steinart

Labaton Keller

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of David W. Klasing

Leach & Walker

Lester Aldridge

Lewis Brisbois

Lieff Cabraser

Lightfoot Franklin

Littler Mendelson

Mayer Brown

Maynard Nexsen

McDermott Will & Schulte

McGuireWoods

Milberg Coleman

Mills & Reeve

Montgomery Little

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Nabarro LLP

Nelson Mullins

Ogletree Deakins

Pashman Stein

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Polsinelli PC

Reed Smith

Ropes & Gray

Russell-Cooke

Ryan Whaley

Shakespeare Martineau

Sheppard Mullin

Shook Hardy

Sidley Austin

Signature Litigation LLP

Skadden Arps

Smith Gambrell

Sonosky Chambers

Sullivan & Cromwell

Susman Godfrey

Taylor Wessing

Troutman

White & Case

Whitten Burrage

WilmerHale

Wilson Elser

Wilson Sonsini

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

Arxada

Ashland Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

AstraZeneca PLC

BASF SE

Baker Hughes Co.

Bank of Cyprus Holdings PLC

Barclays PLC

Berkshire Hathaway Energy GT&S

Burke Inc.

Cargill Inc.

Caribou

Cisco Systems Inc.

Comcast Corp.

Convex Insurance UK Ltd.

Dow Inc.

Drummond

ESPN Inc.

Earthjustice

Environmental Defense Fund Inc.

Eventbrite Inc.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

FTI Consulting Inc.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

Formosa Plastics Corp.

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.

Google LLC

HDI Global SE

HSBC Holdings PLC

Herzog

Hulu LLC

Insurance Europe Ltd.

Investments Ltd.

Janus Henderson Group PLC

Johnson & Johnson

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Leidos Holdings Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Lloyds Bank PLC

Longford Capital Management LP

Match.com Inc.

McDonald's Corp.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA

Meta Platforms Inc.

Moelis & Co.

National Westminster Bank PLC

Natural Resources Defense Council

Novo Nordisk A S

Oxford University Press Ltd.

Paramount Global

Pfizer Inc.

SentencingStats.com Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Stanford University

Target Corp.

Tesla Inc.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

The UPS Store

The Walt Disney Co.

TikTok Inc.

Union of Concerned Scientists

United Parcel Service Inc.

University of Arkansas

University of Iowa

Victory Park Capital Advisors LLC

Vinci SA

Volkswagen AG

William Grant & Sons Ltd.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Alabama Attorney General's Office

California Air Resources Board

Chickasaw Nation

Companies House

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Trade Commission

Fish and Wildlife Service

Mescalero Apache Tribe

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

Oklahoma Supreme Court

Serious Fraud Office

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO)

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma