Energy

Expert Analysis

• Biden Must Sustain Laser Focus To Meet Lofty Green Goals

  

  President-elect Joe Biden has targeted climate change with ambitious power-sector and emissions targets, but several obstacles will need to be addressed, including the power markets' decentralized nature, certain states and constituencies' resistance, and the expected lack of a congressional mandate, say Sandra Rizzo and Jamie Lee at Arnold & Porter.

• Ethics Reminders As Employees Move To Or From Gov't

  

  Many organizations are making plans for executives to go into government jobs, or for government officials to join a private sector team, but they must understand the many ethics rules that can put a damper on just how valuable the former employee or new hire can be, say Scott Thomas and Jennifer Carrier at Blank Rome.

• Carbon Capture Policy Should Be Aligned For Global Adoption

  

  With support from both Republicans and Democrats, carbon capture, utilization and storage technology as a tool for decarbonization may be poised for domestic growth — but the U.S. and the European Union must coordinate their policies to promote a global approach, say Hunter Johnston and Jeff Weiss at Steptoe & Johnson.

• A Key To Helping Clients Make Better Decisions During Crisis

  

  As the pandemic brings a variety of legal stresses for businesses, lawyers must understand the emotional dynamic of a crisis and the particular energy it produces to effectively fulfill their role as advisers, say Meredith Parfet and Aaron Solomon at Ravenyard Group.

• How Federal, State Plans Could Bring Carbon Capture To US

  

  Proposals from President-elect Joe Biden, a pair of bills currently pending in Congress and a low-carbon fuels program in California provide insights into how carbon capture, utilization and storage technology could be integrated into the fight against climate change in the U.S., say Hunter Johnston and Jeff Weiss at Steptoe.

• Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

  

  Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

• EU Climate Goals Are Hard To Reach Without Carbon Capture

  

  The European Union's failure to fully embrace blue fuels, produced using carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies, may hinder the region's pursuit of its aggressive decarbonization goals, say Hunter Johnston and Jeff Weiss at Steptoe & Johnson.

• Picking The Right Location And Tools For Virtual Courtrooms

  

  Attorneys should consider the pros and cons of participating in virtual court proceedings from home versus their law firm offices, and whether they have the right audio, video and team communication tools for their particular setup, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• Carbon Capture Tech Offers A Fast Path Toward Climate Goals

  

  To meet ambitious climate goals, the U.S., EU and other developed nations must immediately start reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels, which policymakers can encourage by supporting carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies, say Hunter Johnston and Jeff Weiss at Steptoe.

• Beware Atty Ethics Rules When Reporting COVID-19 Fraud

  

  Attorneys considering blowing the whistle on False Claims Act violations by recipients of COVID-19 relief may face a number of ethical constraints on their ability to disclose client information and file qui tam actions, say Breon Peace and Jennifer Kennedy Park at Cleary.

• Looking For Judicial Activists? Check The Footnotes

  

  U.S. Supreme Court nominees typically face intense questioning over potential judicial activism, but a better way to gauge judges' activist tendencies may be to look at the footnotes in their opinions, say Christopher Collier at Hawkins Parnell and Michael Arndt at Rohan Law.

• New FERC Leadership May End COVID-19 Flexibility For Cos.

  

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has repeatedly granted waivers to energy companies that missed tariff deadlines due to COVID-19 — but this flexible policy may be obsolete under FERC's new chairman, says Stephen Bright at Locke Lord.

• Best Practices For Legal Technology Adoption

  

  The pandemic has accelerated the need to improve the practice of law through technology, but law firms and in-house legal departments must first ensure they have employee buy-in and well-defined processes for new digital tools, say Dan Broderick at BlackBoiler and Daryl Shetterly at Orrick.

• Valuation Uncertainty Could Prompt Increased Litigation

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic has increased volatility around forward-looking cash flows and discount rates, which may lead to more business valuation disputes, particularly in the M&A and bankruptcy litigation contexts, say analysts at Cornerstone Research.

• Opinion

  Dakota Pipeline Challenge Undermines Permitting Process

  

  If Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. Army Corps of Engineers succeeds at challenging the Dakota Access Pipeline's environmental permitting more than three years after it came online, other infrastructure projects might also face legal battles long after they are built, says David Hill at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy.