Expert Analysis

• Investment Adviser ESG Lessons From BNY Mellon Case

  

  With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $1.5 million settlement with BNY Mellon over environmental, social and governance disclosure violations, we appear to be at the dawn of a new era of enforcement — which means investment advisers should take new compliance steps, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

• Texas Infrastructure Act And Renewables Projects: 1 Year In

  

  A year into implementation of Texas' Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, Jennifer Pier at Husch Blackwell discusses how renewable energy project developers, owners and investors planning projects in Texas can incorporate LIPA-related provisions into transaction and financing documents.

• DOT Standards For EV Chargers Address Key Public Concerns

  

  The U.S. Department of Transportation's recently proposed standards for public electric vehicle charging infrastructure reflect the Biden administration's continued effort to encourage EV deployment in the U.S. markets — and speak to some of the most important concerns of EV consumers relating to charging, say Levi McAllister and Maggie Curran at Morgan Lewis.

• 5th Circ.'s Nixing Of SEC Judges May Mean Trouble For FERC

  

  The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's use of administrative law judges also calls into question the constitutionality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ALJs — with a critical question being whether the subject of an enforcement action has the option to go to federal court, say Elizabeth Cassady and Daniel Mullen at Steptoe.

• Opinion

  Now's The Time To Address Archaic Law School Curricula

  

  With law school enrollments jumping significantly ahead of a potential recession and more students graduating than the market can absorb, law schools should turn to creative solutions to teach students how to negotiate, work with clients, specialize and use technology to practice their craft more efficiently, says University of Colorado adjunct professor Jason Mendelson.

• State Natural Resource Damages Suits: What Cos. Must Know

  

  With numerous states currently following New Jersey's lead in stepping up litigation seeking natural resource damages, defendants face unique challenges, and must consider unique approaches to case management to limit liability, says Matthew Conley at Archer.

• Lessons From Lawyer Fee-Sharing Agreements Gone Wrong

  

  The recent fee-sharing dispute between Edelson and Girardi Keese is a reminder that lawyers who do not strictly follow the applicable rules may risk a disciplinary complaint, lose their share of the fee, or wind up in costly litigation with co-counsel, says David Grossbaum at Hinshaw.

• LeClairRyan Bankruptcy Highlights Pass-Through Tax Issue

  

  A Virginia bankruptcy court's recent ruling in the case of defunct law firm LeClairRyan shows there may be serious tax consequences for pass-through entity partners who give up their ownership interest without following operating agreement exit provisions and updating bankruptcy court filings, say Edward Schnitzer and Hannah Travaglini at Montgomery McCracken.

• Circuits' Remand Of State Climate Suits May Mean Big Liability

  

  Federal circuit courts across the nation have recently affirmed that state and local governments can sue energy companies in state courts over harms attributed to climate change — and if the U.S. Supreme Court does not step in, the energy sector could soon face a deluge of liability claims, says Todd Thacker at Goldberg Segalla.

• 8 Steps To Creating A Legal Ops Technology Road Map

  

  Legal departments struggling to find and implement the right technologies for their operations should consider creating a road map that summarizes their approach to technology changes, provides clearly defined metrics for success, and serves as the single source of truth for stakeholders, says Melanie Shafer at SimpleLegal.

• 2 Years Since Liu, Disgorgement Case Law Is Favoring SEC

  

  In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Liu v. the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, circuit courts have weighed in to answer the decision's open questions, and recent cases suggest that courts are unwilling to disrupt disgorgement orders, even where the awards would not survive Liu scrutiny, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• An Early Step Toward Regulation Of Carbon Offset Market

  

  A recent convening held by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission highlighted a need for greater transparency in voluntary carbon markets and for standardization of what constitutes a good or high-quality carbon offset, as well as the CFTC's potential role in regulating the market, say Levi McAllister and Pamela Tsang Wu at Morgan Lewis.

• Awaiting Critical Bankruptcy Decision For Surety Industry

  

  The recent oral argument in Argonaut Insurance v. Falcon V offers the Fifth Circuit an opportunity to create a rule for multilateral contracts in bankruptcy and exposed the common misconception that a surety assumes the risk of the principal's nonperformance when it issues a bond, say Lisa Tancredi at Womble Bond and Laura Murphy at Travelers.

• The Importance Of Data And Data Analysis In Litigation

  

  Understanding, analyzing and effectively presenting large data sets is an increasingly important skill in litigation as it allows plaintiffs to dramatically scale up the scope of cases and is often critical to defeating motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, says David Burnett at Motley Rice.

• EU Hydrogen Plans: Infrastructure And Regulatory Challenges

  

  As interest grows in hydrogen import and distribution infrastructure in the European Union, project developers and potential end users need to evaluate possible midstream bottlenecks, and track the EU's evolving hydrogen regulatory framework, say Dan Feldman and Natalya Pilbeam at Shearman.