Energy

  • September 16, 2025

    Commerce Says Auto Tariff Request Window Opens In October

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued guidance formally establishing the auto part tariff inclusion request process, and that the first window for new requests by stakeholders will begin Oct. 1, according to a notice filed Tuesday.

  • September 16, 2025

    BlackRock Blames Coal Production Cuts On Falling Demand

    BlackRock Inc. told a Texas federal court that coal production has declined because demand from coal-fired power plants has been falling for years, not because asset managers conspired to pressure the producers.

  • September 16, 2025

    U.S. Asks Court To Sink Vermont Climate Superfund Law

    The Trump administration, Republican-led states and business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Petroleum Institute on Monday asked a Vermont federal court to kill the state's climate Superfund law.

  • September 16, 2025

    Plant Bailout Cost Approvals Were Premature, FERC Told

    Environmental and consumer advocates say the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jumped the gun in approving plans to charge power consumers for the continued operation of retiring power plants that the Trump administration has controversially ordered to remain open.

  • September 16, 2025

    Order Halting Ørsted Wind Project Is Valid, Trump Admin Says

    The Trump administration has told a D.C. federal judge that its challenged decision to halt work on an approved and nearly completed offshore wind farm in New England stands on firm legal ground and should not be overturned.

  • September 16, 2025

    Environmental Groups Say Gov't Won't Share Climate Docs

    Environmental groups have told a Massachusetts federal judge that the Trump administration isn't following his suggestion that it turn over materials related to the work of an advisory panel recommending reversal of the government's position that greenhouse gases are dangerous.

  • September 15, 2025

    FAA, SpaceX Get Early Win In Starship Enviro Review Suit

    A D.C. federal judge Monday handed a win to the Federal Aviation Administration and SpaceX in litigation alleging they failed to complete an adequate environmental review for SpaceX's Starship rocket launch program, ruling that the analysis was "perhaps imperfect" but ultimately well reasoned.

  • September 15, 2025

    Zenith Challenges $130M Tunisia Award Over Conflicts

    Canadian oil and gas company Zenith Energy Ltd. will look to revive its $130 million claim against Tunisia over a nixed oilfield concession, saying it intends to argue in annulment proceedings in Switzerland that, among other things, certain members of the tribunal improperly concealed their ties to the North African country.

  • September 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Told Fla. 'Radioactive' Road Suit Must Be Tossed

    The U.S. government and a fertilizer producer urged the Eleventh Circuit to toss an environmental nonprofit's challenge to the use of radioactive phosphogypsum on a private roadway, arguing the nonprofit lacks standing. 

  • September 15, 2025

    FERC Abandons Push To Update Pipeline Review Policy

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has ended its long-gestating proceeding aimed at updating its gas infrastructure approval policy, saying the policy the agency initially enacted in 1999 remains sound.

  • September 15, 2025

    Energy Trader Tries To Sink CFTC Spoofing Case

    An energy trading firm and its owner asked an Illinois federal judge on Friday to grant summary judgment on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's allegations they manipulated the crude oil market, saying the agency has put forward no evidence the owner intended to cancel the futures orders in question when he placed them.

  • September 15, 2025

    Charleston SC Not Appealing Dismissal Of Climate Suit

    Charleston, South Carolina, has ended its pursuit of climate change-related infrastructure damages from fossil fuel companies, electing not to appeal a state judge's dismissal of the city's lawsuit last month.

  • September 15, 2025

    Kirkland, Gibson Dunn Advise On $1B Blackstone Energy Deal

    Blackstone will pay nearly $1 billion to purchase the Hill Top Energy Center natural gas power plant from Ardian, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP steering the private equity firms on the agreement, the firms said Monday. 

  • September 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Ore. Water Rights Case Is Still Relevant

    The Ninth Circuit won't dismiss the Klamath Irrigation District's appeal over water releases from an Oregon lake as moot, saying a decision would provide relief by affecting how the scarce resource is allocated regardless of the federal government's new position on the application of the Endangered Species Act.

  • September 15, 2025

    V&E, Sullivan & Cromwell Build $6B Energy Industry Merger

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP-advised independent energy company California Resources Corp. unveiled plans Monday to merge with upstream energy company Berry, led by Vinson & Elkins LLP, in an all-stock deal that values the combined company at an enterprise value of more than $6 billion.

  • September 12, 2025

    8th Circ. Pauses Challenges To Abandoned Climate Regs

    The Eighth Circuit on Friday said it would wait to rule on challenges to Biden-era climate disclosure rules that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will no longer defend, giving the regulator time to decide what it wants to do with the rules.

  • September 12, 2025

    DOJ Says States Can't Reverse Grant Cuts In OMB Reg Fight

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out a suit brought by a score of states accusing it of misinterpreting an Office of Management and Budget regulation to slash thousands of grants, arguing they must seek relief in another forum.

  • September 12, 2025

    Feds Back Chevron And Exxon In High Court Pollution Case

    The Trump administration has backed Chevron and Exxon's U.S. Supreme Court bid to overturn a ruling that Louisiana courts should hear pollution lawsuits stemming from the companies' World War II-era oil production, saying their work clearly puts the litigation in federal court.

  • September 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms PTAB's Slicing Of Fracking Patent Claims

    The Federal Circuit on Friday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision invalidating claims in a patent relating to hydraulic fracturing pump technology, finding that the tribunal had sufficient evidence supporting its conclusion that the claims were obvious.

  • September 12, 2025

    States, Tribes Say New Policy Warrants Ore. Dam Case Restart

    An Oregon federal judge granted a joint motion by two states, environmental groups and tribes to lift a five-year stay in a lawsuit over Columbia River Basin dams' hydropower practices and attempts to restore fisheries, following a Trump administration memo revoking a basin agreement.

  • September 12, 2025

    EPA To Spike Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed repealing a 15-year-old program that requires power plants, fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, and other facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions, which the EPA said would save companies money.

  • September 12, 2025

    Chem Industry's Goals For Toxic Substance Law Face Hurdles

    The chemical industry is pushing to overhaul a federal toxic substances law to accelerate the approval of new products, but narrow party margins in Congress, compromises built into the law and environmental groups' opposition weigh heavily against them.

  • September 12, 2025

    DC Circ. Probes NLRB's Employee Criticism Protections

    A D.C. Circuit panel struggled Friday with the appropriate line for when an employee's public criticisms of their employer maintain protection under federal labor law as it weighed upholding a National Labor Relations Board ruling finding a Texas utility unlawfully fired a worker who testified before the state Senate.

  • September 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Asks Justices To Shut Down Climate Torts

    The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to climate change lawsuits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies, arguing that such suits are barred by both the U.S. Constitution and Clean Air Act.

  • September 12, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Felesky Flynn, Gibson, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, copper mining companies Anglo American and Teck Resources plan to merge, EchoStar agrees to sell spectrum licenses to SpaceX, and Diversified Energy acquires fellow energy operator Canvas.

Expert Analysis

  • How 5th Circ.'s NLRB Ruling May Reshape Federal Labor Law

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent SpaceX National Labor Relations Board decision undermines the agency's authority, but it does not immediately shut down NLRB enforcement, so employers and labor organizations should expect more litigation, more uncertainty and a possible U.S. Supreme Court showdown, say attorneys at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Rebutting Price Impact In Securities Class Actions

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    Defendants litigating securities cases historically faced long odds in defeating class certification, but that paradigm has recently begun to shift, with recent cases ushering in a more searching analysis of price impact and changing the evidence courts can consider at the class certification stage, say attorneys at Katten.

  • 7 Document Review Concepts New Attorneys Need To Know

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    For new associates joining firms this fall, stepping into the world of e-discovery can feel like learning a new language, but understanding a handful of fundamentals — from coding layouts to metadata — can help attorneys become fluent in document review, says Ann Motl at Bowman and Brooke.

  • Reports Of Chemical Safety Board's Demise Are Premature

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    Despite the Trump administration's proposal to close down the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, companies should note that the agency recently enforced its accidental release reporting rule for the first time, is conducting ongoing investigations and expects more funding from Congress, say attorneys at Conn Maciel.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: ICSID Enforcement In Australia

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    The Federal Court of Australia recently ruled for award creditors in Blasket Renewable Investments v. Spain in a judgment that explains how Australia's statute book operationalizes the promise of depoliticized enforcement under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention while accommodating, without yielding to, the centrifugal forces of European Union law, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

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    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Resilience Planning Is New Key To Corporate Sustainability

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    While the current wave of deregulation may reduce government enforcement related to climate issues, businesses still need to evaluate how climate volatility may affect their operations and create new legal risks — making the apolitical concept of resilience increasingly important for companies, says J. Michael Showalter at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

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    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • Restored Charging Project Funds Revive Hope For EV Market

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    While 2025 began with a host of government actions that prompted some to predict the demise of the U.S. electric vehicle market, the Trump administration's recent restoration of federal funding for EV charging infrastructure under new terms presents market participants with reason for optimism, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • Demystifying The Civil Procedure Rules Amendment Process

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    Every year, an advisory committee receives dozens of proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, most of which are never adopted — but a few pointers can help maximize the likelihood that an amendment will be adopted, says Josh Gardner at DLA Piper.

  • State Crypto Regs Diverge As Federal Framework Dawns

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    Following the Genius Act's passage, states like California, New York and Wyoming are racing to set new standards for crypto governance, creating both opportunity and risk for digital asset firms as innovation flourishes in some jurisdictions while costly friction emerges in others, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Key Insurance Coverage Considerations For AI Data Centers

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    The burgeoning artificial intelligence industry has sparked a surge in data center projects — a trend likely to be accelerated by the White House's AI Action Plan — but with these complex facilities come equally complex risks, engendering important insurance coverage considerations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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