A Texas federal jury has awarded Impulse Downhole Solutions Ltd. nearly $48 million in damages against a similarly named company that it said had infringed oil drilling patents.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Texas Jury Awards $48M In Oil Drilling Patent Case

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal jury has awarded Impulse Downhole Solutions Ltd. nearly $48 million in damages against a similarly named company that it said had infringed oil drilling patents.

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Feds Urge End To IRS Wind, Solar Safe Harbor Fight

By Keith Goldberg

The Trump administration has told a D.C. federal judge there's no basis to sustain a lawsuit challenging an IRS notice eliminating a safe harbor test that wind and solar projects could use to qualify for clean energy tax credits.

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ExxonMobil Plans Move To Texas, Citing Biz-Friendly Milieu

By Spencer Brewer

ExxonMobil Corp. is the latest company to eye Texas as its new legal home, telling shareholders Tuesday that the Lone Star State's newly created business court and pro-business policies are good reasons to end its longtime run in New Jersey.

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POLICY & REGULATION

EPA Looks To Rescind Biden Era Rule On Tribal Water Rights

By Joyce Hanson

A North Dakota federal judge is letting red states' lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a tribal water rights rule remain on hold for now after the EPA said it will begin new rulemaking procedures to rescind the original rule made under the Biden administration.

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UTILITIES AND POWER

Insurers Can't Resume Investor Fight In $220M Coverage Row

By Emily Lever

A Texas appellate court Tuesday rejected two insurance companies' bid to stop a group of shareholders of now-bankrupt Cobalt International Energy from pursuing claims on behalf of thousands of other investors, stymieing the carriers' attempts to curtail a fight over coverage of a $220 million securities settlement.

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RENEWABLES

Solar Battery Co. Seeks Dismissal Of Ford Trade Secret Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A solar battery maker has asked a Michigan federal court to dismiss Ford Motor Co.'s trade secret and contract claims over confidential technology disclosed in patent applications, claiming Ford lacks standing because it doesn't own the technology at the center of the dispute.

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Brief

Feds Can't Pause Fight Over Offshore Wind Stop-Work Order

By Keith Goldberg

A D.C. federal judge has rejected the Trump administration's bid to pause litigation challenging its stoppage of the Empire Wind offshore wind project, saying the government hasn't justified the need for a stay.

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Calif. Atty Gets Over 11 Years For Solar $1B Ponzi Scheme

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has sentenced a corporate attorney to 11 years and five months behind bars after he pled guilty to nearly two dozen charges for his role in DC Solar's $912 million Ponzi scheme, which duped major investors including Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive and SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing.

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MINING

Chancery Won't Block Precious Metals Deal In Earnout Fight

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Tuesday refused to temporarily block a planned acquisition by Bullion International Group LLC, a precious metals company formed in a 2023 merger between online gold retailer APMEX and global refiner MKS PAMP Group Inc., ruling that the dispute over potential earnout payments can be addressed through money damages rather than emergency injunctive relief.

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Mining Co. Can't Decertify Class In Dam Collapse Suit

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge on Tuesday rejected Vale SA's bid to decertify a class of investors in a suit accusing the Brazilian mining giant and its executives of concealing safety problems at its Brumadinho dam in the lead-up to a deadly collapse there, finding unconvincing Vale's new expert report showing that its securities were traded in inefficient markets.

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Bolivia Looks To Nix Or Pause $253M Glencore Award Suit

By Joyce Hanson

Bolivia has asked a D.C. federal judge to pause litigation aimed at enforcing a $253.6 million arbitral award favoring a Glencore subsidiary as annulment proceedings in Paris continue, or to nix the proceedings entirely based on alleged corruption underpinning the investment in question.

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Brief

Russian Palladium Getting 110% Subsidies, Commerce Says

By Kevin Pinner

Russian producers of unwrought palladium are receiving countervailable subsidies equal to nearly 110% the value of their merchandise, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Tuesday, weeks after making a preliminary determination that the metal should face a triple-digit tariff.

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PEOPLE

Mayer Brown Adds 6 McGuireWoods Attys In Houston, DC

By Tracey Read

Mayer Brown announced Tuesday that it has hired six attorneys from McGuireWoods LLP for its litigation and dispute resolution and corporate and securities practices, including the former office managing partner of that firm's Houston office.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

What Cos. Must Know About Pa.'s Proposed Data Center Regs

Under Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's new proposal to balance hyperscale data center infrastructure with grid stability, water resources and community transparency, businesses in the state face a strategic choice: wait for binding requirements to emerge, or proactively align projects with the standards now, say Wade Stephens and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.

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Lessons From Justices' Split On Major Questions Doctrine

The justices' varied opinions in Learning Resources v. Trump, which held the International Emergency Economy Powers Act did not confer the power to impose tariffs, offer a meaningful window into the U.S. Supreme Court's perspective on the major questions doctrine that will likely shape lower courts' approach to executive action challenges, say attorneys at Venable.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Military Attys In DOJ 'Erodes Democratic Norms,' Ex-JAGs Say

By Lauren Berg

Nearly a dozen former military lawyers raised the alarm about the Trump administration appointing judge advocate officers to U.S. attorneys' offices, urging a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to bar an Army lawyer from prosecuting a case that accuses a civilian of assaulting federal immigration enforcement agents.

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DOJ Official Faces Ethics Case Over Georgetown DEI Letters

By Alison Knezevich

U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin has been hit with disciplinary charges in the nation's capital over threatening letters he sent to Georgetown University Law Center last year while he was interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

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Dems Confront Roberts At Wide-Ranging Judiciary Gathering

By Jeff Overley

The federal judiciary's top administrator voiced "serious and urgent concerns" Tuesday regarding threats of retribution against judges, a warning that coincided with a judicial gathering where Democrats discussed security fears and controversial U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

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Prosecutor Resigns, Judge Shows Slide Deck On AI Errors

By Abigail Harrison

A federal prosecutor told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday that he was separating from the office after admitting in open court to using artificial intelligence to help draft a response brief, what he called "the worst decision I've ever made in my 30-year career."

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Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Admits Tax Crimes, Will Pay $2.8M

By Aaron Keller

A former Moses & Singer LLP partner admitted to practice in New York and North Carolina courts has pled guilty to three counts of failing to file personal income tax returns and will pay $2.8 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced Monday.

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Judiciary Approves Supreme Court Public Defender Office

By Katie Buehler

The federal judiciary approved a new office Tuesday aimed at improving the quality of representation for indigent defendants with cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

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Judge Fumes As Live Nation Antitrust Trial Remains In Limbo

By Stewart Bishop

The status of Live Nation Entertainment's antitrust trial and proposed settlement over federal and state government claims of anticompetitive conduct remained up in the air Tuesday amid pushback by several states, while the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the case upbraided the parties for keeping him out of the loop about negotiations.

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DOJ Unveils Superseding Policy For Corporate Criminal Cases

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released its first-ever, department-wide, corporate enforcement policy for criminal matters, outlining how it will decline to prosecute companies that voluntarily disclose misconduct, cooperate with investigators and remediate wrongdoing.

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DLA Piper Can't Rep Itself At Bias Trial, Fired Atty Says

By Pete Brush

DLA Piper should not be permitted to represent itself at trial in a pregnancy discrimination case brought by a senior associate who was fired in 2022, lawyers for the plaintiff told a Manhattan federal judge.

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Judge Nixed Over MAGA Op-Ed Seeks Reinstatement

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state trial court judge pursuing First Amendment claims against the state Supreme Court after his right-wing opinion column resulted in his removal from a temporary judgeship has moved for immediate reinstatement to the Cook County Circuit Court.

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Wisconsin Judges Decline To Extend Interim US Atty's Term

By Courtney Bublé

A majority of judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have declined to extend the tenure of interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel, according to an announcement Tuesday.

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J&J Opposes Beasley Allen Reinstatement Bid In NJ Talc Fight

By Emily Sawicki

Johnson & Johnson is urging the New Jersey Supreme Court to not take the "extraordinary step" of intervening in an appellate panel ruling that disqualified Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women in product liability litigation against the pharmaceutical giant after the Georgia-based firm "knowingly collaborated" with a former Johnson & Johnson outside counsel.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

American International Group Inc.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy GT&S

Brennan Center for Justice

Cobalt International Energy Inc.

Coinbase Global Inc.

DHL International GmbH

Earthjustice

Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc.

Equinor ASA

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Ford Motor Co.

Freedom Specialty Insurance Co.

Glencore PLC

Johnson & Johnson

Learning Resources Inc.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Marriott International Inc.

Native American Rights Fund Inc.

Natural Resources Defense Council

PJM Interconnection LLC

Protect Democracy Project Inc.

Public Citizen Inc.

State Bar of California

Tesla Inc.

The District of Columbia Bar

The Progressive Corp.

Vale SA

Western Resource Advocates

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Baker Botts

Barnes & Thornburg

Beasley Allen

Blank Rome

Bracewell LLP

Brooks Kushman

Caldwell Carlson

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

Davis Polk

Deneys Reitz

Dorsey & Whitney

Entwistle & Cappucci

Faegre Drinker

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Haynes Boone

Howard & Howard

Hunton Andrews

Kanji & Katzen

Kaplan Fox

King & Spalding

Langsam Stevens

Latham & Watkins

Mayer Brown

McGuireWoods

Morris Nichols

Moses & Singer

O'Melveny & Myers

Paul Weiss

Polsinelli PC

Robinson & Cole

Sheppard Mullin

Sills Cummis

Swanson & McNamara

Venable LLP

Wigdor LLP

Winstead PC

Wright Close Barger & Guzman

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arizona Department of Water Resources

Bay Mills Indian Community

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes

Cook County Circuit Court

Defense Health Agency

Delaware Court of Chancery

Delaware River Basin Commission

Florida Public Service Commission

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians

Idaho Attorney General's Office

Illinois Supreme Court

Internal Revenue Service

International Trade Commission

Judicial Conference of the United States

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe

Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

New Jersey Supreme Court

Nez Perce Tribe

North Dakota Attorney General's Office

Oregon Legislature

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

Permanent Court of Arbitration

Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe

Puyallup Tribe of Indians

Quinault Indian Nation

Sokaogon Chippewa Community

Susquehanna River Basin Commission

TRICARE

Texas Supreme Court

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

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

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Navy

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Tax Court

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota

Virginia State Corporation Commission

Wisconsin Supreme Court