Tribunal Tells Ecuador To Pay $221M In Chevron Case

By Tom Lotshaw

An international tribunal in The Hague said the Republic of Ecuador must pay nearly $221 million to the Chevron Corp. in connection to a decades-long dispute over pollution in the Amazon.

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Mont. Youths Say State, Gov. Violated High Court Enviro Ruling

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A group of young Montanans is asking the state Supreme Court to decide whether two laws that weaken environmental policies in the state violate their constitutional right to "clean and healthful" surroundings.

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V&E-Advised Geothermal Co. Wraps $462M Funding Round

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Geothermal power company Fervo Energy, advised by Vinson & Elkins LLP, revealed Wednesday that it closed an oversubscribed Series E funding round after raising $462 million in capital, which will be used to boost the company's growth.

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MVP: Milbank's Jenna McGrath

By Keith Goldberg

Jenna McGrath of Milbank LLP took the regulatory lead in getting major transactions in the power sector to the finish line, earning her a spot among the 2025 Law360 Energy MVPs.

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OCC Review Flags Big Banks For Debanking Policies

By Jon Hill

A top U.S. banking regulator said Wednesday that some of the nation's largest banks improperly restricted services to industries including adult entertainment and oil drilling, according to preliminary findings from a White House-commissioned debanking review.

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Boardwalk Pipeline Case Sees Partial Reversal

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday partially revived long-running challenges to Loews Corp.'s 2018, $1.5 billion cash-out of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, ruling that the Chancery Court misread the high court's 2022 guidance and prematurely shut down minority unitholder claims attacking the legal opinion that triggered the buyout.

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PacifiCorp Owes $39M In Latest Wildfire Trial

By Cara Salvatore

An Oregon jury awarded $39.3 million in noneconomic damages Wednesday to a group of people who fled wildfires that the utility PacifiCorp had been found liable for starting, including an elderly woman who ended up living in a trailer park for four years and a man who lost the ability to keep his disabled wife in their home for the last three years of her life.

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Judge Probes IRS Expert On Method For Eaton's Credit Rating

By Molly Moses

A U.S. Tax Court judge asked an IRS expert Wednesday about his calculation of a standalone credit rating for Eaton's U.S. group in 2012, when it acquired an Irish entity and inverted, noting that the expert, unlike ratings agency Standard & Poor's, factored in Eaton's debt to the Irish parent.

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4th Circ. Icy To Reviving Retired Miners' Health Coverage Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fourth Circuit seemed disinclined Wednesday to reopen a dispute over lifetime retirement health and life insurance benefits from a proposed class of retired coal miners, as two judges knocked the coal company's attempt to pick apart the results of a seven-day bench trial that broadly favored them.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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Bonus Spotlight

Pallas Offers Up To $232K In Bonuses To Top US, UK Lawyers

By Tracey Read

Litigation boutique Pallas Partners announced Thursday that it is offering high-performing senior U.S. and U.K. associates and counsel as much as $232,000 in bonuses this year.

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'Totally Unacceptable': Alsup Rips Feds In Student Loan Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday denied the U.S. Department of Education's request for an 18-month extension to process over 200,000 loan cancellation applications for students claiming they were defrauded by colleges they attended, calling it "totally unacceptable" and setting an April deadline to get the job done.

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White House Pushes Halligan's Confirmation Despite Hurdles

By Courtney Bublé

The White House is forging ahead with its bid to win confirmation of the president's controversial pick for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after a federal judge ruled she was serving illegally on an interim basis.

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Grassley Urges White House To Step It Up On Noms

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had a message for the White House Thursday: "Get on the ball" with nominations for U.S. attorneys and the judiciary.

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NJ Sens. Urge Cooperation On Next NJ US Attorney Nom

By Courtney Bublé

The New Jersey senators are looking to collaborate with the White House to find a new nominee for U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey after the president's initial pick failed.

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DC Firm Faces Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

By Andrea Keckley

A Washington, D.C., law firm failed to notify clients of a data breach that compromised their personal information for six months, a proposed class action alleged in federal court on Wednesday.

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Trump Orders Review Of Proxy Advisers' 'Substantial Power'

By Rae Ann Varona

President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order that aims to scrutinize the influence that proxy adviser firms like Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC have, including in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion agendas.

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Feds Reportedly Fail To Reindict NY AG Letitia James, Again

By Lauren Berg

New York Attorney General Letitia James' attorney Thursday celebrated reports that another Virginia federal grand jury declined to reindict her on charges of mortgage fraud, the second jury in a week to reject a case President Donald Trump had pushed prosecutors to pursue against a political opponent he's called "guilty as hell."

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Grants Can Be Axed For Political Reasons, DOJ Atty Says

By Jared Foretek

A Trump administration lawyer said Thursday that the president had blanket authority to cancel every discretionary grant slated for states that broke against him in the general election, and it wouldn't amount to a violation of the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee.

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10th Circ. Reveals Judge Contacted Ex-Atty In 'Tiger King' Case

By Ivan Moreno

A Tenth Circuit panel considering a copyright infringement claim against Netflix over a video clip in its popular "Tiger King" docuseries has requested the parties' input on whether a judge on the panel should recuse himself after inadvertently contacting a former attorney of the plaintiff last month on an unrelated legal matter.

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Tracking Challenges To USPTO's Discretion Policy

By Dani Kass

Leaders at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have significantly altered the Patent Trial and Appeal Board playing field since March, making changes to institution reviews that have led to unprecedented levels of petition denials. A steady stream of companies has challenged those changes through mandamus petitions to the Federal Circuit, and here Law360 tracks where those petitions stand.

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SEC Must Provide Names To Compliance Chief In Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

An Illinois federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to comply with a chief compliance officer's request for the names of agency staffers familiar with his whistleblower claims as he defends allegations that he played a role in a purportedly fraudulent stock offering by a "sham" energy company.

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