Analysis

High Court Case Looms Over State Climate Superfund Fights

By Keith Goldberg

A federal judge has dealt a blow to the viability of state climate change Superfund laws, although experts say the ruling may ultimately be marginalized by a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision on the future of climate tort litigation against fossil fuel companies.

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EPA Grants 29 Small Refiners Renewable Fuel Exemptions

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has decided to exempt 29 small refiners from a total of nearly 1.8 billion gallons of renewable fuel blending requirements for the 2025 compliance year.

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Interior Board Stays BLM Data Center Approval In Nevada

By Tom Lotshaw

A U.S. Department of the Interior appeals board said Tuesday that environmental groups are likely to show that officials violated the National Environmental Policy Act when they used a review completed for a solar power generation facility to approve the first-ever data center on federal land.

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GM Can't Escape Fla. EV Charger Defect Class Action

By Jonathan Capriel

A Florida federal judge largely rejected GM's attempt to dismiss a proposed class action over its Ultium electric vehicle chargers, allowing a couple's deceptive trade practice claims to proceed on the theory that the automaker hid defects causing the chargers to repeatedly fail and overheat.

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Colo. Panel Mulls Enviro Groups' Challenge To Emission Rule

By Rachel Konieczny

Environmental advocacy groups urged a Colorado appellate court to revive their challenge to a state agency's rule on emissions monitoring, arguing Tuesday that the rule allows most polluters to escape certain monitoring requirements by paying a fee, while the judges focused counsel on questions of statutory interpretation.

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SB Energy Launches Plans For Anticipated $5B IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Power generation infrastructure company SB Energy has filed plans to raise roughly $5 billion in its initial public offering steered by Latham & Watkins LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

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X.AI Neighbors Defend Miss. Data Center Noise Claims

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of Mississippi residents on Monday fought X.AI Corp.'s motion for dismissal of several claims in their nuisance suit, arguing that they've sufficiently alleged that Elon Musk's tech giant has harmed them by building a noisy industrial gas power plant in the city of Southaven that powers data centers.

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Clifford Chance Can Arbitrate $3.5M Congo Fee Dispute

By Caroline Simson

An Australian judge on Tuesday denied Equatorial Resources Ltd.'s attempt to block its former counsel at Clifford Chance LLP from seeking arbitration over a roughly $3.46 million unpaid legal bill, incurred as the mining company pursues a claim worth up to $1.9 billion against the Republic of Congo.

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DOE Energy Financing Overhaul Opens Paths For Developers

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing is now positioned to be a key source of support for energy and critical minerals development in the U.S., creating opportunities for companies seeking to advance projects that align with administration priorities, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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HSF Kramer Added To $1B King & Spalding Malpractice Suit

By Jack Karp

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and several of its partners on Tuesday were added to a $1 billion legal malpractice suit against King & Spalding LLP alleging that the firms engaged in multiple schemes to enrich a lawyer's friend at the expense of investment firm White Oak Advisors.

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Fla. Bar Tosses Complaint Over DHS GC's 'Worst' Judge Posts

By Adrian Cruz

The Florida Bar has refused to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for potential ethics violations over his recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges, citing a potential conflict with the authority of the federal government.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rodriguez On The Uses Of AI

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

Today, Judge Xavier Rodriguez is known as an expert in electronic discovery and a proponent of artificial intelligence, but his interest was piqued before he joined the bench of the Western District of Texas in 2003, when he was still a lawyer and the methods for sifting through electronically stored information were still primitive.

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Judges Say Social Media, Political Rhetoric Endanger Them

By Adrian Cruz

Increased access to social media and personal data via the internet, a larger number of high-profile cases, and inflammatory comments made by politicians have led to a rise in violent threats against judges and concerns about their safety, according to a recently published report.

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5th Circ. Judge Hints Court Order With AI Errors Can't Stand

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge wanted to know why a panel should keep intact a court order blocking an anti-DEI Mississippi law that contained artificial intelligence hallucinations, asking whether the judges could confidently find that made-up citations did not ultimately sway the district court's decision.

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Ex-Warriors GC, DEI Exec Say Bias Complaints Led To Firings

By Lauren Berg

The Golden State Warriors' former associate general counsel and its former vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion allege they were unlawfully fired in retaliation for speaking up about enduring a workplace marked by gender and race-based discrimination.

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NY Firm, Clinics Reject FedEx's 'Staged' Crashes Claims

By Linda Chiem

A New York personal injury firm and various healthcare providers have told a Manhattan federal judge that FedEx has asserted implausible claims alleging they orchestrated an insurance fraud scheme to fabricate medical records and inflate accident claims, saying there is no such racketeering enterprise.

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Brief

Barnes & Thornburg Says Ex-NBA Star Owes $1M Legal Fees

By Jonathan Capriel

Former NBA player Luol Deng is being sued for more than $1 million by a Chicago-based law firm that claims he failed to pay legal fees connected to two real estate matters, according to a suit filed in Illinois state court.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery pressured state attorneys general challenging their merger to settle, the Federal Trade Commission successfully challenged a construction adhesives tie-up, state officials waded in against the NextEra-Dominion transaction, and Union Pacific Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. defended their combination under review by federal regulators.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of August

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Anthropic, Zillow and ConocoPhillips. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from August.

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