Analysis

Energy Litigation To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

By Keith Goldberg

The energy litigation landscape for the rest of 2026 features high-profile lawsuits over climate change, including a potential moment of truth for climate tort litigation, as well as challenges to Trump administration efforts to boost fossil fuel development. Here are several energy-related lawsuits on attorneys' radar for the second half of the year.

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5th Circ. Says Green Groups Lack Standing In LNG Fight

By Courtney Bublé

A new Fifth Circuit ruling declining to review a case brought by environmental groups for lack of standing has paved the way for a deepwater liquefied natural gas project, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

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3rd Circ. Wonders If Pipeline Approval Passed CWA Muster

By George Woolston

The Third Circuit on Wednesday pressed New Jersey's environmental regulator to show that the revived Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline plan complied with the Clean Water Act, considering it lacked details about how state water quality standards would be monitored.

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Former DOE Worker Avoids Prison For Bribery Scheme

By Carolyn Muyskens

A former U.S. Department of Energy employee who pled guilty to trying to bribe a colleague in exchange for government contracts for his consulting company was sentenced Wednesday to probation in Massachusetts federal court.

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EU Parliament Approves Mexico Trade Agreement

By Dylan Moroses

The European Parliament approved two pieces of legislation to implement the modernized trade agreement between the bloc and Mexico on Wednesday.

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US To Pay Anchorage $180M To End 12-Year Port Upgrade Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

The federal government will pay $180 million to the city of Anchorage, Alaska, to settle the municipality's more than decade-old lawsuit accusing the U.S. Maritime Administration of breaching contractual agreements related to a failed Port of Alaska expansion and upgrade project, the parties have announced.

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Slovenia Defeats $684M Claim Over Fracking Ban

By Caroline Simson

Ascent Resources PLC has lost its €598.7 million ($684 million) claim against Slovenia after an international tribunal on Tuesday rejected the British oil and gas exploration company's argument that a 2022 fracking ban violated the country's obligations under the Energy Charter Treaty.

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Kirkland-Led Avant Wraps Latest Fund With $1B In Tow

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Avant Natural Resources, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, revealed Wednesday the Denver-based energy investment firm closed its latest fund at its hard cap after raising over $1 billion in total equity commitments.

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NC Will Tax Prediction Markets, Nix Break For Data Centers

By Maria Koklanaris

North Carolina will become the latest state to tax prediction markets, in addition to increasing taxes on sports betting and rolling back a tax break for data centers, under a budget signed by its governor.

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Comcast Says Power Co. Still Flouts FCC Pole Upgrade Order

By Nadia Dreid

Comcast says it's time for the Federal Communications Commission to step in and force Appalachian Power Co. to follow the agency's orders when it comes to covering the cost of fixing utility poles for broadband upgrades.

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ASP Isotopes Investors Reach $9.4M Deal Over Tech Claims

By Sydney Price

Uranium enrichment company ASP Isotopes Inc. and its shareholders have reached a $9.4 million deal to end claims that the company and its executives artificially inflated share prices with misrepresentations regarding the capabilities of the company's so-called quantum enrichment technology.

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Archer Looks To Toss Remainder Of Joby's Trade Secret Suit

By Elliot Weld

Archer Aviation has asked a California federal judge to throw out what's left of rival electric air taxi-maker Joby Aviation's trade secret suit, saying Joby had ignored the court's instructions to proceed with narrowed claims and instead tried to expand its allegations without adding more substance.

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Norton Rose Adds Greenberg Traurig Corporate Duo

By Lynn LaRowe

Norton Rose Fulbright announced Wednesday that it has brought on a pair of former Greenberg Traurig LLP corporate attorneys who bring particular experience in the data center, digital infrastructure and energy sectors.

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Foley Adds Attys From Kirkland, Goodwin To Corporate Team

By Lynn LaRowe

Foley & Lardner LLP has strengthened its corporate bench with a Dallas-based partner who came aboard from Kirkland & Ellis LLP and a Boston-based partner from Goodwin Procter LLP.

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Proof, Not Just Timing, Will Decide Clean Energy Credits

For wind and solar projects that sprinted to begin construction before the accelerated placed-in-service deadline of July 4, project owners must now assemble and maintain documentation to qualify the project and defend against a potential clean energy credit audit, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

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Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

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Justices' Cuba Ruling Narrowly Recasts Sovereign Immunity

The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed Exxon Mobil's bid for $1 billion in damages for Cuban-seized property to proceed, but the ruling's doctrinal significance is in treating the Helms-Burton Act as a later, specific and self-contained statutory displacement of the default jurisdictional immunity regime, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

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Texas Business Court Rulings Show Deal Terms Paramount

As the courts within the Texas Business Court system have begun reaching the substantive merits of the cases before them, they are persuasively demonstrating they will not only enforce the terms of transactions as written, but will also embrace a holistic approach to complex transaction documentation interpretation, says Christopher Pace at Winston Taylor.

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Ohio Fuels Litigation Funding Debate As Foreign Ban Is Enacted

By Ryan Boysen

Ohio has enacted a sweeping law that bans all foreign litigation funders from doing business in the Buckeye State, drawing praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and outrage from the litigation finance industry.

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ABA Seeks Trump Docs In Suit Alleging Law Firm Intimidation

By Emily Sawicki

The Trump administration cannot rely on the presidential communications privilege to block disclosure of communications related to allegations that the president sought to intimidate BigLaw firms into conforming with his policy initiatives, the American Bar Association told a D.C. federal judge.

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Trump's SDNY Pick Steps In As Clayton Focuses On DC

By Pete Brush

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's pick to succeed him, James McDonald, will assume a leadership role as Clayton works on his own nomination for director of national intelligence in Washington.

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Judge Says Warning 'Sufficient Deterrent,' Nixing AI Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Kentucky federal judge has declined to sanction two attorneys who filed a brief that included errors generated by artificial intelligence amid a fraud case against a notary public, finding the lawyers had no history of misconduct and had shown sufficient remorse.

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Wis. Judge Avoids Prison Time In ICE Obstruction Sentence

By Nate Beck

A former Wisconsin state judge on Wednesday was fined $5,000 but will not serve prison time for obstructing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest of a defendant in her courtroom by directing him down a private hallway away from agents before he was later captured.

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Del. Judge Recuses Herself From Apollo $570M Payout Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Delaware vice chancellor presiding over litigation regarding a $570 million payout to Apollo Global Management Inc. insiders has disqualified herself from the case after a possible conflict of interest arose due to her former role as an attorney with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, which was involved in a merger with ties to the payout.

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Ga. Judge Rejects UPS Plaintiff's Bid To Force Recusal

By Madison Arnold

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event has opted not to recuse herself in the case of a former UPS employee in his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit.

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McCarter Trial Judge Has 'Serious Doubts' About NY Expert

By Brian Steele

The Hartford judge presiding over a $22.5 million lawsuit against McCarter & English LLP and a former partner said Wednesday he had "serious doubts" about allowing testimony from a defense expert, but let him proceed as long as he did not claim to interpret New York law.

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Morgan & Morgan Malpractice Fight Won't Get Another Review

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals has rejected Morgan & Morgan PA's bid to challenge a trial court ruling denying the firm's summary judgment motion in a legal malpractice case brought against it by clients seeking representation in a personal injury action.

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Day Pitney Can't Be Cut Off From New Counsel, Client Says

By Aaron Keller

A former Connecticut chief justice's ethics gaffe cannot preclude fellow lawyers at Day Pitney LLP from communicating with new counsel for John B. Clinton, a private equity management firm owner locked in a 13-year-old, $1.3 million corporate windup lawsuit, Clinton has urged a Connecticut state court judge to conclude.

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