Pa. County Urges Appeals Court To Revive Climate Suit

By Keith Goldberg

A Pennsylvania county's lawsuit that accuses oil companies of concealing the impacts of fossil fuels on climate change isn't preempted by federal law and should be revived, a state appellate court heard Wednesday.

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DC Circ. Not Fan Of EPA's Citation Habits In Methane Appeal

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit didn't seem too sure Wednesday morning whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had behaved how it ought to have when extending compliance deadlines for initiating requirements to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.

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3rd Circ. Backs Pa. Regulator In Pipeline Approval Fight

By George Woolston

The Third Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a Pennsylvania regulator's approval of a Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. project, ruling there was no evidence the water quality information pushed by environmental groups would have altered the outcome of the application.

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4 Questions After US, China Announce Tariff Shield

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. and China's recent announcement that they will shield a subset of goods from tariff actions and extend a trade truce is welcome by importers and advisers, though those stakeholders recognize more substantive policy outcomes between the world's two largest economies continue to face obstacles. Here, Law360 looks at four questions on the subject.

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Venture Global Beats Investor Action Over IPO Disclosures

By Katryna Perera

Energy company Venture Global Inc. has permanently defeated a proposed class action accusing it of hiding production issues and cost overruns at its Louisiana natural gas liquefaction and export projects ahead of its $1.75 billion initial public offering, with a New York federal judge finding the suit failed to plead any material misleading statements.

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Paraquat Judge Demands To Meet 700 Opt-Out Plaintiffs

By Cara Salvatore

The Illinois federal judge overseeing mass litigation claiming the herbicide paraquat causes Parkinson's disease ordered a plaintiffs' lawyer Wednesday to reveal who is funding his cases and to start attending fortnightly conferences so she can speak to each of his 700 clients who have opted out of a global settlement.

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Sens. Probe Meta For Claiming Tax Credits On AI Data Centers

By Gina Kim

Democratic senators called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to explain why he's justifying the use of billions in federal research tax credits to pay for building the company's AI data centers, warning that doing so is a possible misapplication of federal tax law that could prompt further investigation.

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Conn. AG, Advocate Want Utility Regulator To Probe AI Use

By Aaron Keller

Citing Avangrid Inc. and Eversource Energy statements about adopting artificial intelligence tools, Connecticut's attorney general and a ratepayer advocate office have urged state utilities regulators to launch an "extensive" review of whether AI is being employed to help manage electric, gas and water systems statewide.

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Atty Sanctioned For Vulgar Emails To Opposing Counsel

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal magistrate judge has sanctioned an attorney who serves as principal for an oil and gas exploration company locked in a trade secret misappropriation case with a rival after opposing counsel complained of his expletive-ridden emails containing ad hominem attacks.

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FirstEnergy Beats 3rd Circ. Appeal In Fatal Catwalk Fall Suit

By Matthew Santoni

The mother of a construction worker killed by a collapsing catwalk can't sue the former operator of a Pennsylvania power plant because she hadn't shown FirstEnergy Corp. retained sufficient control over a demolition contractor to share liability, a split Third Circuit panel ruled Wednesday.

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Argentina Seeks Pause In $732M Arbitral Award Suit

By Caroline Simson

Argentina is urging a D.C. federal court to pause litigation filed by the U.S. utility AES Corp. to enforce a more than $732 million arbitral award, months after an enforcement stay in ongoing annulment proceedings was lifted due to the country's inability to post security.

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EV Charging Co. To Pay Investors $4M In Liquidity Woes Suit

By Sydney Price

Bankrupt electric-vehicle charging infrastructure company Charge Enterprises Inc. has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve an investor's proposed class action alleging the company and its executives concealed a liquidity crisis involving the founder and his investment advisory firm before the company's downfall.

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Groups Win Bid To Reopen Suits Over Native Monument Cuts

By Crystal Owens

A D.C. district court judge has agreed to reopen a series of stayed cases challenging President Donald Trump's removal of millions of acres from the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, saying circumstances have changed after a Tenth Circuit decision.

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Canadian Mining Co., Mexico Move To Settle $1.3B Tax Feud

By Kevin Pinner

A Canadian mining company reached an agreement in principle with Mexico to settle a dispute over the validity of transfer pricing arrangements for offshore silver dealings by the company's subsidiary that have led to nearly $1.3 billion in assessments of taxes, penalties and interest.

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Willkie Grows DC Office With Senior Westinghouse Atty

By Christine DeRosa

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has expanded its offerings in the nation's capital with a nuclear energy attorney who most recently worked in-house at U.S.-based global nuclear power provider Westinghouse Electric Co.

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Bankruptcy Deadlines, Concessions Can Decide Lien Priority

The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Adler v. Energy Debt Holdings warns buyers of secured claims to watch for binding concessions in earlier proceedings and court-imposed lien challenge deadlines, says Jennifer Maleski at Dilworth Paxson.

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What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

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Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

By Hilary Russ

The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

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Analysis

Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

By Courtney Bublé

Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

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Norton Rose Beats $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright has defeated a former client's malpractice suit over a missed patent fee payment, after an Illinois state judge ruled that the deadline to sue began before the firm allegedly acknowledged its mistake and dismissed the company's $100 million lawsuit against the firm with prejudice.

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Murdaugh Tells 4th Circ. To Revive Jury Tampering Civil Suit

By Cara Salvatore

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to revive his suit accusing a court clerk of interfering in his murder trial, arguing he has standing because the alleged tampering "destroyed the value" of his $600,000 defense.

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Judge Who Called For Philly DA Probe Rejects Recusal Bid

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge who called for an investigation of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will not reconsider or recuse himself from the underlying habeas corpus case, calling DA Larry Krasner's bid to undo his rulings "frivolous" and "intemperate."

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Crowell Faces DQ Bid Over AI Tool At Heart Of Client's IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

DeviantArt urged a California federal judge Wednesday to disqualify Crowell & Moring LLP from representing Evox Productions in litigation alleging multiple AI companies used Evox's copyrighted car photos to train artificial-intelligence image generators, arguing the firm "unquestionably" represented DeviantArt and has "sued its own client on behalf of another client."

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Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

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Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Slams Feds' Skewed Facts

By Lauren Berg

A woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the Fourth Circuit that federal prosecutors have presented a "wildly inaccurate description" of a Maryland federal judge's sentencing decision, rejecting their argument that she got off too easy because of her gender identity.

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NYC Sanctuary Policies Survive Trump Admin. Lawsuit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday tossed the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York City policies that the administration alleged unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, saying federal law the administration leaned on does not preempt the sanctuary provisions.

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