Analysis

3rd Circ.'s Grid-Planning Ruling Will Coax States To Play Ball

By Keith Goldberg

A Third Circuit decision limiting states' ability to block transmission projects already greenlighted by regional grid operators could make a federal overhaul of transmission planning policies more appealing, even as several states and utilities pursue litigation to block the changes.

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Phillips 66 Faces Retrial After 'Improper' Infringement Theory

By Ivan Moreno

The Federal Circuit on Monday ordered a new trial over allegations that Phillips 66 infringed Magēmā Technology's oil refinery patents, saying in a precedential opinion that a Texas federal court wrongfully concluded that Phillips' noninfringement theory was harmless, as it had also found the theory "improper and prejudicial."

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Chamber Accuses Mich. Of 'Gamesmanship' In Pipeline Fight

By Carolyn Muyskens

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has urged the Supreme Court to rule that judges have the power to waive the deadline to transfer a lawsuit to federal court in special circumstances, saying Michigan shouldn't be allowed to play procedural games to keep a case against energy infrastructure firm Enbridge Energy LP in state court. 

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Trump Returns To High Court In Foreign Aid Freeze Dispute

By Katie Buehler

President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to pause a lower court's order requiring the administration to release roughly $4 billion in frozen foreign aid, claiming the ruling interferes with his attempt to lawfully rescind the funding.

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GAO Flags Barriers In Tribal Energy Loan Program

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said a federal agency program designed to support Indigenous nations in developing energy projects through loans is limiting its accessibility and effectiveness through high, unpredictable costs; unclear guidance; and a lack of tribal expertise.

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Brief

Lawmakers Push To Finalize Tribal Water Rights Settlements

By Benjamin Morse

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging congressional leaders to make a move on several tribal water rights settlement bills that are pending before the U.S. Senate, saying that doing so will prevent costly litigation and ensure tribes and others have access to water.

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Texas Data Center Campus Developer Files For IPO

By Grace Dixon

Former U.S. energy secretary Rick Perry's Fermi America filed for an initial public offering Monday, guided by Haynes and Boone LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP.

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Groups' Exxon Plastic Recycling Nuisance Claims Can Proceed

By Emily Field

A California federal judge ruled Friday that environmental groups can move forward with their public-nuisance claims accusing Exxon Mobil Corp. of knowingly fueling the state's plastic pollution crisis, rejecting the energy company's contention that the suit is merely a disguised product liability case.

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Calif. Says Texas Doesn't Belong In Emissions Waiver Fight

By Spencer Brewer

The state of California told a federal judge that Texas has no business in a suit challenging the revocation of Clean Air Act waivers that allowed the state to set its own emissions standards, saying the Lone Star State wishes to inject "collateral issues" into the suit.

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2 Firms Steer $540M IPO For Oilfield Water Infrastructure Co.

By Nate Beck

Houston, Texas-based oilfield water management company WaterBridge Infrastructure said Monday that it is seeking to raise up to $540 million in an initial public offering guided by Latham & Watkins LLP and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

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Greek Pipe Co.'s Data Gaps Merit Tariff Hike, Fed. Circ. Says

By Natalie Olivo

Tariffs against Greek pipe importers will stay in place, the Federal Circuit found Monday, affirming a U.S. Court of International Trade holding that the companies submitted deficient financial data, requiring the U.S. Department of Commerce to fill in certain information gaps when calculating the duties.

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Exxon, BP, Others Keep Dismissal Of Pa. Benzene Suit

By Mike Curley

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Monday refused to reinstate a woman's suit alleging that products from Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Products North America Inc. and others exposed her husband to benzene, leading to his death, ruling the trial court rightly found that North Carolina is the far better venue.

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Steptoe & Johnson Adds Olympus Energy Atty In Pittsburgh

By Christine DeRosa

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC has grown its Pittsburgh office with the addition of a senior counsel from oil and natural gas company Olympus Energy LLC.

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Senate Confirms Florida And Missouri Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed two judges Tuesday, one for Florida and the other for Missouri.

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DA Willis, Lawmakers Cite Novel Fight In Constitutional Clash

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia Senate committee investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her prosecution of President Donald Trump and others in an election interference case and Willis stressed to the state Supreme Court the novel nature of their dispute over a subpoena ordering her to testify, while they took competing sides on the constitutional issues at stake.

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Kennedys Lands Ex-Bullivant Houser Team In Seattle

By Matt Perez

U.K.-based law firm Kennedys, which opened a Seattle office less than a year ago, announced Tuesday the hiring of an eight-person insurance and litigation team formerly of Bullivant Houser Bailey PC.

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Feds, State Push Fla. Justices To Reject Bondi Ethics Probe

By Madison Arnold

The federal government and the state of Florida both threw their support behind the Florida Bar and its decision not to investigate U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for alleged unethical conduct, calling a Sunshine State lawyer's attempt to force an investigation "lawfare."

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'Whiz Honor' Judge Accused Of Trying To Sway Sentencing

By James Boyle

A Philadelphia judge under investigation for ethics violations related to the promotion of his wife's cheesesteak shop faces new disciplinary charges over allegations that he attempted to influence a fellow judge's sentencing decision for an associate of rapper Meek Mill.

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Ga. Judges Keep Trump's Interim US Atty In Atlanta Post

By Chart Riggall

Judges of the Northern District of Georgia have voted to tap interim U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg as the district's top prosecutor, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday, keeping the Trump administration's pick to helm the Atlanta office in place for now.

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Analysis

Why SEC, CFTC Crypto Rules 'Sprint' Could Be A Marathon

By Phillip Bantz

The White House-backed push to entice the crypto industry's return to the U.S. with clearer rules is off to a quick start, but experts say the process could drag on longer than anticipated as regulators navigate competing interests of embracing the evolving digital assets market and protecting consumers.

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Career SEC Attorney Joins Latham's DC Finance Practice

By Jack Rodgers

Latham & Watkins LLP has hired the former chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Structured Finance, who is joining the firm after more than 20 years at the agency, to work with those structured finance clients.

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Ex-CFTC Atty Presses Religious Bias Claim At 2nd Circ.

By Frank G. Runyeon

A former Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawyer urged an inquisitive panel of the Second Circuit Tuesday to revive the religious discrimination claims he brought alleging a "gag order" effectively banned him from praying with a friend who was serving as the agency watchdog at the time.

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