Analysis

Why Trump's 2nd Global Tariff May Fare Better On Appeal

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump's administration on Friday appealed the U.S. Court of International Trade's ruling deeming his temporary global tariff unlawful to the Federal Circuit, where judges may view the executive action with more deference than the measures it immediately replaced.

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Exxon Asks For Midtrial Judgment In Investor Class Action

By Spencer Brewer

Exxon Mobil Corp. filed a motion midtrial claiming that no reasonable jury could find that the energy giant breached securities laws with its representations of how much money some of its operations were making, saying that investors' class action claims failed as a matter of law.

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Oil Groups Say Offshore Drilling Exemption Moots Lawsuit

By Keith Goldberg

Chevron and offshore industry groups have told a federal judge that the recent exemption of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities from Endangered Species Act requirements moots a lawsuit challenging federal evaluations of offshore drilling's effects on endangered species.

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Mich. Panel Says Renewable Energy Siting Order Too Limiting

By Elaine Briseño

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the state's energy regulatory body unlawfully limited which local governments can participate in the siting process for large renewable energy projects.

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Canceled Solar Grants Suit In Wrong Court, Wash. Judge Hints

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge on Friday hinted that she lacks jurisdiction over a multistate challenge to the federal government's cancellation of a solar energy project grant program, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent indicating that a bid to reinstate the funding would belong in the Court of Federal Claims.

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Clarity Sought On Energy Tax Credits And Foreign Debt

By Kat Lucero

The IRS should issue more guidance on what kind of debt arrangements can limit a development project's access to clean energy tax credits under new prohibited foreign entity requirements as uncertainty over financial liability and ownership becomes a major market concern, practitioners said Friday.

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Interior Dept. Transfers 1.4M Acres To Alaska For Development

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced it made 1.4 million acres of federal land available to Alaska to make way for more state energy production, as part of its broader land transfer program under the Alaska Statehood Act.

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Venezuela Oil Co. Seeks Redo On Rig Seizure Claims

By Caroline Simson

Venezuela's state-owned oil company is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a D.C. Circuit opinion ordering the company to face long-pending allegations of unlawfully seizing an Oklahoma-based oil drilling company's rigs, arguing the ruling upends decades of precedent on the act of state doctrine.

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Vartabedian Katz Sanctioned Over Atty Privilege Violation

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas state court has leveled $120,000 in sanctions against Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes LLP for wrongfully obtaining privileged information through discussions with a former in-house counsel of Pioneer Natural Resources in connection with a dispute over oil and gas leases.

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Pro Energy Granted $1.85M Refunds Over Pulled Tax License

By Gina Kim

A Florida federal judge on Friday ruled Pro Energy LLC can recover $1.85 million in refunds from fuel excise taxes it paid despite being registered as an ultimate vendor, which should have allowed it to make tax-free fuel and gas sales to state and local governments.

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Poland Tells DC Circ. Trader Can't Revive Annulled Award

By Joyce Hanson

Poland has asked the D.C. Circuit to affirm a lower court's decision denying confirmation of Mercuria Energy Group's annulled $40 million arbitral award, saying the Cypriot commodities trading firm's disappointment with the annulment doesn't mean the appeals court should deviate from controlling precedent.

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Hydroturbine Buyer Said Seller Hid $10M In Liabilities

By Jarek Rutz

A hydroturbine business and its parent company have sued Wärtsilä in Delaware Chancery Court, saying the company hid or failed to properly account for liabilities before selling American Hydro and then refused to send a postclosing purchase price dispute to an agreed-upon accounting arbiter.

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Tort Report: Tesla's Legal Exposure Seen As High As $14.5B

By Y. Peter Kang

A new report stating that Tesla faces billions in legal liabilities and a $140 million football brain injury verdict against the NCAA lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Trump Illegally Fired Mine Safety Commissioner, Suit Says

By Grace Elletson

A Biden-era appointee to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission sued President Donald Trump in D.C. federal court, claiming the president illegally fired him from the adjudication body before his six-year term was up without justification.

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Rightsizing Regulation To Usher In Next-Generation Nuclear

Next-generation nuclear seems to be having its moment as a recent flurry of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking aims to fast-track the licensing and deployment of such technologies, says Hilary Jacobs at Beveridge & Diamond.

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Expect Trade Enforcers' Cartel Crackdown To Continue

Since agencies’ coordinated enforcement efforts targeting cartel-related activity have not slowed, U.S. companies in Latin America should assess new business lines for designated-cartel ties, scrutinize highest-risk third parties, and enhance training and internal investigation practices, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

Notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year included reminders about the statute of limitations as a key defense for claims relating to allegedly deficient forms, the importance of focus on the specific contract at issue and further guidance on the contours of Rule 23, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

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Ex-Wachtell Lipton Atty Tied To Stolen BigLaw Info Trades

By Chris Villani

A former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz attorney who later worked for investment bank LionTree LLC is an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping alleged insider trading scheme that involved stolen information from several prominent law firms, according to a review of publicly available information.

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Legal Industry Bounces Back, Gaining 2,400 Jobs In April

By Tracey Read

The legal sector is once again on a positive trajectory, gaining 2,400 jobs last month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Top Atty In DOJ Appeal Over Law Firm Exec Orders To Depart

By Jake Maher

The lead federal prosecutor on the Trump administration's appeal to reinstate executive orders targeting four law firms is stepping down from his government role at the end of May, he publicly announced this week.

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DLA Piper Accused Of 'Frivolous' Suit To Please Chipotle GC

By Gina Kim

DLA Piper aggressively litigated a "frivolous" computer fraud lawsuit against a nonprofit volunteer in order to appease the then-general counsel of Chipotle, a client, who referred the case to the firm, according to a malicious-prosecution complaint filed Thursday in California state court. 

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Prosecutor Faces Probe Into Withheld Immigration Case Info

By Bonnie Eslinger

The lead assistant federal prosecutor for Rhode Island's civil division is under investigation for allegedly withholding information in an immigration case, according to an order from the Ocean State's top federal judge.

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Prosecutors Oppose Move To Put Off Goldstein Sentencing

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors are claiming that SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein may have violated his pretrial release conditions when he racked up over $1.7 million in gambling income last year, telling a federal judge not to delay sentencing for the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Morrisons sued by a former logistics partner, EDF and Cripps LLP face a claim brought by a family estate near Hinkley Point C and a former BBC broadcaster file a defamation claim against a Welsh news site over articles linking her to Russian state media and conspiracy theories. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits section said agency investigations will focus on benefit plan managers' loyalty conflicts, including pursuit of socially conscious goals. Meanwhile, Dell became the latest company to consider Texas as its new legal home. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a split Seventh Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration's argument that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

By Adam LoBelia

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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