9th Circ. Backs Wash. In PacifiCorp Carbon Law Regs Fight

By Rachel Riley

A divided Ninth Circuit panel declined on Friday to reinstate PacifiCorp's claims that Washington's carbon emissions cap-and-invest program unconstitutionally increases electricity prices for its out-of-state customers, concluding that the power company has not plausibly alleged the targeted regulations discriminate against interstate commerce.

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Mass. Data Center's Expansion Paused For Now

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts state judge temporarily blocked a data center's expansion plans in Lowell on Monday, finding opponents of the project may be poised to succeed on the basis that they weren't given a full opportunity to be heard.

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9th Circ. Won't Revisit Kids' Suit Over Trump's Energy EOs

By Lauren Berg

The full Ninth Circuit on Monday declined to rehear a group of youths' legal challenge of President Donald Trump's executive orders spurring the use of fossil fuels to meet the country's energy needs.

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Judge Lets Feds Drop Adani Fraud Counts But Rebukes DOJ

By Rachel Riley

A New York federal judge agreed Monday to toss fraud charges accusing Adani Group Chairman Gautam S. Adani of misleading investors about a $250 million bribery scheme to score solar energy contracts, while sharply criticizing the U.S. Department of Justice's "highly unusual" move to drop the case.

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Calif. Unveils Novel AI Cyber Defense Plan For Critical Assets

By Allison Grande

California's governor on Monday rolled out a first-of-its-kind initiative to help state agencies, local governments and critical infrastructure providers use artificial intelligence to detect and respond to increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats and be better prepared for incidents fueled by emerging AI technologies.

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Okla. Co. Says Rig Seizure Claims Don't Need Redo

By Caroline Simson

An Oklahoma-based oil drilling company urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb a D.C. Circuit ruling ordering Venezuela's state-owned oil company to face long-pending expropriation allegations, saying an underlying circuit split is too narrow to warrant the high court's attention.

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Final Albright Patent Trial Ends In No Infringement Finding

By Adam Lidgett

A Western District of Texas jury has found that GD Energy Products did not infringe a patent covering a packing assembly for pumps used in the oil and gas industry, marking the end of the final patent trial overseen by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright.

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Crypto, Data Center Noise Has 'Shattered' NC Town, Suit Says

By Hayley Fowler

A cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence data center in rural North Carolina is emitting a cacophony that is destroying local residents' quality of life, according to neighbors who allege the operators have refused to take steps to mitigate the alleged nuisance.

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Gates Manager Fired After His Bias, Safety Reports, Suit Says

By Taylor Bowie

Power transmission belts manufacturer Gates Corp. unlawfully fired a regional health and safety manager after he escalated concerns about regulatory violations, environmental compliance and the disparate treatment of minority employees, according to a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court over the weekend.

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Cleary Starts Energy, Infrastructure Group With Latest Lateral

By Anna Sanders

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP announced the launch of a new energy and infrastructure group Monday to be led by its latest addition as the white-shoe firm looks to match last year's lateral hiring and respond to evolving client needs amid an artificial intelligence boom.

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Trump Picks Ex-Personal Lawyer As New White House Counsel

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's incoming White House counsel is a former personal attorney for the president who is already working for the White House and was at the U.S. Department of Justice during his first term.

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Ill. Gov. Signs Bill Restricting PE Role In Legal Industry

By Emma Cueto

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed into law a bill designed to target nonlawyer ownership of law firms, outlawing fee sharing with out-of-state alternative business structures and attempting to place restrictions on law firms' use of managed services organizations.

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Spa Fights 9th Circ.'s 'Swinging Dicks' Order At High Court

By Jeff Overley

The Ninth Circuit's rejection of a spa's religious objections to serving transgender customers is incompatible with several major precedents, according to a U.S. Supreme Court petition filed Monday in litigation that soared in prominence when dozens of circuit judges decried a salacious dissent.

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CREXi Can't Stay CoStar Case For Quinn Emanuel DQ Appeal

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court rejected a bid Monday from Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc., or CREXi, for a stay in CoStar's copyright case while CREXi looks to undo the disqualification of its attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.

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Biz Owners Appeal Morgan Lewis Win In Tax Shelter Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A pair of business owners asked the Florida Supreme Court to reverse a decision affirming judgment in favor of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP in a dispute over whether the law firm had routed income through illegal tax shelters.

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