1-Year Biofuel Exemptions Eligibility Upheld For 2 Refineries

By Gautama Mehta

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated its own regulations by denying exemptions from biofuel blending requirements to two oil refineries in Louisiana and Wyoming, the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday.

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3rd Circ. Rules No Infringement In Posting Of Building Codes

By P.J. D'Annunzio

In a precedential opinion Tuesday, the Third Circuit ruled that a company's posting of the American Society for Testing and Materials' copyrighted technical standards online was a fair use of the information that did not infringe ASTM's copyright.

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DC Circ. Affirms Venezuela Can't Escape $1B Exxon Award

By Craig Clough

The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday summarily affirmed a ruling enforcing a $1 billion arbitral award against Venezuela in a dispute with three Exxon Mobil affiliates, saying a lower court judge correctly rejected the interim government's argument that the illegitimate government of President Nicolás Maduro was wrongly allowed to argue the case.

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Feds Say Iranian Hackers Are Targeting 'Critical' Infrastructure

By Hailey Konnath

A handful of federal agencies issued a joint cybersecurity advisory Tuesday warning that Iranian-affiliated hackers are taking aim at "critical infrastructure," including drinking water and wastewater systems, leading to multiple disruptions across various sectors.

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DC Circ. Rules That Russia Can't Stall $242M Award Suits

By Joyce Hanson

The D.C. Circuit has opted not to pause litigation aimed at making Russia pay more than $242 million in arbitral awards owed to Ukrainian power and gas companies while the Kremlin appeals the circuit's foreign sovereign immunity ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Rivera Kept $50M Venezuela Deal Quiet, Ex-Partner Says

By Carolina Bolado

The government's star witness took the stand Tuesday in the criminal case against former U.S. Rep. David Rivera of Florida, telling jurors that Rivera and others kept a $50 million consulting contract with a unit of Venezuela's state-owned oil company quiet because of concerns about how it would be perceived in Miami.

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Wis. Tribe Tries To Block Pipeline Around Reservation

By Jared Foretek

A Wisconsin tribe is challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' permit allowing an energy company to reroute 41 miles of a crude oil pipeline around the tribe's reservation, claiming the Corps approved it without sufficiently assessing the risk of oil spills and other problems.

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Fishermen, Seafood Sellers Sue LOOP Over La. Oil Spill

By Mike Curley

A group of fishermen and seafood companies is suing the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP LLC, over a February oil spill that saw 31,500 gallons of heavy Venezuelan crude oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, saying LOOP's slow-walking of cleanup puts their livelihoods and the local ecosystem in danger.

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10th Circ. Says Enviro Groups Skipped Steps In Mine Dispute

By Elaine Briseño

A unanimous Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday denied two environmental groups judicial review of their efforts to block the expansion of a Colorado coal mine, citing incongruous arguments and a failure to submit a formal objection during the permit-review process.

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What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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2 Rulings Poke Holes In Mandatory Restitution Framework

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ellingburg v. U.S., as well as the Third Circuit’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Abrams, provide criminal defense practitioners with new tools to challenge Mandatory Victims Restitution Act orders, and highlight several restitution-related issues that converged in the recent prosecution of former Frank CEO Charlie Javice, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

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Axed Trade Secret Award Cautions Against Bundling Damages

The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in Trinseo v. Harper, vacating a $75 million jury verdict for trade secret misappropriation due to a bundled damages model, offers a strong reminder to apportion damages so a jury can award a nonspeculative figure when it credits only some alleged secrets, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

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Pregnant DLA Piper Atty Recounts Firing: 'This Feels Wrong'

By Pete Brush

A former associate who claims DLA Piper unlawfully fired her after she announced she was pregnant told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday that she got positive feedback as she worked with large corporate clients and was "shocked" when she was terminated.

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Blanche Says Only Trump Knows Why Bondi's Leaving DOJ

By Courtney Bublé

Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he is now acting attorney general and no one, beyond the president, knows why Pam Bondi is out and he is in.

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Calif. Lawmakers Advance Bill To Curtail PE Role In Litigation

By Emily Sawicki

A California bill to ban corporate investors from influencing litigation strategy is heading to the state Senate, backed by bipartisan support from the Assembly.

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Top DOJ Immigration Atty Faces Ethics Complaint

By Jack Karp

The head of the U.S. Department of Justice's immigration litigation office has lied to judges, disobeyed court orders and failed to stop attorneys he supervises from engaging in misconduct in high-profile immigration cases, according to an ethics complaint filed Tuesday.

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Analysis

Habeas Orders Sharpen As Due Process Concerns Mount

By Britain Eakin

Federal judges are issuing increasingly detailed, critical and decisive orders for habeas relief in immigration cases, stepping in as what immigration experts say is a last resort check on a system viewed as having crumbling due process safeguards.

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DOJ Pushes To End Former Immigration Judge's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

The U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss a former Ohio immigration judge's discrimination suit in D.C. federal court this week, calling the complaint "heavy on conclusory statements and speculation and light on allegations of fact."

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Calif. Atty Apologizes, Blames OpenCase For False Citations

By Matt Perez

A California attorney has filed a response to an order for potential sanctions over his alleged use of artificial intelligence, which resulted in false citations, saying the hallucinations appeared in a later draft after using OpenCase to perform a cite check.

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Audio

Approach The Bench: Judge Robinson On Community Court

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

Judge Devin Robinson's courtroom at the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn looks and feels very different from the courthouse archetype.

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States, DC Back NY AG James In DOJ Probe Appeal

By Emily Sawicki

Backed by amici including the attorneys general of 20 states and the District of Columbia, New York Attorney General Letitia James is fighting the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to reopen an investigation into her office launched by a federal prosecutor found to have been serving unlawfully.

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