Analysis

Feds Gain Ground In Energy Permit Turf War With States

By Keith Goldberg

A federal judge's endorsement earlier this month of the Trump administration's restart of a pipeline over California's objections will likely embolden the federal government to override state opposition to energy project development, but the ruling won't be the last word on the legality of such moves.

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Calif. Challenges Trump Admin's Offshore Wind Lease Buyout

By Bonnie Eslinger

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a federal lawsuit on Friday against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind LLC, claiming the government unlawfully used a $120 million buyout of the company's offshore wind energy lease to end the renewable energy project and facilitate fossil fuel development.

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Industries, States Take Soot Rule Fight To Supreme Court

By Tom Lotshaw

A coalition of industry groups and 25 states led by Kentucky and West Virginia have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit decision that upheld a challenged rule imposing tighter nationwide limits on soot pollution.

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Trump Admin Wants Oklahoma Smelter Suit Thrown Out

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to dismiss Oklahoma's challenge of a massive aluminum smelter project the Trump administration has backed with a $500 million grant, arguing that the case is premature and that the facility is vital to national security.

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Rising Star: Simpson Thacher's Javad Asghari

By Keith Goldberg

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP's Javad Asghari helped guide EQT Infrastructure in its partnership with Blackrock's Global Infrastructure Partners to buy utility AES Corp. in a deal worth $33.4 billion, and Stonepeak's $5.7 billion investment in an $18 billion liquefied natural gas project, earning him a spot among the energy law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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DOJ Cites National Security In $173M Ukraine Award Suit

By Caroline Simson

The Trump administration Thursday backed Ukraine as it fights efforts by one of Russia's largest oil companies to unpause litigation aimed at enforcing a confirmed $173 million arbitral award, pointing to Russia's increasing reputation as a "surveillance state with severely eroded rule-of-law protections."

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ConocoPhillips Can't Dodge Climate Torts, Wash. Tribes Say

By Rachel Riley

Two Native American tribes urged a Washington state judge Friday to preserve their climate change tort claims against ConocoPhillips, contending there's a "clear connection" between the oil company's Washington ties, its alleged actions downplaying the dangers of burning fossil fuels and the tribes' purported injuries.

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Judge Upholds Robert Bosch Victory In Fuel Patent Trial

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal judge has refused to grant a Canadian fuel system company a new trial in its patent infringement case against engineering firm Robert Bosch, saying the company had not met the high standard to overturn a jury verdict.

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Fintechs Back 24/7 Futures Trading As Energy Producers Balk

By Aislinn Keely

Commodity and energy producers cautioned the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against enabling round-the-clock trading and perpetual contracts on the energy industry, while many trading platforms told the agency that they believe they can mitigate the risks that come with extended trading hours.

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Mazda Driver Avoids Sanctions In Oil-Burning Defect Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

A North Carolina federal judge has refused to sanction a Mazda driver and his attorneys for their attempt to revive a proposed class action over an alleged oil‑burning defect, finding the effort unlikely to succeed but not improper.

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Brief

ITC Finds Pipes From 3 Countries May Harm US Industry

By Jack McLoone

Stainless line and pressure pipes from India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that are allegedly being sold at unfair prices appear to be harming domestic U.S. industry, the U.S. International Trade Commission preliminarily found Friday.

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NJ Law Requires Data Centers To Report Utility Usage

By Isaac Monterose

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a bill into law Thursday that requires data centers in the state to provide the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities with semiannual water and energy usage reports.

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Brief

Energy Biz Names Ex-SFO Senior Official As GC

By Tom Fish

North American Blue Energy Partners has appointed a former senior legal official at the Serious Fraud Office as its general counsel as the oil and gas company prepares to expand operations, increase production and pursue new partnerships.

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McDermott Closing Health Policy Shop In DC

By Alison Knezevich

McDermott Will & Schulte is closing its healthcare lobbying and consulting shop after a dozen years in business.

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Feature

Rachael Rollins Pitches Scandal As Asset In Comeback Bid

By Taylor Bowie

Rachael Rollins rode a progressive wave to become Suffolk County's district attorney in 2019. After a scandal derailed her stint as Massachusetts U.S. attorney, she's trying to win her old DA post back, and leaning into her alleged ethical missteps as a resume boost.

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Calif. County Judges Recuse From Bias Suit Against DA's Office

By Patrick Hoff

The entire bench of a county court recused itself from a lawsuit alleging the San Francisco District Attorney's Office didn't take appropriate action when a Black employee reported a colleague's use of a racial slur, pushing the trial in the decade-old case to early October.

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'Exemplary Performance' Earns Google Users' Attys $146.8M

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge Friday awarded plaintiffs' attorneys $146.8 million in fees after they secured a $425 million jury verdict against Google LLC in a privacy class action covering about 98 million people, calling the one-third fee award "extraordinary" but justified given their "exemplary performance."

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House Eyes Vote To Lock Supreme Court At 9 Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The House returns from recess on Monday, and its agenda could include a vote to keep the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices at nine.

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Trump Denied New Bid To Federalize Hush Money Prosecution

By Pete Brush

A New York federal judge on Friday again denied President Donald Trump's bid to move his criminal hush money conviction out of state court, finding as he did earlier that a federal law defense that Trump was operating in his official capacity would be meritless.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen shoe brand Crocs bring an appeal against the chief executive of the U.K.'s Intellectual Property Office, singer Alanis Morissette sued by the former head of operations at Live Nation Israel and the son of convicted fraudster Guo Wengui file an appeal against the Chapter 11 trustee controlling his father's bankruptcy estate. 

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

KKR will pay a $250 million civil penalty to end allegations that it hid key documentation and entire transactions for merger notification. In the meantime, Apple told an Illinois federal judge that a recent Seventh Circuit decision affirming Samsung's win in a biometric privacy suit means the tech giant should prevail over similar claims. 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

WilmerHale leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal judge held that the U.S. Department of Defense's designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security was retaliation for the company's public criticism of the Trump administration.

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

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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