Texas Biz Court Weighs If It Can Hear La. Antitrust Claims

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas Business Court judge fielded dueling arguments Wednesday on whether the court should be able to hear claims brought under Louisiana antitrust and unfair trade practices laws, a move Exxon Mobil Corp. and its subsidiaries said is a no-go.

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Empire Wind Seeks Permanent End To Stop-Work Order

By Nadia Dreid

The developers of a $4 billion offshore wind energy project that should power half a million New York homes once it's finished believe it's time for a D.C. federal judge to once and for all tell the Trump administration that it cannot interfere with its construction.

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Vineyard Wind Contractor Asks Judge To Pull Work Order

By Carolyn Muyskens

A GE Vernova subsidiary urged a judge in Boston to lift his order forcing it to continue as principal contractor for a major offshore wind project Wednesday, saying recent events undermine the narrative that the $4 billion venture's success hangs on the contractor staying.

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4th Circ. Judge Flags Energy Shortage Harms In Pipeline Fight

By Abigail Harrison

A Fourth Circuit judge on Wednesday appeared less than pleased with counsel for a collection of environmental groups during a hearing to consider halting construction on an interstate pipeline, calling attention to the "one sentence" devoted to the public harm of ongoing energy shortages.

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Latham Guides Geothermal Startup Fervo's Upsized $1.9B IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Geothermal energy developer Fervo Energy hit the public markets on Wednesday after raising $1.9 billion in its upsized initial public offering.

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Brief

Canada Allocating Over $3.4M To Firms Hit By US Tariffs

By Jack McLoone

The Canadian government has announced a total of over CA$4.7 million ($3.4 million) in grants to support small or medium-size aluminum businesses this week to help the companies cope with U.S. tariffs, including nearly CA$2.1 million in funding Wednesday.

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Calif. Gas Station Leak Suit Came Too Late, Judge Says

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A California federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Tesoro Companies of failing to handle carcinogenic exposure from a gas station, saying the claims were brought too late.

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Ore. Justices Urged To Reverse PacifiCorp Appeal Win

By Cara Salvatore

Property owners urged the Oregon Supreme Court Wednesday to overturn a decision wiping out their wildfire damages verdict against PacifiCorp, saying the ruling leaves the state "without a workable framework" for class trials and citing "unfortunate appearance-of-justice concerns" regarding the judge who wrote the opinion.

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Spain Can't Delay $47M Award Collection, D.C. Judge Says

By Caroline Simson

A D.C. federal judge nixed Spain's bid to pause litigation aimed at enforcing a renewable energy investor's arbitral award now worth more than $47 million, ruling that the "long and difficult trail" faced by award creditor Blasket Renewable Investments LLC made a stay inappropriate.

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EV Station Builder Accused Of Masking Wages As Per Diem

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia construction contractor specializing in EV charging stations used a misleading per diem system to avoid paying its laborers overtime, a former employee alleged in a proposed collective action.

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Tesla Shareholders Appeal Suit Dismissal Tied To Texas Move

By Sydney Price

Tesla shareholders, whose breach of fiduciary duty suit against Elon Musk and the automaker's directors was dismissed last month following the company's move to Texas, appealed the dismissal to the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday.

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Data Center Insurance Boom May Obscure Claims' Difficulty

The rush of carrier capital into the data center space should not obscure a distinct and evolving set of policyholder risks that existing insurance products were not designed to address, along with the further complexity of layered claims for the extremely valuable properties, says Carlton Wilde at Bracewell.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

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Murdaugh Murder Conviction Overturned By SC High Court

By Parker Quinlan

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a double murder conviction and ordered a new trial for disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh, finding the jury in his first trial was biased by a clerk of court who allegedly sought a guilty verdict in a ploy to juice sales of her book about the trial.

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Texas Atty Must Pay $5M For Groping Opposing Counsel

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas state appellate court on Wednesday refused to disturb a $5 million jury verdict against a San Antonio lawyer for grabbing the buttocks of opposing counsel at the courthouse where they were arguing a family law proceeding in 2019.

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DOJ Goes After DC Bar, Courts For Discipline Of Ex-DOJ Atty

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday sued the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, D.C. Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia, claiming that they were "punishing" a former Trump administration DOJ official and trying to "control the executive branch."

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DOJ Fraud Division Set To Shake Up White-Collar Enforcement

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's administration created the U.S. Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division with a narrow focus on combating government program fraud, but a move to retain federal prosecutors focused on other types of fraud could signal a wider scope with potential ripple effects across white-collar enforcement.

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Arbitrators See Global Stakes In Trump BigLaw EO Fight

By Caroline Simson

Ahead of a D.C. Circuit hearing on Thursday in the Trump administration's effort to revive executive orders imposed against four BigLaw firms, an official at the College of Commercial Arbitrators told Law360 this week there are several things arbitrators are going to be watching for.

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Apple Targets Hagens Berman 'Gamesmanship' In ICloud Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Apple has lashed out at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for trying to withdraw a named plaintiff from an iCloud antitrust case in California federal court without discovery into any directions she received to preserve now-deleted emails, raising concerns that the withdrawal is meant to "paper over lost evidence."

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Michigan Federal Judge Gets Probation For Drunken Driving

By Susan Smiley

Michigan federal Judge Thomas L. Ludington was sentenced by a state judge on Wednesday to six months' probation and fined $1,175 after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge last month in Emmet County.

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6th Circ. Says Kentucky Judicial Hopefuls May Tout Ideology

By Emily Sawicki

Kentucky judicial hopefuls are cleared to discuss their political leanings on the campaign trail, according to a precedential ruling by the Sixth Circuit, which permanently enjoined the state's Judicial Conduct Commission from pursuing an enforcement action against two candidates who described themselves as "conservatives" and "Republicans" amid the 2022 election season.

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Judge Says LegalForce Must Pay $93K After Losing TM Suit

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge on Wednesday ordered LegalForce RAPC Worldwide PC to pay nearly $93,000 in fees and costs to the company that operates LawFirms.com, finding the case to be exceptional because LegalForce alleged facts it knew were false and took steps to obscure other facts that showed its case was meritless.

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CORRECTED: Senate Advances 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to advance the nomination of 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the status of the nominees in the Senate.

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