Analysis

High Court Crafts Escape Hatch In Review Of Climate Torts

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to determine whether a climate change lawsuit against fossil fuel companies can proceed in state court, but the justices also created a potential off-ramp by questioning whether they can actually hear the case.

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Justices Will Mull Future Of State Climate Torts

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to determine the future of climate change tort litigation brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies, agreeing Monday to review whether a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. and Suncor Energy can proceed in state court.

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Justices Wary Of Broad Reading Of Cuba Expropriation Law

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared inclined to erect guardrails around a federal law allowing U.S. victims of property seizures by the Cuban government to seek damages, in a pair of cases involving damages that could exceed $1 billion and claimants that include Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Justices Reject Eni Natural Gas Project Feud

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined Italian energy giant Eni's bid to review a New York appellate court decision that it says "stretched the claim preclusion doctrine beyond all constitutional bounds," in a long-running and multifaceted dispute stemming from a deal over a billion-dollar Mississippi liquefied natural gas processing facility.

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Chubb Unit Can't Duck $3M Oil Well Injury Overpayment Claim

By Hope Patti

A Chubb unit can't escape an insurer's counterclaim seeking to recoup $3 million it paid to settle an oil well injury suit, a Texas federal court ruled, saying the other carrier adequately alleged a well-site director accused of fostering an unsafe work environment was an employee of Chubb's insured.

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States Back Challenge To IRS Nix Of Wind, Solar Safe Harbor

By Asha Glover

Sixteen Democratic-led states are backing a legal challenge to an Internal Revenue Service notice eliminating a safe harbor test that large wind and solar projects could use to qualify for clean energy tax credits.

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Energy Group Of The Year: Orrick

By Keith Goldberg

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP attorneys shepherded several lucrative clean energy deals to completion and convinced the D.C. Circuit to undo its stoppage of an $18 billion liquefied natural gas project, earning the firm a place among the 2025 Law360 Energy Groups of the Year.

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Senate Dems Aim To Require Refunds Of Illegal Trump Tariffs

By Dylan Moroses

Senate Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Monday to require the federal government to issue refunds to importers for duties paid that were imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling deeming those measures unlawful.

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Roundup

NJ Statehouse Catch-Up: Family Leave, PFAS, Farmland Tax

By George Woolston

In his final days as New Jersey governor, Phil Murphy was busy signing a slew of measures reforming existing legislation as well as bills aimed at breaking new ground.

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Natural Gas Compressor Co. Axip Files Ch. 11 In Texas

By Rick Archer

Natural gas compression equipment provider Axip Energy Services has filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court, saying it has secured an offer to sell its assets to deal with its $240.5 million in funded debt.

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Alaskan Village Asks Court To Block BLM Land Decision

By Jared Foretek

Native villagers near Teshekpuk Lake in Alaska are asking a D.C. federal judge to block the termination of their right-of-way over lands around the lake by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, claiming that the move would strip the village's property rights without due process.

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Valero Sued After Fire At Oklahoma Plant Kills Texas Man

By José Luis Martínez

The family of a man working at a refinery in Oklahoma sued Valero and his employer after he sustained fatal injuries in a fire at a Valero facility, saying the companies were grossly negligent in maintaining safety standards.

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Xcel Energy Will Replace Utility Poles After Historic Wildfire

By Spencer Brewer

Xcel Energy has agreed to replace damaged and dilapidated utility poles to settle Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's suit accusing the energy company of causing the largest wildfire in recorded Texas history.

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PosiGen Gets OK For Ch. 11 Wind-Down Plan

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge Monday approved solar panel leasing firm PosiGen's wind-down Chapter 11 plan after the company said it modified its third-party release provisions to conform to a federal district court decision issued earlier this month.

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Justices Won't Review Conviction In $1B Renewables Fraud

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear an appeal from the convicted leader of a fraudulent $1 billion renewable-energy scheme who contended that he was unlawfully ordered to forfeit a "gobsmacking" $181 million based on joint and several liability.

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Tribe Says Poll Shows Ariz. Voters Oppose Copper Mine

By Joyce Hanson

The San Carlos Apache Tribe says a poll released by the Center for Biological Diversity shows that Arizona voters oppose Resolution Copper Mining LLC's proposed mine, which would transfer approximately 2,500 acres within the state's Tonto National Forest to the company.

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The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

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ABA Says Trump Attacks On Justices Cross 'Dangerous Line'

By Bonnie Eslinger

The American Bar Association on Monday condemned President Donald Trump's "personal attacks" against U.S. Supreme Court justices after Friday's 6-3 decision struck a blow to his tariff policy, saying the remarks "cross a dangerous line that threatens the safety of the judiciary and our judicial process."

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ICE Atty Whistleblower Rips 'Broken' Agent Training Program

By Dorothy Atkins

An ex-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney testified before a Senate committee Monday that he recently resigned so he could blow the whistle on ICE-officer training cuts amid its hiring surge, slamming the truncated program for being "deficient, defective and broken" and accusing supervisors of secretly pushing "blatantly" unconstitutional orders.

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'Wackadoo': 9th Circ. Awarding Stays 'Like Candy,' Judge Says

By Jeff Overley

The Ninth Circuit is defying U.S. Supreme Court precedent and supersizing its immigration docket by freely awarding lengthy deportation reprieves, according to a new dissent that described a "Wackadoo" realm where noncitizens can safely await "the next Democrat administration."

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Feds Fight Ex-Judge's Bid For New Trial In ICE Arrest Case

By Parker Quinlan

The federal government asked a federal judge to deny acquittal and new trial motions made by a Wisconsin state judge convicted of directing a defendant in her courtroom to use a restricted staircase to avoid removal by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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2nd Circ. Chief Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit will take senior status over the summer, giving President Donald Trump another appellate seat to fill.

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Brief

Snow Delays Goldstein Deliberations Until Tuesday

By Jared Foretek

The jury in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax evasion trial won't be back to deliberate until Tuesday, after snow prompted courts in the District of Maryland to close Monday.

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Analysis

How Greenberg Thinks Tariff Ruling Could Affect Dealmaking

By Al Barbarino

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling invalidating IEEPA-based tariffs gave dealmakers clarity on how to pursue potential refund rights in mergers and acquisitions, but President Donald Trump's swift announcement of new global tariffs has immediately reintroduced dealmaking uncertainty.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Legal fee feuds, noncompete pact breach fights and post-closing "earnout" battles piled up in Delaware's equity and commercial law venues last week, with top jurists briefing lawmakers on efforts to better manage crowded dockets and expanded benches.

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