A Washington state judge pushed back Tuesday after Chevron and other oil giants urged dismissal of a family's lawsuit over a 2021 heatwave death, saying this case differs from a host of failed climate torts because it focuses on a single fatality from a "very specific weather event."
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Chevron's Climate Suit Comparison Meets Skeptical Judge

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge pushed back Tuesday after Chevron and other oil giants urged dismissal of a family's lawsuit over a 2021 heatwave death, saying this case differs from a host of failed climate torts because it focuses on a single fatality from a "very specific weather event."

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'Cold Comfort': Judge Pans Fed Defense Of Energy Grant Cuts

By Dorothy Atkins

The Trump administration faced tough questions from a California federal judge during a hearing Tuesday on the government's request to transfer or toss states' allegations it unlawfully terminated energy and infrastructure programs, with the judge calling defense counsel's arguments "cold comfort" to grant recipients who've lost billions in funding.

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3 Firms Steer Olin, Huntsman $2.4B All-Stock Merger

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Chemicals companies Olin Corp. and Huntsman Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to merge in a $2.4 billion all-stock deal built by three law firms that is meant to create a "leading" North American chemicals company.

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NextEra Investors Ink 'Record-Breaking' $150M Settlement

By Jessica Corso

NextEra investors say they have secured a "record-breaking" $150 million settlement with the utility company to resolve a lawsuit accusing NextEra of involvement in a scheme to place "ghost candidates" on Florida ballots.

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POLICY & REGULATION

EU Parliament Approves Trade Deal With US

By Dylan Moroses

European Union lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve legislation implementing the bloc's safeguard-bolstered trade deal with the U.S. founded on a series of tariff cuts, moving one step closer to implementation that is expected before the end of the month.

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Illinois Adds Taxes On Digital Ads, Crypto, Prediction Markets

By Maria Koklanaris

Illinois will tax digital advertising, social media platforms, cryptocurrency, prediction markets and more under a nearly $56 billion budget signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.

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OIL AND GAS

DOJ Wants NAACP's Air Permit Suit Against XAI Tossed

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration has urged a Mississippi federal court to let it step in as a plaintiff and dismiss the NAACP's lawsuit that seeks to bar X.AI Corp.'s operation of a data center-powering gas plant in Southaven, saying the NAACP can't pursue the lawsuit over the government's objection.

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NY Judge 'Doubtful' Of Oil Co.'s Suit Against Ex-Florida Rep.

By David Minsky

A New York federal judge said Tuesday he was "doubtful" that a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company can go forward, given the agreement's potential invalidation following a trial that resulted in the conviction of a former Florida congressman last month.

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DATA CENTERS

Montanans Say Data Center Electricity Rates Need Their Input

By Elaine Briseño

Environmental advocacy groups seek to intervene in NorthWestern Energy's application to establish new rates for future data centers, telling the Montana Public Service Commission that their input is needed to protect residential customers from unpredictably higher costs.

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UTILITIES AND POWER

Feds Move To Drop Ex-Energy Execs' Corruption Charges

By Brian Steele

The former chief executive officer of a Connecticut utility co-op and its onetime board chair have successfully completed 18-month pretrial diversion programs and should no longer face federal charges that they conspired to use public funds for improper purposes, prosecutors said in seeking dismissal of their indictments.

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Highpower Investor Seeks Receiver For Dissolved Battery Co.

By Jarek Rutz

A former Highpower International Inc. stockholder has asked the Delaware Chancery Court to appoint a receiver to take control of the dissolved battery maker's remaining assets and affairs, arguing it stripped itself of valuable assets while an appraisal case was pending and may no longer be capable of addressing outstanding claims.

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RENEWABLES

Trade Court Backs Duty Redo For Canadian Wind Towers

By Jack McLoone

Certain wind towers imported into the U.S. from Canada will be subject to a 2.93% antidumping duty rate after the U.S. Court of International Trade signed off on Department of Commerce recalculations.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

GM Says Cadillac EV Owners' Design Defect Suit Falls Flat

By Susan Smiley

General Motors has asked a Washington federal judge to toss a proposed class action accusing the automaker of false advertising and concealing design defects in its Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle, saying the complaint fails to make any specific claims or show how the plaintiffs were harmed by the alleged electrical malfunctions.

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MINING

Brief

DOD Pledges $500M Loan For Rare Earth Processing Initiative

By Tom Lotshaw

U.S. Department of Defense officials inked a $500 million loan commitment to help a New England company scale up the domestic processing of rare earth elements.

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Brief

US Customs Bars Copper Entries From Serbian Exporter

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will take steps immediately to ban copper imports from a Serbian exporter following an investigation that revealed those goods were produced with forced labor, according to a Tuesday announcement. 

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Regulatory Rollbacks Complicate Car Co. Compliance Plans

As federal fuel economy and emissions regulations undergo seismic changes, and gas prices surge, automakers seeking to position their product lines for the future face a difficult strategic choice: whether to treat today's regulatory rollback as a lasting shift or as a temporary opening in an uncertain market, says Thomas Healy at Honigman.

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The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

These Firms Secured The Most Damages In The Last 3 Years

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Government lawyers had a strong success rate in federal courts over the last three years, but intellectual property litigation saw certain firms secure damage awards worth hundreds of millions of dollars for clients, according to Lex Machina's Law Firms Activity Report 2026 released on Tuesday.

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Ex-Girardi Atty Hid Firm's Diversion Of Funds, State Bar Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A State Bar of California prosecutor argued Tuesday at a disciplinary trial that ex-Girardi Keese attorney Robert Finnerty hid the firm's misappropriation of millions of dollars from a family's $53 million settlement, while Finnerty's counsel countered he's being blamed for the actions of his former boss, convicted and disbarred attorney Tom Girardi.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Denied Acquittal Or Retrial

By Alison Knezevich

A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday denied SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein's bid for an acquittal or new trial, rejecting his claims that issues with jury instructions and excluded evidence warranted a do-over in his tax evasion and mortgage fraud case.

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Ex-Judge Loses Bid To Undo ICE Obstruction Conviction

By Britain Eakin

Former Wisconsin state judge Hannah Dugan has failed in her attempt to use a Fourth Circuit decision to vacate her conviction for helping a defendant in her courtroom evade immigration agents, with a federal judge ruling Tuesday the decision involves fact patterns that differ from her case.

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Senate Rejects Bid To Block Fast-Track Immigration Appeals

By Courtney Bublé

A Democratic-led Senate resolution that would have blocked a U.S. Department of Justice rule directing its Board of Immigration Appeals to quickly dismiss cases that don't raise "novel" issues failed to pass Tuesday.

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Blanche To Go Before Senate Panel July 15

By Courtney Bublé

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination hearing is a month away, and the fate of his confirmation is likely in the hands of Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.

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Oral Arguments In Comey, James Appeal Set For September

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Fourth Circuit has scheduled in-person oral arguments for the Trump administration's appeal of the dismissals of indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James for Sept. 15-18.

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Brazil Says Justice Is Immune From Trump Media's Suit

By Carolina Bolado

Brazil asked Monday to intervene and dismiss a suit by President Donald Trump's media company and online video-sharing platform Rumble Inc. against a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court justice's gag orders, saying the suit cannot overcome immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Public Health Association

Apple Inc.

BP PLC

Bauer Inc.

Burke Inc.

Chevron Corp.

Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative

ConocoPhillips

Earthjustice

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Ford Motor Co.

Griswold

Hong Kong Highpower Technology

Honor the Earth

Huntsman Corp.

Kentucky Derby

Lex Machina Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Meta Platforms Inc.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

New York State Bar Association

NextEra Energy Inc.

NorthWestern Energy Group Inc.

Olin Corp.

PG&E Corp.

Phillips 66

RELX PLC

Shell PLC

Southern Environmental Law Center

State Bar of California

The Energy Coalition

The Florida Bar

Twitter Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abir Cohen

Arnold & Porter

Baughman Kroup

Berger Montague

Block & Leviton

Boies Schiller

Bondurant Mixson

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Butler Prather

Butler Snow LLP

Byrd Campbell

Byrnes Keller

Carmichael Ellis

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

Corr Cronin

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

DTO Law

Debevoise & Plimpton

Foley Hoag

Gibson Dunn

Gillam Smith

Gimbel Reilly

Girardi & Keese

Gordon Rees

Gupta Wessler

Holland & Knight

Honigman LLP

Hueston Hennigan

Irell & Manella

Izard Kindall

Jones Day

Kellogg Hansen

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Klausner Kaufman

Latham & Watkins

Levine Lee

Lowell & Associates

M.D. Gibson & Bolen

Martinez-Cid Law

Munger Tolles

Ogletree Deakins

Orrick Herrington

Page Scrantom

Paul Weiss

Peyrot & Associates

Pfau Cochran

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Rosing Pott

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Stoel Rives

Strang Bradley

Summit Law Group

Troutman

White & Case

Wiley Rein

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

Council of the EU

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Commission

European Parliament

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internal Revenue Service

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Montana Public Service Commission

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

National Institutes of Health

New York Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin