Analysis

How AI's Power Surge Is Rewriting Energy Deal Strategy

By Al Barbarino

The surge in electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers is redrawing the U.S. energy investment map, tilting capital back toward natural gas even as global dealmakers continue to deploy billions into renewable platforms.

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FERC Can't Justify Nixing Grid-Planning Change, DC Circ. Told

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission failed to justify its rejection of a PJM Interconnection plan to make grid-planning decisions without the approval of the regional grid operator's members committee, transmission owners told the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday.

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Chuckwalla Case To Stay In Michigan As Tribes Join Fight

By Joyce Hanson

A Michigan federal judge has decided that transferring a miner's case challenging the establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument out of her court is "not inappropriate," while also ruling that a slew of tribal nations and environmental groups may intervene in the lawsuit.

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Kids Ask Alaska Justices To Revive LNG Project Climate Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

Eight young Alaskans urged the state's justices to revive litigation seeking to block the only permitted liquefied natural gas export project on the nation's Pacific coast, arguing they've sufficiently alleged the project's scale would cause "a colossal level of climate pollution" harming their constitutional rights to public trust resources.

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Anadarko Gets 5th Circ. To Bless Coverage Win, Not Damages

By Spencer Brewer

The Fifth Circuit agreed with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. that it can compel a contractor to pay for its legal defense in a fraud suit, but said Wednesday the lower court went too far in finding the contractor owed a duty to pay for certain damages categories.

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BLM, Energy, FERC Nominees Clear Senate Committee

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday approved former New Mexico Republican Congressman Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management by an 11-9 vote, advancing that nominee to the full Senate for consideration in addition to two others.

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Baker Hughes Accused Of Ignoring Judge's Arbitration Order

By Caroline Simson

A contractor embroiled in a $1.36 million dispute over a Saudi Arabian oil and gas project is urging a Louisiana federal judge to sanction a Baker Hughes unit for its "repeated and blatant" violations of his order to arbitrate the dispute before the Dubai International Arbitration Centre.

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Nine Energy Gets OK On Ch. 11 Plan To Cut $320M Debt

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Wednesday signed off on oil services company Nine Energy's Chapter 11 plan, allowing the debtor to trim $320 million in debt and emerge from bankruptcy just over a month after launching its case.

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Enviro Groups Fight Montana Mine Expansion Approval

By Crystal Owens

Conservation groups are looking to vacate the federal government's approval of operation expansion plans for a Montana coal mine at the center of years worth of past litigation, telling a federal court that the agencies "make a mockery of the required environmental review process."

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What's Changed In Army Corps' Reissued Nationwide Permits

The final rule recently issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, renewing and revising nationwide permits for projects covered by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, makes measured adjustments rather than sweeping revisions, addressing key operational and compliance concerns while maintaining the existing framework, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

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Parsing Clarifications On Foreign Entity Rules For Tax Credits

Recent U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department guidance answers taxpayer questions on several key foreign entity rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but questions remain over transactions with companies that have ties to covered nations such as Iran, say attorneys at Cleary.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: In Court, It's About Storytelling

Law school provides doctrine, cases and hypotheticals, but when lawyers step into the courtroom, they must learn the importance of clarity, credibility, memorability and preparation — in other words, how to tell simple, effective stories, say Nicholas Steverson and Danielle Trujillo at Wheeler Trigg, and Lisa DeCaro at Courtroom Performance.

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OpenAI Practices Law Without A License, Insurer Alleges

By Lauren Berg

OpenAI is practicing law without a license, according to an insurer's lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court that alleges artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT provided faulty legal advice to a woman seeking disability benefits that led to a breached settlement and a flurry of frivolous court filings.

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Analysis

UK Law Sector's Private Equity Boom Offers Lessons For US

By Ryan Boysen

Private equity money is pouring into the U.K. legal sector, fueling a wave of consolidation in consumer-facing practices and offering a glimpse of what it could look like if outside investment in the U.S. legal industry takes off.

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Criminal Contempt Of DOJ Attys Unlikely For Violating Orders

By Jack Karp

Federal judges have been floating the possibility of holding government attorneys in criminal contempt of court for violating immigration-related court orders, a potentially shocking move that scholars say is unlikely and probably less effective than civil contempt orders.

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Lindsey Halligan Faces Fla. Bar Investigation, Watchdog Says

By Lauren Berg

The Florida Bar is investigating Lindsey Halligan, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who pursued controversial indictments against President Donald Trump's political opponents, according to a letter the Campaign for Accountability made public Thursday.

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Troutman And Former Atty Push To Limit Scope Of Bias Trial

By Jake Maher

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP and a former associate suing the firm for racial discrimination and retaliation this week fought over the role that charged language and calculations of financial damages should play in an upcoming trial.

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Atty's Scheduling Error Dooms Appeal In AT&T Forfeiture Suit

By Patrick Hoff

An AT&T worker can't ask the Ninth Circuit to review the dismissal of his proposed class action claiming the telecommunications company misused forfeited 401(k) funds, with a California federal judge saying his attorney's busy schedule was "one of the least compelling excuses" for filing a late appeal.

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Analysis

A Look At Four States' Tort Reform Legislation Fights

By Y. Peter Kang

There are currently four states debating whether to install business-friendly tort reform legislation or medical malpractice guardrails. The issues include a potentially brutal showdown in California over auto collision litigation and efforts in Florida to expand wrongful death liability for healthcare providers.

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Ex-Judge In Wis. Says ICE Prosecution Theory Has No Limits

By Britain Eakin

A former Wisconsin judge has said the government's case against her for obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no limiting principle and wrongly turned her authority to manage her courtroom into a federal felony for impeding ICE.

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Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana Judicial Nominees Advance

By Courtney Bublé

Four judicial nominees advanced out of committee Thursday along party lines, which included two for Texas.

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