Brief

4 Firms Advise On Vistra's $4B Deal To Acquire Cogentrix

By Al Barbarino

Vistra Corp. said Monday it has agreed to acquire Cogentrix Energy from Quantum Capital Group in a deal valued at about $4 billion, with at least four law firms advising. 

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Hawaiian Electric Reaches $47.8M Investor Deal Over Wildfires

By Katryna Perera

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. shareholders reached a nearly $48 million settlement with the company and some of its leaders in a suit blaming it for the downturn in its stock price following a deadly 2023 fire on Maui, and asked a California federal judge on Monday to grant the deal preliminary approval.

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NJ Panel Tosses Bid To Gut DEP Environmental Justice Rules

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appellate panel on Monday affirmed the state's sweeping environmental justice rules, rejecting consolidated challenges from industry and labor groups that argued the Department of Environmental Protection overstepped its statutory authority, relied on vague and overbroad definitions, and imposed arbitrary permitting burdens on facilities in heavily polluted communities.

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Maduro Denies Guilt As Atty Preps 'Voluminous' Motions Fight

By Pete Brush

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pled not guilty Monday to narco-terrorism conspiracy charges in Manhattan federal court and vowed through his attorney to claim immunity as a sovereign leader and to challenge the legitimacy of his arrest in a deadly American military raid.

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SEC Won't Review FINRA Delay On Carbon Offset Co. Petition

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dismissed a bid brought by shareholders of Entrex Carbon Market Inc. to review what they said is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's harmful failure to act on the carbon offset trading platform's requests for a name change and approval of stock splits.

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​'Truly Extreme': 9th Circ. Judges Decry Trump Layoffs Ruling

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to revisit a three-judge panel's decision rejecting the Trump administration's challenge of a lower court's ruling requiring production of its plans for large-scale layoffs and reorganizations at various federal agencies, a decision that was met with fiery dissent from several of the court's Republican-appointed judges.

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EU Sets Default Emission Levels For Carbon Border Tax

By Kevin Pinner

The European Union released default levels of greenhouse gas emissions that importers must use to calculate liabilities for the newly enforced carbon border adjustment mechanism when they lack reliable information on the emissions associated with producing covered products.

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Tanker Worker Says BWC Terminals Caused Chemical Burns

By Spencer Brewer

A tankerman told a Texas state court that BWC Terminals' negligence led to chemical burns in his lungs, alleging that a company-owned walkway fell and pierced a pipeline containing sulfuric acid he then inhaled.

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Exelon, Nursing Home Operator Sued Over Fatal Explosion

By P.J. D'Annunzio

PECO Energy Co., its parent company Exelon Corp. and multiple healthcare entities were hit with a lawsuit on Monday alleging they knew about gas leaks that led to a fatal nursing home explosion in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that killed two and injured over a dozen more, but failed to act in time.

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PG&E Inks $100M Deal To Settle Investors' Wildfire Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co., its brass and its underwriters have reached a $100 million deal ending investor claims over allegedly misleading statements about the company's safety practices ahead of deadly wildfires in the past decade.

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Forum Clause Keeps Holtec Consultant's Suit In Ohio

By Matthew Santoni

Energy technology company Holtec International can't dismiss or move a former consultant's federal lawsuit from Ohio to New Jersey, after a judge ruled Monday that the doctrine of "forum non conveniens" generally doesn't apply to choosing between states, and the parties' contract had a valid forum selection clause choosing Ohio.

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Contractor Sues Pittsburgh Utility Over Work Stoppages

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A contractor doing work for Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority on several maintenance projects has alleged that the utility stopped work on repairs and replacements based on an incorrect accusation that the contractor violated state environmental rules, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

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2nd Circ. Gives Fired ConEd Atty New Shot At Bias Claim

By Grace Elletson

The Second Circuit revived Monday part of a former in-house Con Edison attorney's bias suit claiming she faced prejudice from her boss as an older woman, ruling the lower court may not have properly assessed a retaliation claim under New York City law's more liberal standards.

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More Discovery Needed In Bitcoin Miner Spat, Energy Biz Says

By Elaine Briseño

A U.S. energy company has told a federal judge in Seattle that further discovery is required to determine whether a Canadian cryptocurrency firm adequately complied with the requirements of a termination agreement before the court can entertain a motion for summary judgment.

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Brief

DC Circ. Says It Won't Rethink Emergency Air Rule Decision

By Nadia Dreid

The full D.C. Circuit will not reconsider a panel's decision restoring air pollution-emitting facilities' right to defend themselves against violations of the Clean Air Act by blaming emergency circumstances.

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Brief

Insurer Drops Nonpayment Suit Against Colo. Data Center

By Rachel Konieczny

Zurich American Insurance Co. indicated Monday it plans to dismiss its claim that a Denver-based data management company failed to pay nearly half a million dollars for an additional premium for new construction projects.

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Key Trends Shaping ESG And Sustainability Law In 2026

2025 saw a chaotic regulatory landscape and novel litigation around environmental, social and governance issues and sustainability — and 2026, while perhaps more predictable, will likely be no less challenging, with more lawsuits and a regulatory tug-of-war complicating compliance for global companies, say attorneys at Crowell.

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Average Quinn Emanuel Partner Payouts Rise To $9.5M

By Aebra Coe

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP saw a 10% uptick in its profits per equity partner in 2025, bringing the firm's average partner pay up over $9 million last year amid an active litigation market, a firm spokesperson confirmed Monday.

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Feature

His Client Got A Pro Se Suit. Then The AI Filings Started.

By Chris Villani

Employment attorneys say the increased use of AI by pro se plaintiffs has the potential to clog dockets, drag out cases and make litigation significantly more expensive.

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McGuireWoods Atty Fined Over Citation Errors In BoA Suit

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge has slapped a McGuireWoods LLP attorney with a $1,500 fine for using incorrect citations in a brief lodged in a recently dismissed mortgage suit against Bank of America.

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Quinn Emanuel Contempt In $600M Row Probed By Fed. Circ.

By Ryan Davis

A contempt finding against Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP that contributed to a more than $600 million patent judgment against the firm's former client NortonLifeLock was scrutinized by a Federal Circuit panel on Monday, with one judge saying the order appeared to be invalid.

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Wis. Judge Resigns After Conviction In ICE Arrest Case

By Jack Karp

A Wisconsin state judge has resigned from the bench after being convicted of felony obstruction for helping an unauthorized immigrant in her court evade arrest by federal immigration officers, the Wisconsin Assembly speaker confirmed to Law360 Monday.

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Federal Court Wrong Place For Judges' Suit, Justices Told

By Elaine Briseño

Federal immigration officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an appellate decision that allowed immigration judges to hash out their spat over a newly created speech policy in district court instead of within the congressionally designated special review system.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of December

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the last month of 2025 included high-profile appointments at Apple, Berkshire Hathaway and LPL Financial. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from December.

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