Del. High Court Upholds Pioneer Win In $60B Exxon Deal Fight

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling denying a union pension fund's request for additional internal communications related to the roughly $60 billion merger between Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and ExxonMobil Corp., concluding that the Delaware Chancery Court correctly rejected the stockholder's bid to obtain more emails and text messages from the company's former chief executive.

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PacifiCorp Owes More Than $53M In Latest Wildfire Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

An Oregon state jury has awarded $53.4 million in noneconomic damages in the latest trial over wildfires PacifiCorp was found liable for starting around the state on Labor Day 2020, including awards to a couple who owned an excavation company.

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Anadarko Investors Get Class Cert. In Suit Over Oilfield Project

By Jared Foretek

A Texas federal judge certified a class of potentially thousands of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. investors who claim the company misled them for years about the viability of the Shenandoah oil field in the Gulf of Mexico before abandoning the project in 2017 and sending the company's stock falling.

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Feature

Exxon Cements Texas As Delaware's Emerging Rival

By Spencer Brewer

Last year, Vinson & Elkins partner Katherine Frank fielded about one call a week from companies thinking about redomiciling in Texas. Speaking to Law360 the day after ExxonMobil announced its plan to reincorporate in the Lone Star State due to its business-forward courts and policies, Frank said the callers fell into three categories.

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Calif. Wants Truck Cos., Feds' Clean Truck Pact Claims Nixed

By Bryan Koenig

California officials again asked a federal judge to gut key claims from heavy-duty truck manufacturers and the federal government challenging the 2023 deal in which the manufacturers agreed to stringent state emissions standards and stiff penalties for noncompliance in the coming years.

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Dem Lawmakers Dispute Economics Of Arctic Oil Leasing

By Joyce Hanson

Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House have condemned the Trump administration's plans to auction off lands within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas companies, saying there is no economic interest to be gained from drilling.

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NC AG Backs Merger Of Duke Energy's Two Carolina Utilities

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Attorney General's Office has reached an agreement with Duke Energy over the proposed combination of its two subsidiary electric utilities serving the Carolinas, joining a growing list of other corporations and consumer advocacy groups that have also backed the merger.

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Mich. Justices Consider Standard In Enbridge Tunnel Fight

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court, in one of two Enbridge Energy LP disputes, examined Wednesday how closely courts must scrutinize state regulators' environmental review of the proposed oil pipeline tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, in a case that could decide if project review needs additional evidence and analysis.

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Mich. Justices Weigh Public Trust Duties in Enbridge Case

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court, in the second of two Enbridge Energy LP disputes heard Wednesday, questioned if the Michigan Public Service Commission properly handled public trust issues when it approved the company's proposed oil tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

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5 Firms Lead $525M Sale Of Frontera's Energy Assets

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Canadian oil and natural gas company Frontera Energy Corp. has agreed to sell its Frontera Petroleum International Holdings B.V. to Colombia-focused oil and gas producer Parex Resources Inc. for an equity consideration of up to $525 million in a deal built by five law firms, a move that comes just months after the company agreed to sell the assets to independent energy company GeoPark Ltd.

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Ara Energy Buying US, European Fuel Assets For $875M

By Al Barbarino

Ara Energy, a newly formed energy unit of global private markets firm Ara Partners, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy a portfolio of U.S. power and biofuels assets and a stake in a European fuel retail network in a deal valued at about $875 million.

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Verizon Told It Can't Reopen Pa. Utility Pole Dispute At FCC

By Nadia Dreid

Verizon will not be allowed to reopen an old beef with FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co. over pole attachment rates at the Federal Communications Commission, which just denied the telecom behemoth's request to return to the matter.

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Crystallex Special Master Gets OK On $15.3M Atty Fee Bid

By Joyce Hanson

A Delaware federal judge has overruled jilted Citgo bidder Gold Reserve's objection to a special master's bid for $15.3 million in attorney fees, rejecting its argument that the request was unreasonable in defunct mining company Crystallex's massive case against Venezuela.

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MoFo Private Equity Atty Joins Greenberg Traurig In Miami

By Adrian Cruz

Greenberg Traurig LLP announced Wednesday that a Miami-based private equity attorney has joined the firm's corporate practice from Morrison Foerster LLP.

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Structuring Water Agreements For Data Center Development

For developers of artificial intelligence data centers, water use is now a threshold feasibility and financing variable amid a regulatory landscape with a state-driven push for transparency and federal push to streamline pathways for AI-related infrastructure, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Who Said 'This Job Sucks' Running For Congress

By Courtney Bublé

The former federal government lawyer detailed to Minnesota to help with immigration cases who last month told a federal judge "this job sucks" says she is running for Congress in the state.

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$600M IP Award, Quinn Emanuel Contempt Faulted On Appeal

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday vacated a verdict against the maker of Norton antivirus software for infringing Columbia University patents and reversed a contempt ruling against Norton's former law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP that had caused the judgment to grow to just over $600 million.

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Firm Probed In $4B LA Sex Abuse Deal Hit With UPL Charges

By Rachel Rippetoe

A co-founder of the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County was hit with disciplinary charges by the California State Bar, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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Analysis

Trump Cybercrime Order Creates New Compliance To-Do List

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's recent executive order calling for a coalition of government agencies to combat cybercrime is far more forceful than efforts under prior administrations, according to white collar lawyers, who tentatively applaud the proposal while warning it could raise new compliance risks.

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3 Attys Escape Ford's 'Retaliatory' Lemon Law RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A California federal judge has shut down Ford Motor Co.'s revised racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, saying the attorneys' underlying conduct in pursuing lemon law litigation is shielded by First Amendment protections.

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Judges, Lawmakers Urge 4th Circ. To Affirm Halligan Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

Members of Congress and former federal judges have urged the Fourth Circuit to affirm that Lindsey Halligan was not properly appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, saying the episode exemplifies why there are guardrails against installing political loyalists as federal prosecutors.

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VA, DOJ Cut Deal To Make Attys Mental Health Guardians

By Mark Payne

Under a new initiative, attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice will serve as legal guardians for some homeless veterans, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday, though some veterans advocates expressed concern that the new program could involuntarily coerce veterans experiencing mental health issues into institutional care.

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