Sanchez Energy Lenders Float Deal To End Ch. 11 Lien Fight

By Vince Sullivan

The owners of the reorganized equity in oil driller Sanchez Energy proposed a deal Friday in Texas bankruptcy court that will end lien-related litigation with unsecured creditors by paying $8.5 million of legal fees incurred by representatives for those creditors in the fight over rights to equity recoveries in the Chapter 11 case.

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NextEra Energy Settles Fight Over 401(k) Forfeitures, Fees

By Gina Kim

NextEra Energy Inc. has agreed to resolve a class action from 20,000 former employees who alleged the company misspent forfeited 401(k) plan funds and allowed Fidelity, the plan's recordkeeper, to charge excessive fees, according to a joint report filed on Friday in Florida federal court. 

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Energy Co. Members Sue In Del. Over 'Musk-Like' Power Grab

By Jeff Montgomery

Principals of a Delaware-chartered solar energy venture serving developing areas, including in Africa, have sued for Delaware Court of Chancery rulings affirming control of the business, citing moves by a manager who allegedly "hijacked" it, likening himself to Elon Musk and enriching himself, his family and friends.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: Pollution Lawsuits & Trans Athletes

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will kick off the new year by hearing disputes over the constitutionality of state laws banning transgender female athletes from female-only sports and whether state or federal courts are the proper forum for lawsuits seeking to hold major oil companies accountable for harm caused by their oil production activities along Louisiana's coast. 

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BP Rebuttal Survives In Suit Over Stalled Ga. Truck Stop Build

By Nate Beck

An Ohio federal judge found that three related companies weren't owed distinct notice that TravelCenters of America considered them in breach of a contract to develop a Georgia truck stop after the BP affiliate terminated the deal in June 2023, prompting a lawsuit.

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Nano Nuclear Beats Investor Suit Over Biz Prospect Claims

By Sydney Price

Nano Nuclear Energy Inc. has won dismissal of a shareholder class action accusing it of misleading investors about its progress toward regulatory approval and commercialization of its energy products, with the court finding the plaintiffs failed to show the company's statements were false or intentionally deceptive.

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SEC Drops Action Against Ex-Rio Tinto CFO After 8 Years

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday dropped an enforcement action accusing Rio Tinto PLC's former chief financial officer of violating accounting and auditing rules, bringing a close to long-running litigation the regulator launched against the mining giant in 2017.

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Calif. Climate Laws Violate Free Speech Rights, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

A coalition of business groups urged a Ninth Circuit panel Friday to preliminarily block new California laws requiring large companies to disclose financial risks tied to climate change, arguing the laws are unprecedented and violate the First Amendment, in part by being "completely untethered" to any product or transaction.

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Bolivia Can't Escape $253M Award Suit, DC Judge Rules

By Caroline Simson

A D.C. federal judge on Friday refused to toss litigation aimed at enforcing a $253.6 million arbitral award issued to a Glencore subsidiary, rejecting Bolivia's argument that service was improper because the Swiss commodities giant, in the judge's words, "failed a box-checking exercise."

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Cuban Co. Urges Justices To Affirm Property Seizure Ruling

By Caroline Simson

A Cuban state-owned entity is pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to find that a federal law allowing U.S. victims of property seizures by the Cuban government to seek damages does not automatically abrogate the sovereign immunity of state-owned agencies and instrumentalities targeted in such cases.

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Engineer Claims Co. Fired Her Over Refusal To Falsify Docs

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Colorado manufacturing company fired its chief engineer after she raised concerns about false information included in a request for a quote submitted to a U.S. Department of Energy contractor and failed to pay her wages, the worker claimed in a suit in Colorado federal court.

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Singapore Court Nixes Poland's Bid To Set Aside $330M Award

By Joyce Hanson

A Singapore commercial court on Friday dismissed Poland's application to set aside a £252 million (about $330 million) arbitral award under the Energy Charter Treaty, upholding GreenX Metals Ltd.'s earlier announced right to compensation under the ECT.

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Mining Giants Glencore, Rio Tinto Confirm Merger Talks

By Dawood Fakhir

Anglo-Swiss mining giant Glencore said Friday that it is in talks with British rival Rio Tinto for a possible megamerger that could create the world's largest company in the industry, in a deal worth more than $200 billion.

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Montana Ruling Reaffirms Record-Based Enviro Analyses

A Montana federal court's recent decision in Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Forest Service, vacating permits for logging near Yellowstone National Park, is a reminder that, despite attempts to pare back National Environmental Policy Act reviews, agencies must still properly complete such reviews before projects are approved, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

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2025's Most Notable State AG Activity By The Numbers

State attorneys general were active in 2025, working across party lines to address federal regulatory gaps in artificial intelligence, take action on consumer protection issues, continue antitrust enforcement and announce large settlements on behalf of their citizens, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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Opinion

The Case For Emulating, Not Dividing, The Ninth Circuit

Champions for improved judicial administration should reject the unfounded criticisms driving recent Senate proposals to divide the Ninth Circuit and instead seek to replicate the court's unique strengths and successes, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

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Bruce Fein Axed As Counsel In Maduro's NY Drug Case

By Rachel Rippetoe

A New York federal judge on Monday said constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein could not represent Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after Fein admitted to having never spoken to or entered into an agreement of representation for the foreign leader, who was indicted on narco-conspiracy charges this month.

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Analysis

The Issues That Could Decide The Tom Goldstein Tax Case

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors are set to begin making their case against famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein at trial Wednesday, alleging that he deliberately hid millions of dollars in high-stakes poker winnings from the Internal Revenue Service between 2016 and 2021 and lied on mortgage applications.

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Haynes Boone Opens Boston Office Led By Ex-K&L Gates Atty

By Tracey Read

Haynes Boone announced Monday that it has opened its 20th office in Boston, and that it has added a former K&L Gates LLP asset management and investment funds partner to lead the Beantown launch.

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4 Ways DOJ Probe Into Powell Could Be Risky For Trump

By Jon Hill

The criminal probe that President Donald Trump's U.S. Department of Justice has opened into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dramatically escalates administration pressure on the central bank, but it is not without significant potential risks for the White House.

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SEC Draws From BigLaw To Appoint Enforcement Deputies

By Jessica Corso

Two former BigLaw attorneys, one of whom served as counsel to President Donald Trump during his first term in office, have joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as deputy directors of enforcement, the agency announced Monday.

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Sitting Judges Advocate For Bill To Allow Them To Carry Guns

By Courtney Bublé

Three federal judges have come out in support of a Republican-led bill to allow judges and prosecutors to carry concealed firearms across state lines.

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NJ US Atty Office's 3-Person Leadership Unlawful, Court Told

By Emily Sawicki

Criminal defendants in the District of New Jersey are challenging the three-person leadership structure now in place at the Garden State's U.S. attorney's office following the disqualification of Alina Habba, telling the court their due process rights have been violated by the allegedly unlawful system.

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Compromise Funding Bill Gives Judiciary $9.7B

By Courtney Bublé

Congressional appropriators have unveiled a bipartisan compromise funding bill for the federal judiciary for fiscal 2026, which includes the judiciary's requested funding for court security and federal public defenders.

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House Passes Bill To Double Ch. 7 Trustee Fee

By Clara Geoghegan

A bipartisan bill doubling the fixed per-case fees for Chapter 7 trustees is headed to President Donald Trump for a signature, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed it Monday night.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court closed out the week with developments ranging from leadership changes in a $13 billion take-private case and posttrial sparring over a major earnout to fresh governance fights, revived fraud claims and sanctions tied to advancement rights.

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