PacifiCorp Damages Tab Rises With Liability Uncertain

By Cara Salvatore

An Oregon jury on Monday ordered PacifiCorp to pay $14.5 million to a group of 11 survivors of 2020 fires, although the validity of the damages-only verdict is uncertain after an appeals court days ago overturned the liability verdict underlying it.

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Exxon Can't Halt Heat Death Suit Ahead Of Climate Tort Ruling

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state court judge has denied an attempt by Exxon and other major oil and gas producers to pause a first-of-its-kind lawsuit over a 2021 Seattle heat wave death until the U.S. Supreme Court decides on the viability of climate torts in a Colorado case.

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9th Circ. Judge Skeptical Of Renewing Trump Energy EOs Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit judge expressed reluctance on Monday to revive a challenge to President Donald Trump's executive orders prioritizing fossil fuels to meet the country's energy needs, echoing a lower court's concern that the requested relief would give the judiciary the unmanageable task of scrutinizing countless federal agency actions.

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Tesla Wins Chancery Suit Dismissal After Move To Texas

By Sarah Jarvis

A consolidated Delaware Chancery Court suit leveling breach of fiduciary duty claims against Elon Musk and Tesla Inc. directors belongs in Texas, a vice chancellor said Monday, finding that a forum selection bylaw applies retroactively even though the conduct at issue occurred before the company reincorporated in the Lone Star State.

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Analysis

Gov't Appeal Could Throw Wrench In Tariff Refunds

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced its court-ordered tariff refund system will be available for its first entries in a week's time, but practitioners remain concerned that a potential government appeal of the ruling could narrow the amount of imports and companies that can qualify for the relief.

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Ireland To Cut Energy Taxes Amid Blockades By Protesters

By Kevin Pinner

Ireland will spend €505 million ($592 million) on further cuts to fuel taxes, deferring a carbon tax increase and offering financial aid to fuel-intensive industries after protesters blockaded infrastructure over rising costs linked to the U.S. and Israel's war in Iran, according to the government.

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Brief

ITC Finds Chinese, Indian Diodes Likely Harm US Industry

By Jack McLoone

Imported large diameter graphite diodes from China and India allegedly sold at unfair prices are likely harming U.S. producers, the U.S. International Trade Commission said Monday in a preliminary determination.

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Bio Energy Sues Cos. Over Failed Ohio Renewable Gas Plants

By Gina Kim

Bio Energy has sued SCS Energy and a subcontractor in Ohio federal court in connection with projects replacing two landfill gas processing plants with pipeline-quality renewable natural gas in Youngstown and Lorain that it alleged remain defective due to the "consistent downplay of their botched design and inability to remedy their deficiencies." 

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Exxon Says Terminal Operator Owes $1.1M In Delay Fees

By Mike Curley

An Exxon unit is suing a Houston Ship Channel terminal operator in Texas federal court, saying that for the last several years, the operator has failed to pay demurrage fees totaling $1.09 million.

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DOE Contractor Urges Court To Nix Award Reinstating Worker

By Katherine Smith

A contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy at a nuclear decontamination site urged an Ohio federal court Monday to undo an arbitration award ordering it to reinstate an employee who was fired after testing positive for drugs, arguing that the award violates federal law.

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University Stiffed Energy Firm On Audit Work, Suit Says

By MJ Koo

An energy firm says the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs refused to pay for years of completed audit work, raising objections only after the final report was delivered and invoices came due, according to a suit filed in Colorado state court.

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Spain Faces Enforcement Of €77M Renewable Energy Award

By Joyce Hanson

A D.C. federal judge has refused to disallow subpoenas issued against Spain by Blasket Renewable Investments LLC as the creditor looks to capture Spanish assets to enforce an arbitral award of about €77 million ($90 million) under the Energy Charter Treaty.

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Taft Enters New York City With Steptoe Energy Team

By Tracey Read

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP announced Monday that it has opened its first New York City office and brought on an energy, infrastructure and project finance group from Steptoe LLP.

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EPA's Retreat On GHGs Reshapes Preemption Debate

In the wake of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its finding that it can regulate climate-threatening greenhouse gases, states are poised to step up their own GHG regulation — but the EPA's new framework creates substantial uncertainty over the extent of federal preemption, say attorneys at Holland & Hart.

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Opinion

State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

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DLA Piper Defeats Fired Associate's Claims Of Pregnancy Bias

By Pete Brush

A federal jury in Manhattan declined to award damages Monday to a former associate who says DLA Piper unlawfully fired her after she announced she was pregnant, absolving the BigLaw firm hours after tense closing arguments.

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Q&A

Former Pardon Atty Says Trump's Clemency Grants Hurt DOJ

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Department of Justice pardon attorney Liz Oyer spoke recently with Law360 about how the pardon process has changed, the impact the shift might have on the DOJ and how the system could be reformed.

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DOJ Urges DC Circ. To Revive Trump EOs Targeting Firms

By Alison Knezevich

The D.C. Circuit should individually review each section of President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting four law firms, allowing certain portions to stand if others are blocked, the U.S. Department of Justice argued in a new filing urging the court to revive the measures.

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Analysis

The Justices Had Their Say On Immunity. Is A DC Jury Next?

By Chris Villani

The limits of presidential immunity are once again set to be tested after a D.C. federal judge ruled President Donald Trump must face civil claims over the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, clearing the way for trial and potentially another high-stakes appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Meta Pulls Some Attys' Social Media Addiction Ads

By Rachel Rippetoe

After losing a bellwether trial last month in one of a slew of cases from plaintiffs who claim to have been harmed by social media, Meta has begun removing ads from attorneys seeking clients with similar claims.

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Brief

EEOC To Produce Law Firm DEI Letter Records By May 15

By Kelcey Caulder

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a federal court Monday that it would give two law professors documents related to 20 letters the agency sent to law firms over their purported diversity, equity and inclusion practices by May 15.

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Morgan & Morgan Sued Over Firing Amid Nevada Expansion

By Emily Sawicki

Personal injury titan Morgan & Morgan is facing allegations from a former firm attorney in California state court alleging the Golden State lawyer was pressured to file suits in neighboring Nevada despite having an inactive law license and no experience practicing there, and was then harassed and wrongfully fired over the filings.

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Atty Says Ogletree Can't Litigate Against Her In 2 Similar Cases

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney said Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC should be disqualified from serving as defense counsel in a discrimination suit she's working on while simultaneously litigating against her on behalf of her ex-employer in a similar matter.

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NJ Man Who Sought To DQ US Atty Leadership To Plead Guilty

By Gina Kim

A criminal defendant who joined a pending bid to disqualify assistant U.S. attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and escalated a constitutional challenge to its leadership structure told a federal judge Saturday he plans to plead guilty in his drug case. 

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket this past week featured a mix of high-stakes settlements, fast-moving deal litigation, governance disputes and a notable post-trial ruling involving fraud-tainted loans.

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