Exxon Seeks Sanctions Over 'Altered' Photo From Mass. AG

By Carolyn Muyskens

Exxon Mobil Corp. this week accused a Massachusetts government lawyer of trying to mislead a deposition witness with an altered photograph, and sought to sanction the state in its ongoing climate change suit against the energy giant, but drew a skeptical reply from a state judge during a hearing Wednesday.

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4th Circ. OKs Pipeline Work During Green Groups' Permit Suit

By Abigail Harrison

A Fourth Circuit panel refused to order Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC to halt construction on an interstate pipeline, saying in an order Monday that environmental groups failed to persuade the judges that a recently issued discharge permit was arbitrary and capricious.

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Texas AG Sues ISS Over ESG Considerations

By Sarah Jarvis

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. on Wednesday for allegedly advising shareholders based on environmental, social and governance considerations rather than the objective advice it advertises, in violation of a Texas consumer law.

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FERC Erred Over Utility's Tax Deferral Method, DC Circ. Told

By Ganesh Setty

Wholesale transmission customers of American Electric Power Co. Inc. units told the D.C. Circuit this week that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wrongly allowed the utility giant to depart from an established method to allocate carried-forward tax allowances, increasing those customers' rates.

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UK Extends Cut To Fuel Tax As War In Iran Raises Prices

By Kevin Pinner

The U.K. will extend a tax cut of 5 pence (7 cents) per liter of fuel through the rest of the year to address higher prices linked to the war in Iran, the government said Wednesday.

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Brief

US Finalizes 91% Vietnamese Steel Pipe Duty On Review

By Jack McLoone

Welded steel pressure pipes imported from Vietnam into the U.S. will be subject to a 90.8% antidumping duty rate after the U.S. Department of Commerce finalized a review of the over-decade-old original duty order.

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Brief

DOJ, Canadian Steel Cos. Settle Duty Evasion Claims

By Dylan Moroses

Two Canadian steel companies settled the U.S. government's False Claims Act allegations that the exporters knowingly avoided U.S. duties on Asian and European flat-rolled steel products, agreeing to pay $19 million to resolve the dispute, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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La. Defends Challenged LNG Project Air Permit At 5th Circ.

By Tom Lotshaw

A Louisiana regulator told the Fifth Circuit environmental groups have no ground to support their challenge of a preconstruction permit approved for a major liquefied natural gas export terminal in Cameron Parish.

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Gas Co. Asks Court Review Agency's Allowances Decision

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado Natural Gas Inc. urged a Colorado state judge to review a state agency's decision that the company says improperly expanded a 2023 statute intended to eliminate incentives for establishing gas service.

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Investors Say BNY Mellon Let Oil Trust Payments Vanish

By José Luis Martínez

Investors in a trust overseen by the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. NA sued the banking giant in state court Wednesday, saying it failed to push for transparency or enforcement actions after an oil company whose properties generated the trust's income started using a new accounting method that wiped out distributions for years.

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Brief

Pipeline Co. And JB Hunt Settle Easement Fight

By Ganesh Setty

A pipeline company voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against J.B. Hunt in Illinois federal court Wednesday after accusing the shipping giant of planning to build a parking lot over its pipeline's right of way, saying they've reached a settlement.

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Conn. Justices Let Energy Cos. Challenge $1M Order

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut trial court was wrong to dismiss a declaratory judgment claim from a group of electricity suppliers that a state regulator ordered to pay more than $1 million for missing renewable energy targets, the state's highest court held Wednesday in partially restoring the companies' case.

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MoFo Adds 2 Dentons Energy, Data Center Partners In DC

By Kevin Penton

Morrison Foerster LLP added two attorneys from Dentons who focus on energy and data center matters as partners in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm has announced.

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Data Center Developer Lessons From Maine's Vetoed Ban

The regulatory and political dynamics that recently led Maine’s governor to veto a popular bipartisan bill proposing a temporary data center development ban offer a useful template that developers can use to help their projects survive other states' attempts at moratoriums, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

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Analysis

BigLaw Deals Scandal Puts Boston Back On White Collar Map

By Chris Villani

A sweeping insider trading case involving information stolen from BigLaw firms shows a return to bread-and-butter white collar enforcement for Boston federal prosecutors and provides a morale lift in an office that has seen shifting priorities and staff turnover since the signature "Varsity Blues" takedown in 2019, veteran prosecutors told Law360.

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Goldstein Taps Ex-SG Prelogar Before Sentence, Likely Appeal

By Jeff Overley

One of the nation's most accomplished oral advocates, Tom Goldstein, revealed Thursday he has retained another of the nation's most accomplished oral advocates, Elizabeth Prelogar, ahead of his sentencing and likely appeal in a criminal tax case that has captivated the appellate bar.

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Immigration Judges' 'Anxiety' Dialed Up Amid Mass Exodus

By Emma Cueto

Current and former immigration judges spoke on a web panel Thursday about threats to the independence of immigration judges and the strains on the immigration system, such as a massive backlog of cases at a time when many judges have been pushed out or fired.

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Analysis

How Exxon Attys Beat A 10-Year-Old Securities Class Action

By Spencer Brewer

This month, Exxon Mobil's defense team helped deliver a clean sweep victory for the energy giant when a federal jury in Texas found the company did not lie to investors about the profitability of some operations.

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PBM Swaps Cravath For WilmerHale In Price-Fixing Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

Pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics LLC has replaced counsel Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP with WilmerHale and another firm in an antitrust case in Michigan federal court brought by the state's attorney general.

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Bush-Appointed Missouri Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge David Gregory Kays of the Western District of Missouri will take semi-retired status in May 2027, according to an update from the federal judiciary on Thursday.

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Feature

5 Podcasts To Keep IP Attys Entertained And Informed

By Theresa Schliep

Whether intellectual property attorneys are hitting the road for a family trip or kicking their feet up at home, podcasts about legal news can offer an easy way for them to stay in the know while (hopefully) not working this Memorial Day weekend.

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