Analysis

NHTSA Fuel Economy Regs Overhaul Crushes EV Ambitions

By Linda Chiem

The elimination of strict federal mandates for higher fuel efficiency in new cars crushes momentum for the U.S. auto industry to pivot toward alternative-powered vehicles, ensuring that manufacturers will again be caught in litigation limbo as environmental groups prepare challenges to seemingly inconsequential standards with no penalties, experts say.

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Anadarko Investors Ink $114M Deal Over Axed Oilfield Project

By Lauren Berg

A class of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. investors asked a Texas federal judge to greenlight a $114.5 million settlement resolving their long-running claims that the company misrepresented the viability of the Shenandoah deepwater oil field in the Gulf of Mexico before abandoning the project and tanking the company's stock.

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Feds Seek To Throw Out States' Challenge To DEI Contract EO

By Ganesh Setty

The Trump administration told a Maryland federal court that it should toss a lawsuit from states challenging its implementation of an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the government contracting space, arguing the order falls within well-settled law.

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3rd Circ. Says No Contract Fees After Unripe Dismissal

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Third Circuit held in a precedential opinion Tuesday that a district judge lacked the authority to decide a fee request stemming from a dispute between an oil and gas company and a landowner over the terms of their lease agreement.

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Brief

Chinese, Indian Electrodes Dumped, Commerce Finds

By Jack McLoone

Imports of electrodes used for smelting from India and China are facing possible antidumping duties, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Tuesday, finding they are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value.

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Walmart, Energizer Battery Buyers Lose Antitrust Cert. Bid

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge denied class certification Monday in three suits alleging Energizer schemed with Walmart to artificially inflate disposable battery prices, finding the buyers' economists' regression models comparing battery prices to lighting products could not reliably show the alleged agreement raised prices.

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DTE Energy Settles Mich. Off-The-Clock Wage Claims

By Melanie Dorsey

A settlement resolving claims that DTE Energy Corporate Services LLC failed to properly pay employees for time spent starting and shutting down computer programs before and after their shifts was approved by a Michigan federal judge Tuesday.

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Suit Accuses USDA Of Unlawfully Gutting Aid For Rural Solar

By Tom Lotshaw

A coalition including farm and renewable energy trade groups has accused the Trump administration of abruptly and unlawfully making most solar projects ineligible for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant and loan program created to advance renewable energy in rural areas.

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Groups Say Calif. Biogas Credits Incentivize More Methane

By Gautama Mehta

Four environmental groups accused California regulators of violating state law by allowing factory farm biogas producers to receive carbon credits — a practice they said is notionally aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions but in reality incentivizes more methane production.

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Ford Hybrid Engine Fire Defect Suit Gets Trimmed

By Susan Smiley

A proposed class action against Ford Motor Co. was trimmed from 11 to two plaintiffs Tuesday after a Michigan federal judge concluded that merely owning a recalled vehicle without an actual defect manifestation is insufficient to establish an injury.

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Brief

Gibson Dunn Hires NY-Based Structured Finance Co-Chair

By Kevin Penton

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has added an attorney previously with Clifford Chance LLP who specializes in the energy and infrastructure sectors as co-chair of its structured finance practice group.

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Species 'Harm' Definition Rollback Brings Risk For Developers

A rule recently adopted by federal agencies rescinds the definition of "harm" in Endangered Species Act regulations to exclude habitat destruction — but while the move is aimed at reducing regulatory burdens, it creates new uncertainty for developers, and may trigger increased environmental protections in California, say attorneys at Cox Castle.

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3rd Circ. Affirms Thomson Reuters' Westlaw AI Copyright Win

By Ivan Moreno

The Third Circuit on Tuesday upheld Thomson Reuters' victory against Ross Intelligence Inc. in the first U.S. appellate ruling to address whether artificial intelligence training can be fair use of copyrighted material, upholding a Delaware federal court's decision that the startup infringed Westlaw headnotes by using material derived from them to develop an AI-powered legal search tool.

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11th Circ. Won't Pause Sanctions Against Trump In IRS Case

By Jack McLoone

An Eleventh Circuit panel refused Tuesday to pause a district court's sanctions order barring President Donald Trump and others from citing the agreement he made to settle his $10 billion suit against the Internal Revenue Service while they appeal the order.

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DC Circ. Weighs Limits On Boasberg's Contempt Inquiry

By Jared Foretek

A top Justice Department official told an en banc D.C. Circuit panel that a district judge should refer former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for contempt over the 2025 deportation flights to El Salvador and move on, saying the judge had no authority to wrap others into his inquiry.

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Jack Smith Says He Won't Be Intimidated By Trump Threats

By Courtney Bublé

Former special counsel Jack Smith testified on Tuesday he "will not be silenced" by threats of prosecution by the president or others.

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Baker Botts Atty Disputes Inventor's Claim Of Defamation Deal

By Madison Arnold

A Baker Botts LLP patent attorney is pushing back on an inventor's claim that they reached a settlement agreement in the inventor's defamation suit in Florida federal court.

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Richards Layton Atty's Chancery Nomination Advanced

By Rose Krebs

A Delaware senate committee Tuesday advanced the nomination for a Richards Layton & Finger PA director to serve as a vice chancellor on the nationally important Chancery Court, with him vowing to continue the court's esteemed legacy for corporate law jurisprudence.

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