Analysis

FERC Future Fuzzy After High Court's Agency Firings Ruling

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission faces an uncertain future following the U.S. Supreme Court's blockbuster ruling that presidents have unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, which creates new risks for an energy industry that's used to regulatory continuity at FERC.

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2nd Circ. Backs NY Gas Appliance Ban In Split With 9th Circ.

By Lauren Berg

New York City and the Empire State can enforce their laws effectively banning fossil-fuel appliances in new buildings, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday, splitting from the Ninth Circuit in rejecting trade groups and unions' arguments that the statutes run afoul of federal law.

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Ohio Accounting Firm Escapes Holtec's Fraud Claims

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state court judge tossed Holtec International's claims against an accounting firm in its suit alleging fraud against its former general counsel and others accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from the company, according to a court order.

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Ukraine On The Hook For $71M In Aluminum Plant Feud

By Caroline Simson

Affiliates of the Russian company Rusal, one of the world's largest aluminum companies, have been awarded $71 million in a dispute with Ukraine stemming from the affiliates' investment in what was once Europe's largest aluminum production plant, the amount a fraction of the more than $1 billion the affiliates had sought.

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Puerto Rico Oversight Board Pitches $3B Bond Settlement

By Emlyn Cameron

Puerto Rico's Financial Oversight and Management Board pitched a $3 billion settlement package to bondholders of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, with an eye to finishing the power authority's bankruptcy, according to a news release Tuesday.

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Eversource, Avangrid Say Conn. Grid Law Is Unconstitutional

By Aaron Keller

Eversource Energy and Avangrid have accused Connecticut officials of violating the U.S. Constitution's supremacy, takings and contracts clauses by enacting a 2025 state law that forces utilities to participate in a regional power grid, arguing the state cannot meddle with their two-decade-old, federally approved voluntary memberships.

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Rail Group Says DC Train Car 'Border Fee' Rule Preempted

By Jared Foretek

The nation's largest railroad trade group told a federal judge on Monday that Washington, D.C.'s 60-cent fee for every railcar entering the district violates the dormant commerce clause, federal law and the city's own Administrative Procedure Act.

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DOJ Says Mich. Climate Antitrust Claims Are Barred

By Melanie Dorsey

The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's antitrust lawsuit against some of the world's largest oil companies, arguing much of the state's case is legally barred because Michigan is improperly attempting to regulate climate change through state antitrust law. 

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Eletson Ex-Owners Ordered To Pay $296K In Fraud-Tainted Feud

By Emlyn Cameron

A New York federal judge has told the former majority owners of Eletson Gas to pay nearly $300,000 in sanctions after he vacated an underlying $102 million arbitration award over alleged fraud.

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Oil Co., Contractor Win Coverage For Worker Injury Deal

By Hope Patti

A Travelers unit and an oilfield services provider must cover an oil and gas exploration company and a drilling contractor's half of a personal injury settlement, a Texas federal court ruled, saying the insurer and its policyholder breached their contractual defense and indemnity obligations under Texas law.

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EU Carves Out Free Trade Partners In Revised Steel Duties

By Jack McLoone

The European Union's new tariff-free steel import quotas will take effect Wednesday, with half of the 18.3 million metric tons in annual duty-free steel imports being allocated to countries with free-trade agreements with the EU, the European Commission said Tuesday.

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K&L Gates Brings On Energy Co. Legal Chief In Dallas

By Lynn LaRowe

K&L Gates LLP announced Tuesday that it has boosted its corporate and energy offerings with a Dallas-based partner who came aboard from a general counsel role at Texas energy company Vivakor Inc.

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Series

Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

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Why DOE Isn't Phasing Out Appliance Efficiency Regs

While the U.S. Department of Energy recently acted on President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order requiring it to consider sunsetting many energy regulations, the DOE has not proposed phasing out efficiency standards for appliances and industrial equipment — but it could pursue other approaches to ease such requirements, say attorneys at HWG.

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Perfectus Deal Raises Trade Missteps To Enterprise Risk Level

Former inspector general Parisa Salehi at Parker Poe discusses what the U.S. Department of Justice's recently settled False Claims Act case against Perfectus Aluminum can teach companies about satisfying trade reporting obligations as agencies increasingly coordinate enforcement.

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2 Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Say Firm Wants To Claw Back $6M

By Jake Maher

Two former practice group leaders at Clifford Chance LLP have sued in New York federal court alleging the firm is trying to claw back nearly $6 million in total from the pair after they moved to Sidley Austin LLP early this year.

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Trump Nominates Just Confirmed La. Judge For 5th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Anna St. John has been on the federal bench for less than four months, and now she's being put forth for a higher court.

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McCarter Atty Says He Didn't Know NY Law Before $20M Deals

By Brian Steele

A onetime McCarter & English LLP partner in Hartford testified Tuesday that he did not research New York's municipal contracting laws before helping two insurers enter into doomed $20 million loan repayment agreements with a Long Island town, but contended that he was under no obligation to do so.

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NJ Assembly Passes Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill requiring the disclosure of third-party litigation funding arrangements on Tuesday by an overwhelming margin after similar pending legislation in the state Senate received pushback from trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives.

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Apple Gets High Court Review Of Epic Case Sanctions

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take up Apple's challenge to a California federal court contempt order against it for violating a ban, won by Epic Games, on company policies that barred app developers from steering users to outside payment options.

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Analysis

Justices' Birthright Ruling Leaves Little Room For Congress

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 holding Tuesday that President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship is unconstitutional did more than invalidate the policy, it effectively foreclosed Congress from trying to implement the executive order through legislation, experts told Law360.

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High Court Scraps Caps On Coordinated Campaign Spending

By Katie Buehler and Jeff Overley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down federal limits on political party spending in coordination with individual candidates, agreeing with a Republican-led challenge that the caps violate the First Amendment.

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Uber, FedEx Slam Pa. Law Firm Counterclaims In RICO Suit

By James Boyle

Philadelphia-based personal injury firm Simon & Simon PC and its founder have failed to support a counterclaim in Pennsylvania federal court saying Uber Technologies Inc. and FedEx Corp. filed a sham litigation and abused the legal process with their ongoing RICO complaint against the firm, the companies argued Monday.

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NY State Bar Wants New Bar Exam Rules For Emergencies

By Kevin Penton

Following two recent incidents that drew scrutiny over their handling, the New York State Bar Association is calling for new standardized protocols to be followed should emergencies occur during the administration of the bar exam.

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