Chevron's Climate Suit Comparison Meets Skeptical Judge

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge pushed back Tuesday after Chevron and other oil giants urged dismissal of a family's lawsuit over a 2021 heatwave death, saying this case differs from a host of failed climate torts because it focuses on a single fatality from a "very specific weather event."

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'Cold Comfort': Judge Pans Fed Defense Of Energy Grant Cuts

By Dorothy Atkins

The Trump administration faced tough questions from a California federal judge during a hearing Tuesday on the government's request to transfer or toss states' allegations it unlawfully terminated energy and infrastructure programs, with the judge calling defense counsel's arguments "cold comfort" to grant recipients who've lost billions in funding.

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3 Firms Steer Olin, Huntsman $2.4B All-Stock Merger

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Chemicals companies Olin Corp. and Huntsman Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to merge in a $2.4 billion all-stock deal built by three law firms that is meant to create a "leading" North American chemicals company.

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NextEra Investors Ink 'Record-Breaking' $150M Settlement

By Jessica Corso

NextEra investors say they have secured a "record-breaking" $150 million settlement with the utility company to resolve a lawsuit accusing NextEra of involvement in a scheme to place "ghost candidates" on Florida ballots.

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EU Parliament Approves Trade Deal With US

By Dylan Moroses

European Union lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve legislation implementing the bloc's safeguard-bolstered trade deal with the U.S. founded on a series of tariff cuts, moving one step closer to implementation that is expected before the end of the month.

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Illinois Adds Taxes On Digital Ads, Crypto, Prediction Markets

By Maria Koklanaris

Illinois will tax digital advertising, social media platforms, cryptocurrency, prediction markets and more under a nearly $56 billion budget signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.

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DOJ Wants NAACP's Air Permit Suit Against XAI Tossed

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration has urged a Mississippi federal court to let it step in as a plaintiff and dismiss the NAACP's lawsuit that seeks to bar X.AI Corp.'s operation of a data center-powering gas plant in Southaven, saying the NAACP can't pursue the lawsuit over the government's objection.

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NY Judge 'Doubtful' Of Oil Co.'s Suit Against Ex-Florida Rep.

By David Minsky

A New York federal judge said Tuesday he was "doubtful" that a breach of contract lawsuit filed by the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company can go forward, given the agreement's potential invalidation following a trial that resulted in the conviction of a former Florida congressman last month.

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Montanans Say Data Center Electricity Rates Need Their Input

By Elaine Briseño

Environmental advocacy groups seek to intervene in NorthWestern Energy's application to establish new rates for future data centers, telling the Montana Public Service Commission that their input is needed to protect residential customers from unpredictably higher costs.

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Feds Move To Drop Ex-Energy Execs' Corruption Charges

By Brian Steele

The former chief executive officer of a Connecticut utility co-op and its onetime board chair have successfully completed 18-month pretrial diversion programs and should no longer face federal charges that they conspired to use public funds for improper purposes, prosecutors said in seeking dismissal of their indictments.

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Highpower Investor Seeks Receiver For Dissolved Battery Co.

By Jarek Rutz

A former Highpower International Inc. stockholder has asked the Delaware Chancery Court to appoint a receiver to take control of the dissolved battery maker's remaining assets and affairs, arguing it stripped itself of valuable assets while an appraisal case was pending and may no longer be capable of addressing outstanding claims.

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Trade Court Backs Duty Redo For Canadian Wind Towers

By Jack McLoone

Certain wind towers imported into the U.S. from Canada will be subject to a 2.93% antidumping duty rate after the U.S. Court of International Trade signed off on Department of Commerce recalculations.

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GM Says Cadillac EV Owners' Design Defect Suit Falls Flat

By Susan Smiley

General Motors has asked a Washington federal judge to toss a proposed class action accusing the automaker of false advertising and concealing design defects in its Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle, saying the complaint fails to make any specific claims or show how the plaintiffs were harmed by the alleged electrical malfunctions.

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Brief

DOD Pledges $500M Loan For Rare Earth Processing Initiative

By Tom Lotshaw

U.S. Department of Defense officials inked a $500 million loan commitment to help a New England company scale up the domestic processing of rare earth elements.

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Brief

US Customs Bars Copper Entries From Serbian Exporter

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will take steps immediately to ban copper imports from a Serbian exporter following an investigation that revealed those goods were produced with forced labor, according to a Tuesday announcement. 

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Regulatory Rollbacks Complicate Car Co. Compliance Plans

As federal fuel economy and emissions regulations undergo seismic changes, and gas prices surge, automakers seeking to position their product lines for the future face a difficult strategic choice: whether to treat today's regulatory rollback as a lasting shift or as a temporary opening in an uncertain market, says Thomas Healy at Honigman.

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The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Maya Kowalski Sues Ex-Atty Over Fees, Funding Loan

By Carolina Bolado

Maya Kowalski, the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," filed a malpractice suit against her former attorney on Wednesday, accusing him of charging excessive fees and improperly orchestrating an advance funding loan after winning a $213 million judgment.

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Sanctioned IP Atty Tells Fed. Circ. 'Integrity' On The Line

By Elliot Weld

An attorney who was sanctioned in a trade dress infringement case due to what a judge said were his repeated misrepresentations has asked the Federal Circuit to lift the penalties against him and his client, saying his "professional and personal integrity, and my family, depends on it."

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Bosch Receives First DOJ Declination Under New Policy

By Sarah Jarvis

German technology company Bosch on Wednesday became the first company to avoid criminal prosecution under a new U.S. Department of Justice enforcement policy after it cooperated with the federal government and agreed to pay $36 million to settle allegations it improperly exported technology products to sanctioned Chinese company Huawei.

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DOJ's Pot Shift Leaves Key Questions For Cannabis Industry

By Sam Reisman

The Trump administration's recent moves to relax federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process will have unclear ramifications for all industry players unless Congress steps in to rewrite cannabis law, attorneys heard Wednesday.

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