5th Circ. Says Texas Can Block China-Linked Energy Deal

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit has affirmed an order dismissing a suit from the subsidiary of a Chinese company over the blockage of its investment into Texas energy grid assets, finding that federal regulations don't preempt a state law blocking energy investments by China and other countries.

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High Court Won't Settle Circuit Split Over Automatic Stays

By Gautama Mehta

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a petition asking it to resolve a circuit split over whether state-level proceedings should be automatically stayed during appeals of orders remanding cases from federal to state court.

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Blackstone Wraps 5th Energy Fund With $8.7B In Tow

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Private equity behemoth Blackstone revealed Monday that it closed its fifth energy-focused fund after securing $8.7 billion of investor commitments.

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Port Of Seattle Challenges Trump Grant Terms Targeting DEI

By Elaine Briseño

The Port of Seattle and several Washington cities and counties asked a federal judge to block the Trump administration from enforcing new grant conditions that would threaten $87 million in funding, arguing the restrictions lack clear standards of conduct.

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Florida Law Firm Seeks Toss Of Bank's $134M BP Oil Spill Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida law firm urged an Ohio federal court to toss a bank holding company's $134 million malpractice suit over litigation tied to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, arguing the claims are time-barred and the company did not qualify for economic damages in the oil spill litigation.

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Kirkland-Led EnCap Clinches $3.5B Continuation Vehicle

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Energy investor EnCap Investments LP, led by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, said Monday that it closed a continuation vehicle for a portfolio of Permian Basin assets after securing roughly $3.5 billion of committed capital.

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Oil Titans Denied 2029 Trial Date In Wash. Tribes' Climate Suits

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge has set a February 2028 trial date in two Native American tribes' cases accusing Exxon, Chevron and other petroleum giants of a decades-long campaign to downplay the dangers of burning fossil fuels, spurning the companies' bid for an October 2029 trial date.

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Puerto Rico Towns Say Climate Suit Deadline Creates 'Trap'

By Keith Goldberg

Puerto Rico municipalities have told the First Circuit that a lower court dismissing as untimely their antitrust and racketeering lawsuit saying energy companies concealed the climate change dangers of fossil fuel products "presents a trap" for any such claims.

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Meta Sends Data Center Lawsuit To Federal Court

By David Aaro

Meta has pulled into Georgia federal court a lawsuit claiming a company data center is a water-polluting nuisance, saying a claim invoking the U.S. Constitution means the case doesn't belong before a state judge.

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Spain Loses Appeal Over €291M Award In Singapore

By Caroline Simson

A Singapore appeals court on Monday declined to revive Spain's sovereign immunity defense in litigation by NextEra Energy to enforce a €291 million ($326.3 million) arbitral award, agreeing with a lower court judge that the country had waived the defense.

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Trade Court Whittles Hydropower Co.'s Duty Protest Challenge

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Court of International Trade granted the government's request to dismiss a majority of the claims a hydropower equipment importer raised claiming that goods U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted into the country were misclassified, according to an opinion published Monday.

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Solar Lender Seeks Exit From Michigan AG's $81M Fraud Case

By Melanie Dorsey

A solar financing company accused of helping facilitate an $81 million scheme that allegedly left Michigan homeowners with inoperable solar systems and mounting debt has asked a federal judge to dismiss the state's claims against it, arguing that it cannot be held responsible for an independent installer's sales practices and that its lending disclosures complied with federal law.

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How Bipartisan Permitting Reform May Boost Green Energy

After years of false starts, Congress may finally be nearing a meaningful overhaul of the federal permitting process — and the proposed legislation could provide renewable energy developers with faster project reviews, more durable permits and greater protections from litigation, says Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.

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Tracking The 2027 Va. Bills That May Tighten Data Center Regs

Data center developers and operators should monitor Virginia legislation responding to the state's new data center accountability framework, local moratoria and the end of an electricity consumption tax, which could change review thresholds, impose new energy rules and slow the approval process, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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DOJ Or Trump: Judge Asks Who Is Deciding Golf Course Plan

By Jared Foretek

Trump administration lawyers continued to insist at a hearing Monday there is no final plan to remake East Potomac Golf Course, and they changed their tune about whether one would require environmental review, despite new social media posts from the president announcing that work on the overhaul would begin "immediately."

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Wood Smith, Charlesbank Capital Ink Pioneering MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance defense firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman has inked a deal to take investment from middle market investment firm Charlesbank Capital Partners via a managed services organization, according to an announcement Monday, the largest U.S. firm to announce such a move.

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Brief

Arizona Court Approves State's First Non-ABA Law School

By Emma Cueto

The Arizona Supreme Court has approved the state's first law school not accredited by the American Bar Association, citing the need to increase the number of lawyers per capita in the state and provide more affordable options for legal education.

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Court Denies Gov't Bid To DQ Susman Godfrey In ABA's Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has denied the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to disqualify Susman Godfrey LLP from representing the American Bar Association in its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's executive orders against multiple major law firms. 

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Trump Taps DOJ Official, Federal Prosecutor For Judgeships

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a senior U.S. Department of Justice attorney for a Nebraska federal judgeship and an assistant U.S. attorney for a seat on the Northern District of Indiana bench.

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Rogoff Tells 9th Circ. Firing Furthers 'Evil' Framers Opposed

By Ben Adlin

Roger Rogoff urged the Ninth Circuit to affirm a lower judge's order reinstating him as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, asserting in a filing Friday that he's entitled to keep the court-appointed U.S. attorney position until President Donald Trump fills the role with a Senate-confirmed nominee.

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Proskauer Says It Didn't Drop Reddit To Defend Perplexity

By Lauren Berg

Proskauer Rose LLP and Perplexity AI are urging a New York federal judge to allow the law firm to represent the artificial intelligence company in Reddit's suit over alleged data scraping, balking at the social media platform's argument that its one-time law firm can't represent its current opponent.

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What The Justices Won't Hear: A Roundup Of Cert Denials

By Taylor Bowie

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up cases from Google, a U.S. Navy contractor, and other appellate hopefuls on Monday, according to an order list.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week blocked Cloudflare Inc. from completing a restructuring meant to preserve its founders' voting control, while Tower Semiconductor Ltd. accused Intel Corp. of backing out of a semiconductor manufacturing agreement and social media company Triller Group Inc. challenged its removal from Nasdaq.

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