Analysis

Feds' Bid To Wipe Calif. Clean Car Regs Spells More Upheaval

By Linda Chiem

The Trump administration's assault on California's more than decade-old clean car regulations deliberately upends the U.S. auto industry's transition toward alternative-powered vehicles, spelling even more regulatory uncertainty as the antagonistic political climate and long legal battles persist, experts say.

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Justice Kagan Denies Apache Bid To Block Ariz. Land Transfer

By Crystal Owens

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Thursday declined to block a federal government land transfer in Arizona after four Apache women looked to stop the exchange on behalf of their daughters, arguing that the area contains a site used for a coming of age ceremony that will be destroyed.

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States Join Push To Revive EPA Climate Danger Finding

By Julie Manganis

A coalition of state and local governments on Thursday became the latest group to ask that the D.C. Circuit overrule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission last month of its long-held position on the danger greenhouse gases pose to public health.

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PI Loses Bid To Block Extradition To US On Hacking Charges

By Ronan Barnard

A private investigator accused of hacking activists on behalf of ExxonMobil to subvert climate change litigation lost his bid on Thursday to overturn a decision to allow his extradition to the U.S. to face trial.

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FERC Chair Aims To Ease Energy Squeeze From War On Iran

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S.-Israel war on Iran that is roiling global energy markets underscores the need for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve gas infrastructure projects more quickly so that energy prices can be kept in check, FERC Chair Laura Swett said Thursday.

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Brief

Commerce Investigating Chinese, Indian Graphite Electrodes

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday said it will open probes into imported Chinese and Indian electrodes used for smelting to determine whether those goods have been subsidized or sold at less than fair value, joining an ongoing U.S. International Trade Commission investigation.

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Alaska Natives Retain Access To Land In Petroleum Reserve

By Joyce Hanson

An Alaska federal judge has stayed the Trump administration's cancellation of a conservation right-of-way issued to a tribal group seeking access to about 1 million acres of key habitat for a caribou herd within the vast National Petroleum Reserve located on the state's North Slope.

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Oil Co. Needn't Give $105M To Bond Insurers, Judge Rules

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge found Thursday that two insurers are not entitled to receive some $105 million in collateral from Houston-based oil and gas producer W&T Offshore, approving a magistrate judge's report that noted the insurers' allegations are mere "speculation."

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Texas Court Erases $7.8M In Taxes On Stored Export Oil

By Michael Nunes

A Texas company storing presold crude oil to be exported to foreign countries was wrongly taxed $7.8 million by a county assessor, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, reversing a trial court decision.

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Oil Company Sues X Critic Over Assets Amid Investor Suit

By José Luis Martínez

Oil and gas asset company Next Bridge Hydrocarbons Inc. claims that an X commenter has falsely accused the company of misleading investors about the value of its assets, in a dispute that comes as investors are appealing the dismissal of claims against the Texas company about misrepresentation of assets.

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PE Behemoths Eye $10B OpenAI JV, Plus More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Private equity firms, including TPG and Bain Capital, are considering forming a $10 billion joint venture with OpenAI, Finnish lift maker Kone Oyj is mulling an acquisition of its rival TK Elevator, and Australian investment firm Macquarie has backed out of a bidding war for a stake in Kuwait's oil pipeline network due to the conflict in the Middle East.

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Zimbabwe Urges Justices To Pass On $50M Award Suit

By Jack McLoone

Zimbabwe urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday not to review a D.C. Circuit decision from last summer ending litigation seeking to enforce an 11-year-old, $50 million arbitral award against that African country, arguing that the question presented is "narrow and unimportant."

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Duke Energy Settlement Raises Key Antitrust Questions

The recent federal court settlement in Duke Energy v. NTE Carolinas II comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's failure to address a Fourth Circuit decision in the matter, calling into question the core purpose and effect of antitrust laws, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

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Series

Coaching Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Coaching youth soccer for my 7-year-old son's team has sharpened how I communicate with clients, prepare witnesses, work within teams and think about leadership, making me a more thoughtful and effective lawyer in many ways, says Joshua Holt at Smith Currie.

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Sitting Judges Take Stand Over Threats Growing 'Ordinary'

By Jake Maher

On the heels of an ethics opinion giving them wider latitude to speak publicly, sitting federal judges brought attention Thursday to the increasing threats against them and their family members, warning about the dangers of such threats becoming "ordinary."

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Anatomy Of A Citation Hallucination: AI Edit, Associate Review

By Rachel Riley

Counsel for consumers in a supplement labeling lawsuit against Amazon responded Wednesday to a Seattle federal judge's order to explain an AI-hallucinated citation, saying the error was introduced by a generative artificial intelligence tool used to "harmonize" drafts of a brief, then missed by a fifth-year Boies Schiller associate tasked with checking the citations.

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Jackson Walker, US Trustee Reach Deal On Fee Settlements

By Vince Sullivan

The Office of the U.S. Trustee and law firm Jackson Walker LLP on Wednesday resolved the bankruptcy watchdog's opposition to a series of settlements tied to a romantic relationship between a former Jackson Walker attorney and a now-retired bankruptcy judge.

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Judge Quashes Subpoena Of 5 Firms That Repped Twitter

By Rae Ann Varona

A Delaware federal court ruled Thursday that six former Twitter employees cannot subpoena five law firms that represented the social media company in connection with its acquisition by Elon Musk, rejecting the employees' "conclusory allegations" that the company and Musk used the firms to make false promises of severance benefits.

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Nomination For New DOJ Fraud Chief Heads To Senate Floor

By Courtney Bublé

The nomination of Colin McDonald for the new position of assistant attorney general for fraud was sent to the full Senate on Thursday, after the Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance his nomination.

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Judge Digs Into Counsel Over 'Astronomically High' Fee Bid

By Nadia Dreid

Attorneys who represented classes of people who say they received harassing phone calls from real estate agents in violation of federal telemarketing laws are asking for way too much of the $20 million settlement, according to the California federal judge who tore into them Wednesday.

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DOJ Antitrust Head Tells Staff: Don't Worry About Criticism

By Bryan Koenig

The acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division said Thursday that he pays no heed to criticism of the agency and tells staff to do the same, while asserting in Washington, D.C., remarks that there's no better time to come work for the DOJ.

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Fired 'Arctic Frost' Agents Accuse FBI Of Political Retribution

By Dorothy Atkins

Two former FBI agents who worked on the "Arctic Frost" investigation into President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss have accused the government of abruptly firing them in an unconstitutional act of "political retribution."

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