Analysis

AI Land Use Fights Are Just Getting Started In Mass.

By Chris Villani

Some Massachusetts cities and towns are scrambling to update their zoning rules amid rising tensions over artificial intelligence data centers, with disputes expected to play out in the courts and on Beacon Hill in coming years.

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Analysis

4 Texas Supreme Court Oil & Gas Cases To Watch This Term

By Keith Goldberg

The new term of the Texas Supreme Court initially appears light on oil and gas litigation, but Lone Star State attorneys told Law360 there are still a handful of cases that could have broad implications for the industry.

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Ohio Justices Tee Up Data Center Vote In Another City

By Isaac Monterose

The Ohio Supreme Court will allow the residents of Trenton, Ohio, to vote in a special election for a proposed city charter amendment that will ban the construction of data centers in the city, which is similar to a recent Ohio high court decision that set up a potential data center vote.

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NextEra's $67B Deal Clears Vote Ahead Of Regulatory Hurdles

By Al Barbarino

The shareholders of Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, advised by McGuireWoods LLP, have approved the companies' planned $67 billion merger, as regulatory scrutiny mounts at the state and federal levels.

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US Steel Pollution Class Has 'Unharmed' Members, Court Told

By Matthew Santoni

U.S. Steel wants to decertify a class of neighbors allegedly impacted by pollution from the Clairton Coke Works after a 2018 fire, arguing to a Pennsylvania state court judge Friday that testimony from class members who say they weren't affected should scuttle classwide treatment of a nuisance lawsuit.

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US Extends Trade Programs With African Countries, Haiti

By Jack McLoone

The government funding bill signed by President Donald Trump this week included extensions of U.S. trade agreements with African nations and Haiti through the end of 2028, locking in duty exemptions for broad swaths of products following bipartisan support.

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Judge Won't Drop Charges Against Adani's Co-Defendants Yet

By Katryna Perera

Five co-defendants in the federal government's dismissed securities fraud case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani are still on the hook for bribery conspiracy and other charges after a New York federal judge denied the government's request to have the claims dropped, saying the government had not yet supplied a sufficient factual basis to support its dismissal request.

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Conn. AG Pans Ex-Utility GM's Bid To Keep Gov't Pension

By Corey Rothauser

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has urged a state judge to revoke or sharply reduce the pension of a former Norwich utility chief convicted of misusing public funds on trips to the Kentucky Derby and a luxury West Virginia resort, arguing his crimes represented a serious betrayal of public trust.

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Ga. Landowners' Water Pollution Dispute Sent To Mediation

By Kelcey Caulder

Georgia property owners will mediate a dispute with land developers over claims that the developers polluted streams and a lake on their property during preparations for a solar farm, according to an order in federal court.

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Brief

Electric Co. And Zurich Settle $5M Airport Dispute

By Zach Dupont

An electric company that sought damages in Colorado state court over a contractor's decision to withhold over $5 million in payments for work completed in an expansion project at the Denver International Airport reached a settlement this week with four defendant insurers.

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Baker Botts Names New Energy, Infrastructure Leaders

By Lynn LaRowe

Baker Botts LLP announced Tuesday that it has appointed a group of longtime partners to leadership roles across practices central to the firm's energy and infrastructure work.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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Legal Sector Hiring Grows For 5th Month, But At Slower Pace

By Rachel Rippetoe

The legal sector saw 600 more jobs in August, growing for the fifth consecutive month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

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3rd Circ. Revives Malpractice Claim Against Kirkland Atty

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey divorcee may once again pursue a legal malpractice claim against a Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney who she said lost her millions by mishandling estate documents, after the Third Circuit found it could be possible to link her alleged damages to the lawyer's work.

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Quinn Emanuel DQ'd In Defamation Case Over Stock Reports

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas federal court on Friday booted Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP from representing a Hong Kong manufacturing company in its defamation lawsuit against investment research service Muddy Waters LLC after finding that the law firm had received relevant confidential information when it represented Muddy Waters in a related government probe.

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DC Panel's Rare Rebuke Over AI Errors Flags Rules Gap

By Andrea Keckley

A D.C. appellate court panel issued a rare sua sponte sanctions order on Thursday after finding nonexistent case citations in a brief filed by a McCabe Weisberg & Conway LLC attorney representing Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. in a foreclosure action, noting an apparent gap in the rules governing the court's sanctions authority.

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Motley Rice Founder Remembered As Titan Of Mass Tort Bar

By Adrian Cruz

Motley Rice LLC co-founder Joseph F. Rice, who died Thursday, was remembered by former colleagues and friends as a "transformational" attorney and "giant in the civil litigation bar" who spent decades working on some of the most high-profile mass torts and obtaining landmark asbestos, opioid and tobacco settlements.

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Sinema Can't Duck Suit Over Affair With Ex-Security Guard

By Y. Peter Kang

A North Carolina federal judge Friday denied former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's bid to escape the suit brought by the ex-wife of a former member of her security detail with whom she allegedly had an affair, saying the district court indeed has the authority to adjudicate the case.

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Roundup

Injury Law Roundup: Meta's Social Media Addiction Deal

By Y. Peter Kang

A $17.1 billion social media addiction settlement between Meta and 29 states and Johnson & Johnson's $5.5 billion ovarian cancer deal over its talc products lead Law360's Injury Law Roundup.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Morgan Verkamp LLC and Sparacino PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eleventh Circuit held that the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions do not violate the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Attorneys and academics differ over whether the moves by Meta's in-house lawyers ahead of its $17 billion settlement over claims its content harmed children were legal missteps or defensible efforts to manage litigation risk. And the co-founders of a partner-only law firm told Law360 Pulse how their technology reduces intake, billing and other nonbillable tasks that attorneys would normally perform. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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