Weekly Brief: 78% of Law Schools Ignore ABA Rule
LXBN This Week Ep. 2: EEOC on Criminal Records & Transgender Discrimination, BP Oil Spill Arrest, AZ Immigration Law at SCOTUS
In early April, the climate activist shareholder group, Follow This, filed shareholder resolutions seeking stronger energy transition strategies from several oil “super-majors.” The resolutions have been filed in advance of...more
A growing trend has emerged in the ongoing effort to hold greenhouse gas emitters accountable for their contributions to global climate change. The first wave of climate change lawsuits in the U.S. against carbon majors —...more
This is a brief account of some of the important environmental and administrative law cases recently decided. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - BP PLC, et al. v Mayor and City of Baltimore The issue the court confronted was a...more
Microsoft made a huge gaming move on Monday with its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the “parent company of gaming studios like Bethesda,” and maker of titles like “The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Quake and...more
Major shakeup at Ford, where CEO Jim Hackett is out after a three-year stint in which he “achieved mixed results” but didn’t impress Wall Street enough to keep his job. Ford has installed COO James Farley, a Toyota alum who’s...more
Top Court Seeks Trump Administration Input on PennEast Pipeline - "The U.S. Supreme Court asked the Trump administration for input on a PennEast Pipeline Co. appeal that aims to jump-start a planned natural-gas line by...more
On Monday, the Supreme Court delivered a surprising and monumental win for LGBTQ and transgender Americans, ruling 6-3 that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to protect “gay and transgender workers from workplace...more
No one—truly, not even the most casual economic observer—should be shocked by yesterday’s official declaration from the National Bureau of Economic Research that the U.S. is in a recession that officially began in February....more
Consumer activism and conscious consumerism are on the rise, with consumers expected to spend upwards of $150 billion on sustainable products by 2021 in the U.S. alone. Though consumers are willing to pay a premium for...more
Corporate leaders often talk to the talk when it comes to a Speak Up culture. In theory, many business leaders can articulate their commitment to a Speak Up culture by emphasizing the importance of employees raising...more
Trump Aides Try to Quash Tax Hike Rumors Amid Infrastructure Talks "The White House is reassuring conservative leaders that it has no plans to hike the gas tax to help fund a massive infrastructure package that President...more
A stable oil price (for the majority of 2018) saw deal value climb in the energy, mining and utilities sector in 2018, despite volume falling. Energy, mining and utilities deal value climbed by 34 percent to US$350.1...more
A United States District Court (Northern District California) (“Court”)addressed in a January 3rd Order a retail motor fuel franchisee’s request for a preliminary injunction against an oil company’s termination of its...more
The Supreme Court of Texas delivered good news to policyholders insured under a “Joint Venture Provision” endorsement commonly used in the oil and gas industry. In Anadarko Petroleum Corp. v. Houston Casualty Co.—a case...more
Insurance coverage litigation arising out of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion continues to result in important precedents that will impact energy companies and policyholders with operations in Texas. On January 25, the...more
It has been almost 10 years since an explosion onboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig rocked the offshore energy industry. In that time, most of the major (and minor) players involved in the disaster have been forced to...more
In another dispute over insurance coverage related to the Macondo Well blowout (a/k/a Deep Water Horizon incident),1 the Texas Supreme Court held that an endorsement reducing a policy’s limits for “liability” stemming from a...more
The 2012 Macondo Well blowout and Deepwater Horizon rig explosion gave rise to a slew of lawsuits. Our subject today is one of them. ...more
On June 25, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a claim against several oil and gas producers for impacts relating to climate change in The City of Oakland v. BP, Chevron...more
Trump Official Tells Coal Group He's 'an Advocate for the Coal Industry' "'The good news is I'm with the federal government and I'm here to help,' Doug Matheney, a special adviser in the Energy Department's Office of...more
Northeast Could be Second U.S. Petrochemical Hub - "'While the region with its ample and reliable supply of ethane is primed for the emergence as a second major petrochemical manufacturing hub in the United States, it...more
Appalachia Underground NGL Storage Facility Clears Big Hurdle - "The Appalachia Storage & Trading Hub initiative got approval for the first of two application phases for a $1.9 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan, the...more
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that it will not seek leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal's decision in the BP Canada case. This means that the Court's decision to deny the CRA general and unrestricted...more
I recently worked with a client on a presentation concerning the Deepwater Horizon disaster – an epic tragedy in 2010 that claimed the lives of 11 men, injured 17 others and poured 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of...more
The Federal Court of Appeal has limited the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) access to tax accrual working papers that reveal a taxpayer's uncertain tax positions. This case is an important one for every company that has audited...more