Energy
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Environment / Environmental Law
Stat Of The Week: Rays Of Climate Hope
Solar and wind appear poised to make major inroads. -
Finance
Biden’s Green Infrastructure And Jobs Plan Would Cost Less Than Nine Months Of Trump’s Deficit Spending
You would think there isn’t much to seriously debate here. - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Litigation Finance, Sponsored Content
Arbitration's Important Role In The Rise Of Renewable Energy
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Litigation Finance, Sponsored Content
Renewables And Cleantech Bring Major Change To The Energy Sector
How are arbitration and litigation finance playing a role in energy's transformation? Download a free copy of our white paper to find out. -
Litigation Finance, Sponsored Content
Feel The Power: A Roundup Of The Go-To Law Firms Of The Energy Industry
Engaging these firms can help energy industry companies avoid or contain problems down the road. -
Bankruptcy
Two Bankruptcies, One Signal To Investors?
The recent bankruptcies of two clean energy companies has kept the renewable energy sector on its toes. -
Politics
It’s Time To Take Donald Trump Seriously
It is time to take Trump seriously and to support, shape, or oppose his policies in specific ways. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 01.19.16
* The most difficult thing to inherit may just be an Apple ID — a widow is told by the technology behemoth she needs a court order to continue playing her games on a jointly owned iPad. [Digital Passing]
* Your trusty Bluebook is going to need some help if it is going to continue to be the bane of law students’ existence. [Harvard Crimson]
* Is it too much to ask for a picture of RBG playing Xbox? A class action over Xbox’s tendency to scratch discs heads to the Supreme Court. [Forbes]
* Orrick is casting its lot with the energy market — they are opening up a Houston office with the addition of 20 new partners. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Is threatening someone with blackmail merely a courtesy? [Associates Mind]
* ATL managing editor David Lat will be in San Francisco next month, and you’re cordially invited to meet him at this cocktail reception and Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link) book signing. [FBANC via Eventbrite]
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Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
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Marijuana
Marijuana's Flower Power Is Leading To (National) Energy Headaches
Most utilities charge marijuana businesses the same as their other customers, but make no real effort to work with them in resolving their special needs. In the meantime, our environment pays the price. -
Environment / Environmental Law, Quote of the Day
Federal Judge Doesn't Trust Southern Lawyers
A judge delays sentencing in an environmental case. But not before quoting a Golden Oldie. -
Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 03.04.15
* Meet David King of King v. Burwell, the epic Obamacare case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. [New York Times]
* And meet the two legal heavyweights who will be arguing the case before SCOTUS. [Politico via How Appealing]
* Meanwhile, another Supreme Court has put a stop to same-sex marriage down in Alabama — for now. [Buzzfeed]
* General David Petraeus reaches a plea deal, requiring him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a fine (but no prison sentence). [Washington Post]
* It’s not as sexy as Obamacare or marriage equality, but the collection of state sales tax on out-of-state purchases made online is a pretty important issue — and Justice Kennedy wants SCOTUS to revisit it. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]
* In the wake of a leadership shake-up, Cadwalader is beefing up its Houston energy practice — but is that a wise idea, with the price of oil spiraling downward? [American Lawyer]
* Finally, something that Elie Mystal and Jordan Weissmann can agree upon: dropping the LSAT is a bad idea. [Slate]
* A jury of eight men and 10 women will start hearing arguments today in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, defendant in the Boston Marathon bombing. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]
* Legal ethics guru Monroe Freedman, RIP. [ABA Journal]
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Interesting Facts
Stat of the Week: Thanks polar vortex!
Even if you have no idea what an MMbtu is, this surge in natural gas prices is pretty striking. Thanks polar vortex! -
Environment / Environmental Law, Federal Government
National Hydraulic Fracturing and Energy Issues to Watch in 2015
Hydraulic fracturing and energy policy promise to be an interesting area to watch in 2015 as many competing political forces push to control the agenda.
Sponsored
Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
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Federal Government
FERC Enforcement – What To Expect In 2015
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) recently released its annual report on enforcement activities for 2014. As is typical, Enforcement identified its primary concerns as detecting and deterring fraud and manipulation in its markets and ensuring the safety and reliability of the grid. -
Environment / Environmental Law
Senate Committee Staff Release Report Espousing Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing
In the final days before the November election, the Republican (then minority) staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a report outlining the domestic economic benefits of hydraulic fracturing, entitled Setting the Record Straight: Hydraulic Fracturing and America’s Energy Revolution -
Environment / Environmental Law
Inhofe Calls On EPA To Drop Fracking Review, But Agency IG Declines
The EPA’s inspector general, Arthur Elkins, Jr., has rejected Sen. Jim Inhofe’s (R-OK) appeal for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to drop its review of the agency and the states’ ability to manage potential threats to water resources from hydraulic fracturing. In his October 16th letter responding to Sen. Inhofe, Mr. Elkins noted that, while inspectors general (IG) report their findings to Congress and their agency heads, they do not take direction from either in deciding what to review. He added that the Inspector General Act does not require IGs to explain why they should be allowed to continue their work, and that, in his opinion, interference by Congress or the agency is contrary to the statute. -
Copyright, Non-Sequiturs, Patents, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Non-Sequiturs: 09.25.14
* Justice Sotomayor would like to remind you that just because you’ve been to one Indian casino, that doesn’t mean all Native Americans are fantastically wealthy. [KGOU] * Nor is every Native American cured by this news, but this is certainly a start — the Department of the Interior will sign a $554 million settlement in the breach of trust case brought by the Navajo nation. [Buckley Sandler LLP] * A Peruvian woman has sued Disney for $250 million because she alleges that Frozen is a rip-off of her life story. Because she has magic ice powers? I guess. Actually, it looks like the only connection is that she lived in a cold place and had a sister. This reminds me of my lawsuit against Chuck Palahniuk for basing Fight Club on my life story. Not that I ran anarchic underground fight clubs, but because one-time at camp I made a bar of soap. [Bustle] * Law professor goes after revenge porn and patent trolls because he’s trying to win the title of best person ever. [Brooklyn Paper] * Harold Hamm, Continental Resources’ Chairman and CEO — and former energy adviser to Mitt Romney — is staring down the barrel of a massive divorce settlement. So he takes a page from Romney’s adversary. Hamm is arguing that his fortune… he didn’t build that! He was just the beneficiary of a good market rather than a contributing factor so he doesn’t have to share. [Upstream Online] * The CAC launches a new series on the Roberts Court at 10. It’s hard to believe how long ago that was. When the Chief Justice took over we still thought the ending of Lost was going to make sense! [Constitutional Accountability Center] * Winston & Strawn lawyer turned famous LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya opened a new show in London. Sculptures made of thousands and thousands of hand-assembled bricks. Just in case you were wondering if there was a task more boring than document review. [Yahoo! Canada News] * Paul Clement and Mike Carvin offer a SCOTUS preview. [Heritage Foundation] -
Boutique Law Firms, Litigators, Quote of the Day, Small Law Firms
Messing With Big Oil Can Spell Big Trouble
An in-depth article in Rolling Stone takes a close look at the never-ending litigation between Steven Donziger and Chevron. -
Shameless Plugs, Technology
Check Out ATL's New eDiscovery Channel
Interested in eDiscovery? We've got some good news for you! -
6th Circuit, Anthony Kennedy, Celebrities, Environment / Environmental Law, Gay Marriage, Legal Ethics, Non-Sequiturs, Patents, Supreme Court, Technology
Non-Sequiturs: 08.08.14
* It’s not that Justice Kennedy cares more about gay rights than women’s rights, it’s that Justice Kennedy understands gay rights better than women’s rights. That’s a much less charitable but shorter read of this insightful piece by a former Kennedy clerk. [Dorf on Law] * The judge caught making racist and sexist remarks about Charlize Theron’s adoption has been banned from the bench. He wants to be judged on more than this incident. To quote Dr. Hibbert: “And hillbillies want to be called ‘Sons of the Soil’, but it ain’t gonna happen.” [Associated Press via Yahoo! News] * Adam Carolla is keeping his fight against patent trolls alive. Ziggy socky ziggy socky hoy hoy hoy! [Mashable] * Yesterday, the man who shot young Renisha McBride for knocking on his door was convicted of second-degree murder. Sadly, it was just one more in a string of cases where some idiot bought into the rhetoric of shooting first and asking questions later that gun lobbyists have pushed for years. [New York Times] * Here’s something, a former law firm CIO wrote a novella called I Spy, You Spy, We All Spy (affiliate link) based on the allegedly true events of the “law firm spying on its own lawyers, employees and some of its employees’ family members.” Delightful. [Amazon] * “Why Young Lawyers Shouldn’t Hate Hate Hate Baby Boomers Holding On to Jobs.” OK, I’ll go back to hating them for being the self-absorbed Me Generation that made Gordon Gekko a role model. [Law and More] * At oral argument in the marriage equality cases, the lawyers and the Sixth Circuit exhibited… a lot of misconceptions. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * The battle over the EPA’s Carbon rules isn’t over yet. Gear up for a Supreme Court trip. [Breaking Energy] * Do you need to know how to pronounce the SCOTUS case of Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v. Schlunk? There’s an app for that. [Law Technology News]