Six Important Lessons from My First Year as a Full-time Mediator
Some of the lessons surprised me, and they may surprise other new mediators — as well as attorneys who are new to mediation.
Sidley Leads Independence Drilling’s Bankruptcy Restructuring in SDTX
Houston-based Independence Contract Drilling and its affiliated company, Sidewinder Drilling, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Monday in the Southern District of Texas. ICD leaders chose Sidley Austin as its lead legal advisor. Latham & Watkins is counsel for the noteholders. Piper Sandler is the investment bank advising ICD.
Judge Cuts $2.17M Jury Award in SkyWest Airlines Sexual-Harassment Case to $300K, as Prescribed by Law
In accordance with federal damages caps, U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater on Thursday reduced a jury's $2.17 million verdict against SkyWest Airlines to $300,000.
Evil Robots and Data Privacy
This article contemplates an artificial intelligence hypothetical given to a dozen Silicon Valley attorneys at an annual meeting of in-house lawyers and general counsel. The takeaway: as AI expands, it will increasingly become necessary for attorneys and their clients to understand exactly what tools are available to them to improve their models and avoid an increasing number of ethical and legal pitfalls.
Coterra Acquires Permian Assets for $3.95 Billion
Gibson Dunn advised Coterra and Kirkland advised two Denver-based sellers, Franklin Mountain Energy and Avant Natural Resources, on two separate deals involving as many as 550 net well locations and 125 miles of pipeline in New Mexico.
East Texas Jury Clears Nokia In Patent Case
A federal jury in Marshall deliberated about an hour and a half Wednesday before returning its verdict for Nokia. Correct Transmission had sought to prove Nokia infringed on three of its patents and should pay about $35 million.
Nokia Says Dallas-Area Company is ‘Overreaching’ in Pursuit of $35M Patent Infringement Verdict
Correct Transmission, which offices in Allen, rested its case Friday after a damages expert testified that Nokia owes $35 million for its alleged infringement of three patents covering technology used in routers. Nokia denies it uses the patented technology and is challenging the validity of one of the patents.
Trial Begins in $30M Patent Infringement Case Against Nokia
Lawyers for a Dallas-area company that holds the patents told an East Texas jury tech giant Nokia of America Corporation used its technology to improve Nokia routers without paying royalties as trial began Wednesday. Nokia denies it uses the patented technology and alleges the marketplace wasn’t interested in the technology.
Kirkland Advises on $1.25B Sale of EQT Marcellus Assets
The purchase follows — and completes — a swap agreement announced in April in which EQT exchanged a 40 percent interest in those same assets for Equinor's assets in the Appalachian Basin and $500 million in cash.
Who Qualifies as an ‘Officer of the United States?’ The Answer May Surprise You
Courts have historically wrestled with who qualifies as an “Officer of the United States”— a term that is used five times in the Constitution and its amendments. Considering that the federal government employs nearly 3 million people, some of the confusion is warranted. But not all. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court faced the question of whether the president qualified as an officer of the United States. The Court ultimately decided the case on different grounds without clarification on this point.
A federal district court in Florida ruled three weeks ago that any individual who files a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act is an officer of the U.S. and that the FCA's qui tam provisions are unconstitutional because whistleblowers are not appointed by the executive branch.
White & Case Snags Veteran LNG Advisor Monica Hwang
Specializing in O&G finance and energy risk analytics, Hwang has worked on LNG projects from Australia to Mozambique, along with extensive experience in traditional energy in the upstream and midstream space.
Prosecutors Must Narrow Charges in Criminal Suit Over West Texas Hydrogen Sulfide Death After Successful ‘Multiplicity’ Challenge
Aghorn Operating had argued the government was charging it three times for the same death, while prosecutors argued that each count related to an alleged violation of a different environmental law and that forcing it to narrow the charges would cut against the legislative intent and “undermine the deterrent value of the OSH Act.”
U.S. District Judge David Counts became the first federal judge in history to interpret the contours of a multiplicity challenge — that is, an argument that the Department of Justice is impermissibly spreading a single offense over several counts — related to alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act resulting in an employee’s death.