Energy Law

Blank Rome Adds 9 Lawyers in Houston via Merger with Abrams Scott Litigation Boutique

Blank Rome will be expanding the attorney roster in its Houston office nearly tenfold on June 30, when it is to merge a nine-lawyer litigation boutique there. Barry Abrams of Abrams Scott & Bickley is to serve as managing partner of the Houston office after the acquisition, Texas Lawyer reports…

Jun 9, 2011 8:31 PM CDT

Former Clark Thomas & Winters Partner Convicted in Bill-Padding Case, Gets 500 Days, Must Pay $222K

A former partner of Clark Thomas & Winters was convicted yesterday by a Texas jury in a case that revolved around the alleged padding of legal bills to obtain money to make secret payments to relatives of board members of a client utility company. Convicted of theft, money laundering and…

Jun 1, 2011 9:01 PM CDT

Obama Taps ‘Green’ Exec and Yale Law Grad John Bryson as Next Commerce Secretary

A 67-year-old Yale Law School graduate with extensive experience as corporate executive in energy companies has been tapped by President Barack Obama to be the next U.S. Commerce Secretary. John Bryson formerly served as chief executive officer of Edison International for 17 years and is currently chairman of BrightSource Energy…

May 31, 2011 8:53 PM CDT

Jury Mulls Money-Launder Case Against Ex-Clark Thomas & Winters Partner Charged re Billing Practices

A Texas jury is beginning deliberations in a money-laundering case against a former partner at Clark Thomas & Winters who is accused of padding law firm bills to conceal improper payments to individuals related to members of the client’s executive board. Walter Demond is also charged with theft and misapplication…

May 26, 2011 7:30 PM CDT

Akin Gump Raids Chadbourne for 4-Partner Project Finance Team

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld has raided Chadbourne & Parke for a four-partner project finance team in Los Angeles. The new Akin Gump lawyers are Thomas Dupuis, Lloyd MacNeil, Adam Umanoff and Edward Zaelke, the firm announced today in a press release. Zaelke, who formerly served as managing partner…

May 12, 2011 5:15 PM CDT

Howrey Seeks New Work Despite Its Dissolution

Howrey officially dissolved in March, but it is seeking $10.5 million in new legal work from a recently created utility board in New York State. Board members of the North Country Power Authority are being asked to sign a contract with the law firm to help the authority acquire assets,…

May 4, 2011 11:55 AM CDT

Fulbright Raids K&L Gates for 6-Lawyer Energy Team to Open New Pittsburgh Office

Fulbright & Jaworski has opened an office in Pittsburgh, raiding K&L Gates for a six-lawyer energy team to do so, reports the Houston Business Journal. Led by Ken Komorski,who will head the new office, the group focuses its practice on activity in the Marcellus Shale area of the Appalachian basin.…

Apr 27, 2011 3:23 PM CDT

Exxon Mobil’s Dispute with Venezuela Has Global Implications

Exxon Mobil Corp. has been involved in some pretty big lawsuits. The oil giant has been regularly painted as the bad guy in connection with events like the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off the Alaskan coast and states’ claims that it has stolen billions of dollars in mineral rights…

Apr 1, 2011 7:40 AM CDT

DOJ Quietly Overhauls BP Oil Spill Probe

As the anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico approaches, Justice Department officials have only recently created a special task force to oversee a probe examining who may be criminally responsible. NPR reports the DOJ “quietly overhauled their approach” earlier this month and put a veteran…

Mar 25, 2011 8:00 PM CDT

Hackers Accused of Accessing Major Energy Co. Info for Up to 1 Year or More

Working through Internet servers located in China, computer hackers are accused of having broken into the networks of as many as eight energy companies in the United States and Europe, reports Bloomberg. The article, which is based on information from security experts that was confirmed by one targeted company, says…

Feb 24, 2011 1:12 AM CST

Cadwalader Poaches 6 McDermott Partners; Dozens of Associates Could Follow, WaPo Says

Updated: Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft has admittedly poached six partners from McDermott Will & Emery, and as many as nine partners are expected to make the move, potentially bringing along dozens of law firm associates, too, according to the Washington Post. A subsequent Financial Times article reports that Cadwalader has…

Jan 20, 2011 9:36 PM CST

Doc Film That Cut A/C Privilege in $113B Enviro Case Also Pierced Filmmaker’s Shield, 2nd Cir. Says

Last year, a decision to cooperate with a filmmaker making a documentary about a $113 billion Ecuadorean environmental case cost plaintiffs’ counsel their attorney-client privilege. Now in the latest adverse ruling to the plaintiffs as a result of the Crude documentary, a federal appeals court has held that the film…

Jan 14, 2011 5:39 PM CST

Panel Blames Management, ‘Systemic Failures’ in Oil Industry and Government for Gulf Spill

A combination of poor decision-making by those in charge of the Deepwater Horizon rig and “systemic failures” by the oil industry and government regulators are responsible for the lethal well blowout and disastrous spill that began spewing from below the Gulf of Mexico in April, a presidential panel has determined.…

Jan 6, 2011 12:08 AM CST

Despite Hi-Tech Safety Equipment, Lack of Training Aided Oil Rig Disaster, NY Times Reports

After the Deepwater Horizon blew up in an inferno of flames in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, many assumed the fire on the drilling rig was an inevitable result of the oil spilling out of the undersea well that its crew had mistakenly failed to seal. But in…

Dec 28, 2010 1:04 PM CST

Doc Film Helped Chevron Subpoena Plaintiffs’ US Legal Files in $113B Ecuador Enviro Case

A documentary film encouraged by the lead plaintiff’s lawyer in a $113 billion case concerning alleged damage to a South American rain forest apparently didn’t achieve the result attorney Steve Donziger anticipated. Lawyers for Chevron Corp. used the documentary, Crude, to persuade a federal judge in New York both to…

Dec 23, 2010 9:09 PM CST