In the 2012 case of Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd., et al., v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, 363 S. W. 3d 192 (Tex. 2012), the Texas Supreme Court held that the routine and ministerial issuance of a common carrier pipeline permit to Denbury Green did not conclusively establish the pipeline’s…
The Texas Supreme Court confirmed that it will hear oral arguments in McGinnes Indus. Maint. Corp. v. The Phoenix Ins. Co., et al., No. 13-20360, case on January 15, 2015. The issue was certified to the Texas Supreme Court by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 11, 2014.…
On December 1, 2014, the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Judge Zainey presiding) issued a ruling in the case of The Parish of Plaquemines v. Total Petrochemical & Refining USA, Inc., et. al. The court granted the motion of the Parish to remand to state…
In Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. AMSCO Windows, No. 13-4155, 2014 WL 6679589, at *3 (10th Cir. Nov. 26, 2014), the United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, held that construction defects brought against a window manufacturer (“AMSCO”) were “occurrences” as defined under the manufacturer’s Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) policies and,…
On September 30, 2014, Governor Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. signed into law California Assembly Bill 26 and Assembly Bill 2272, both of which are effective January 1, 2015. Existing law requiring payment of prevailing wages defines “public work” to include, in part, “[c]onstruction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work…
On November 26, 2014, the U.S. District Court for Hawaii issued a ruling holding that a Hawaii County Ordinance purporting to place restrictions on the “open air cultivation, propagation development or testing of genetically engineered crops or plants” was preempted by state laws empowering the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to…
On November 25, 2014, the U.S. District Court for Alaska granted a preliminary injunction enjoining and restraining EPA and the EPA Regional Administrator from taking any actions under their authority under Section 404c of the Clean Water Act regarding the proposed mining project of the Pebble Limited Partnership in the…
On June 23, 2014, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed into law Senate Bill 447. Louisiana Revised Statutes § 2156.3 governs the licensing of “entities engaging in the business of selling, leasing, installing, servicing, or monitoring solar energy equipment,” and “entities engaged in the business of arranging agreements for the lease…
Internal corporate investigations often raise questions regarding legal privileges. In an important attorney-client and work product controversy in the corporate area, last June the DC Circuit Court of Appeals granted a petition for a writ of mandamus in connection with documents the trial court had ordered to be made available…
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has agreed to rehear the case of National Association of Manufacturers v. SEC, 748 F.3d 359 (2014), responding to petitions for rehearing submitted by the Securities Exchange Commission and Amnesty International. The Court will consider the First Amendment…