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BOEM Proposes to Modify its Offshore Renewable Energy Regulations
On January 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) announced a proposed rule (the “Modernization Rule”) to modernize its regulations for renewable energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”). The announcement...
FTC Pursues Crackdown on Employee Noncompetes
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched unprecedented challenges to noncompete provisions in employment contracts through both rulemaking and individual enforcement actions. Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompetes Most significantly, on January 5, 2023, the FTC released a sweeping...
Mallinckrodt Ruling Holds Creditor Lessons for IP Sellers
In late December, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion in In re: Mallinckrodt PLC affirming the Mallinckrodt[1] bankruptcy court's November 2021 decision that the debtor could discharge certain post-petition, post-confirmation royalty obligations for the...
Co-location, Co-location, Co-location
UK grid constraints and delays to new grid connections are forcing sponsors to look at maximizing existing grid connections via BESS and renewables project co-location. Bracewell’s Ro Lazarovitch, Nicholas Neuberger and Sam Phillips outline the corporate structures being employed in co-located projects and their pros and cons to bankability.
Fifth Circuit Rules Just Energy Bankruptcy Court Erred in Exercising Jurisdiction to Redetermine ERCOT Pricing During Winter Storm Uri
In a January 5, 2023 opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the panel held the Just Energy bankruptcy court erred in exercising jurisdiction over the debtor’s suit to recover Winter Storm Uri payments made...
Smarter Contracts on the Blockchain: A Conversation with Bracewell’s Jeonghoon Ha
On this episode of Crypto Bits, New York associate Jeonghoon Ha joins hosts Seth DuCharme and David Shargel to discuss smart contracts, a central feature of the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. What is a smart contract? Smart contracts are computer...
New Protections for Pregnant and Nursing Workers in 2023
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act), expanding federal protections for both pregnant and nursing workers. Pregnant Workers Fairness Act...
New Climate Guidance Issued to Federal Agencies Conducting Environmental Impact Analyses
Overview On January 9, 2023, the Council for Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published interim National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change (hereafter, “guidance” or “GHG Guidance”). 1 CEQ intends for agencies to apply the...
My Crypto's Gone: Cryptocurrency in Earn Accounts Belong to Celsius Not Customers
Cryptocurrency in Celsius’ Earn Accounts belongs to the bankruptcy estate, and not to the depositors who placed it there, according to a January 4 memorandum opinion from Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of...
Congress Enacts Major Overhaul to HSR Filing Fees for M&A Deals
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (also known as The Omnibus Appropriations Bill), which includes the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act. The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, which marks the most...
A Royal Pain: Contingent Royalties Held to Be Dischargeable in Mallinckrodt
In late December 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion affirming the Mallinckrodt 1 bankruptcy court’s November 2021 decision that the debtor could discharge certain post-petition, post-confirmation royalty obligations for the sale of...
Biden Administration Finalizes Redefinition of "Waters of the United States"
On December 30, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers announced their finalization of the agencies’ redefinition of the Clean Water Act’s “waters of the United States” phrase, or “WOTUS”, a key phrase in...
A Challenging Year for African M&A
The continent’s two biggest oil producing nations have made recent reforms to their upstream regulatory regimes, which have been long awaited and the changes largely well received.
Happy Holidays: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
In this holiday episode of the Environmental Law Monitor, Tim Wilkins , Jason Hutt , and Ann Navaro from Bracewell’s Environment, Lands and Resources Practice Group join host Daniel Pope to discuss the events of 2022 while looking ahead to...
DOJ to Prosecutors: Think Twice and Ask Permission Before Charging
Last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a new DOJ charging and sentencing policy memorandum, replacing existing guidance to federal prosecutors in their exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The thrust of the extraordinary new policy is that prosecutors are no longer...