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Inflation Reduction Act
PHMSA Inspections to Focus on Integrity Management Program Evaluations
Effective immediately, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) inspections will emphasize the review of operator methods for integrity management (IM) program evaluations, the agency said in an Advisory Bulletin released earlier today. PHMSA also stated that it will carefully...
Lame-Duck Patent Reform Goes Almost Entirely Unnoticed
With most lawmakers focused on the so called "fiscal cliff" during the current lame duck session of Congress, Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) has quietly once again proposed legislation to reform the United States patent system. This time, few seem to...
FERC Tees Up Enforcement for 2013
The specter of enforcement actions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is looming large over the energy industries. In the post-election flurry of FERC enforcement activity, FERC curtailed JP Morgan Venture Energy Corp.'s authority to sell power at market-based rates...
New USPTO Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Satellite Office Finds Home in Downtown Dallas Location
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced that downtown Dallas will serve as the site for its Dallas-Fort Worth regional satellite office. The office is expected to be a place where small businesses and entrepreneurs can learn how...
Post-2012 Election Outlook for Shale Gas Industry
The extraordinary increase in the production of natural gas from shale formations in the U.S. played a central role in the 2012 elections. As President Obama and Governor Romney campaigned throughout the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado and...
The Outlook for Environmental Enforcement in 2013
President Obama's re-election is expected to bring continued, aggressive enforcement efforts at the civil and criminal levels. To the extent that legislative initiatives on key issues like climate change, shale gas, and offshore drilling are delayed or given a lower...
SEC Seeks to Alleviate Chief Compliance Officers' Concerns Regarding Recent Enforcement Actions
On November 4, 2015, Andrew Ceresney, Director of the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), presented the keynote address at the 2015 National Conference of the National Society of Compliance Professionals. In his speech, Mr. Ceresney...
VIDEO: Chapter 11 Check Up
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FTC Defers to State Resolution of Competitive Concerns Arising Out of Acquisition of Natural Gas Assets
On November 7, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced it had closed its investigation of Hilcorp Alaska LLC's proposed $375M acquisition of Marathon Oil Company's Cook Inlet, Alaska natural gas production, storage, and pipeline assets, despite identifying several competitive concerns...
FTC Defers to State Resolution of Competitive Concerns Arising Out of Acquisition of Natural Gas Assets
On November 7, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced it had closed its investigation of Hilcorp Alaska LLC's proposed $375M acquisition of Marathon Oil Company's Cook Inlet, Alaska natural gas production, storage, and pipeline assets, despite identifying several competitive concerns...
What's in Store for Offshore Energy After the 2012 Election
President Obama describes his energy policy as an "All of the Above" approach that encourages production of traditional fossil fuels while supporting the growth of renewables. Despite an increase in overall U.S. energy production over the past four years, output...
Chancery Court Endorses Predictive Coding
Signaling the growing acceptance of predictive coding of electronically stored information - a process by which computer algorithms determine whether a document is relevant - the Delaware Chancery Court this month for the first time endorsed its use. The case...
CFTC Provides a Bit of Last-Minute Breathing Room on Swaps Regulation
On Friday October 12, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) regulations defining the term "swap" took effect, triggering a cascade of new regulatory requirements pursuant to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) for entities holding...
Gunning for the Supreme Court: A "Substantial" Case "Arising" from Texas That Means More Than You Think!
On Friday, October 5, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Gunn v. Minton , 1 seeking to address whether the Federal Circuit and other courts following its lead have departed from the Supreme Court's "arising under" jurisdiction standard...
Prepping for CFIUS: Understanding and Managing Foreign Investments in the U.S.
In late September 2012, the Obama Administration blocked plans by a Chinese company to build wind projects in Oregon, citing national security considerations due to the close proximity of a U.S. Navy site near the proposed site. This recent order...