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Inflation Reduction Act
DOT Issues Pipeline Safety Act Reauthorization Proposal
The Department of Transportation (DOT) released a legislative proposal to Congress on June 3, 2019, to reauthorize the federal Pipeline Safety Act (PSA or the Act) and continue funding the federal agency charged with implementing it, the Pipeline and Hazardous...
Gas Pipeline Safety Rule Clearing Final Hurdle: Operators Should Prepare
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is close to finalizing a rule applicable to the safety of natural gas transmission pipelines that has been nearly eight years in the making. Both Congress and the industry have urged PHMSA...
DOJ Criminal Division Publishes Corporate Compliance Program Guidance Document
In case you missed it, on April 30, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division released a guidance document titled Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (Guide). This release serves as an update to a prior version released in 2017...
Supreme Court: Trademark Licenses Survive Bankruptcy Rejection
In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court settled a long-standing circuit split regarding the impact of bankruptcy filings on trademark licenses. Until May 20th, brand owners in some jurisdictions could use bankruptcy protections to terminate the rights of third parties...
Compensation Newsletter: Trends In Director Equity Compensation This Proxy Season
The trend of including director-specific limits on the size of annual equity awards to non-employee directors under long-term incentive plans (“LTIPs”) continues to pick up steam, as evidenced by our survey of LTIPs filed this proxy season for shareholder approval...
Dropping Anchor: Parent company liability and the English Courts
Since 2015, three cases have gradually been making their way through the English appeal courts: Lungowe v Vedanta Resources Plc ; [1] Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell ; [2] and AAA & Ors v Unilever . [3] To quote the...
Understanding Cyber Threats to State and Other Governmental Entities
Cyber criminals have targeted state and local governmental entities at an alarming rate. The threat and scale of cyber-attacks is unprecedented. Bracewell lawyers Phil Bezanson , Ed Fierro and David Springer will host a webinar to highlight the risks that...
Pipeline Safety Settlements: Time to Take a Page from Hazmat?
With an increased interest in the resolving disputes efficiently and avoiding litigation where possible, the time may be right for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to clarify the process for settlement of pipeline safety compliance issues, whether...
CFTC Division of Enforcement Releases First Public Enforcement Manual
On May 8, 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Division of Enforcement (DOE) published its first public Enforcement Manual (Manual). The CFTC's DOE is responsible for investigating and prosecuting alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and Commission...
The United Arab Emirates' New Product Safety Law
The United Arab Emirates ("UAE") has recently released a draft of its highly anticipated product safety law (the "Law"), set to come into force in July 2019. This is the first time the UAE has enacted bespoke legislation specifically addressing...
Obligations of Good Faith in JOAs - The Impact of Recent Decisions on 'Relational Contracts'
In the international upstream oil and gas exploration and production industry, joint operating agreements (“JOAs”) are the key agreements which govern the terms upon which oil and gas companies regulate their upstream joint ventures. JOAs often provide for sharing costs...
Under Pressure: Pricing in the Middle East Construction Market
I’ve now been in Dubai for 9 weeks since relocating from Bracewell’s London office. In the construction industry here, there’s one thing to the forefront of everyone’s minds: price. That’s always been the way of course, in the UAE or...
FERC, Dominion Settlement Highlights Three Rules of Thumb: Stakeholder Disputes Highlight Compliance Risks; Change is a Compliance Moment; and Never Pursue Make-Whole Payments
On Friday May 3, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a settlement between FERC’s Office of Enforcement and Virginia Electric Power Company (Dominion) to resolve allegations of market manipulation related to Dominion’s receipt of lost opportunity cost (LOC)...
Natural Gas Marketer Settles Royalty Fraud with Department of Justice
A recent settlement serves as a reminder that companies in the energy sector that do not directly do business with government agencies can still be subject to federal procurement enforcement laws with severe consequences. On May 1, 2019, the Department...
The Evolving Market for Acreage Dedications
One of the more interesting developments in the oil and gas A&D market over the past couple of years has been the expanding variety of transactions between upstream and midstream companies involving acreage dedications. Acreage dedications are commitments from upstream...