Category: Energy

Nick Johnson to Lead Session During NBI CLE on “Resolving Boundary Disputes in Virginia”

Nick Johnson, Bailey Glasser’s Corporate, Commercial Litigation, and Criminal Practice Area Leader, will be speaking at NBI’s CLE Webinar on “Resolving Boundary Disputes in Virginia” on Wednesday, October 9th. Nick will lead the session titled, “Oil, Gas, and Mineral Rights Disputes: Employing the Top Methods,” sharing his invaluable experience in complex mineral development and boundary resolution.

With a practice spanning high-stakes litigation over agreements like mineral development, financial derivatives, and partnership contracts, Nick also advises energy clients on complex environmental, reclamation, and permitting compliance issues.

Nick’s most recent victory includes a major win for interstate commerce and constitutional law, where his team secured a summary judgment for Foresight Coal Sales, declaring Kentucky’s SB 257 unconstitutional and enjoining the Public Service Commission from enforcing the law—an important step forward in Foresight’s long-standing battle against discriminatory practices in interstate commerce.

To learn more and register for the event, visit here.

For more information on Nick Johnson, visit here.

Kentucky’s SB 257 Ruled Unconstitutional in Interstate Commerce Victory

In the latest update in the years-long fight on behalf of Foresight Coal Sales, Bailey Glasser has secured another win for interstate commerce and constitutional law.

On September 24, 2024, the district court granted Foresight Coal Sales summary judgment, declaring Kentucky’s SB 257 unconstitutional and enjoining the Public Service Commission’s commissioners from enforcing the law. This ruling marks a significant victory in Foresight’s long-standing legal battle against a law the district court agreed discriminated against interstate commerce.

This triumph follows years of dedicated litigation led by Bailey Glasser attorneys Joshua Hammack, Nick Johnson, and Chris Smith, who have championed Foresight’s case from the outset. In February 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Foresight’s constitutional claim was likely to succeed, delivering a key victory with a memorable opinion that Kentucky couldn’t “have its cake and eat it, too.”

Kentucky filed a petition for certiorari, arguing the Supreme Court of the United States should take up the case and reverse the Sixth Circuit’s decision. After the Supreme Court ordered Foresight to respond to that petition, Bailey Glasser’s team employed a creative and impactful argument, relying extensively on George Orwell’s Animal Farm to show the flaws in Kentucky’s case. In October 2023, the Supreme Court denied Kentucky’s petition, leaving the Sixth Circuit’s ruling intact and allowing the case to return to the district court.

This team of Bailey Glasser attorneys has been at the forefront of this fight, leading every phase of litigation—from the original complaint to discovery, appellate review, and now summary judgment. This latest decision is a testament to the team’s relentless pursuit of justice and constitutional fairness for Foresight. And this decision has far-reaching consequences for the coal industry, and for anyone selling across state lines, because it ensures states cannot extend or deny favorable treatment based on state of origin or similar “proxies” (e.g., state political decisions) that would threaten the unified national market.

Learn more about this case here:.

And for more information on our Commercial Litigation practice, please visit here.

Brian Glasser Named a Top 200 Lawyer in America by Forbes

Bailey Glasser founding partner Brian Glasser has been named one of “America’s Top 200 Lawyers” by Forbes in its first-ever elite lawyer list.

Forbes described its criteria as follows: “[t]he elite lawyers on this list were selected through a rigorous, multi-stage process of researching, evaluating and rating thousands of candidates, conducted by an editorial team with broad experience in law practice and the legal marketplace. The result is a collection of top lawyers involved in the most consequential cases, deals or legal trends in recent years . . . . they all share reputations for integrity, records of excellence—and Forbes’ recognition as the best in the business. What follows is a power list of lawyers whose skill, passion and purpose set them apart—for when you or your business need it most.”

In the last two years alone, Brian won a $5 million award against MyPillow CEO and election conspiracist Michael Lindell; helped lead the challenge to Johnson & Johnson’s “Texas Two Step” bankruptcy maneuver on behalf of people injured by J&J’s asbestos-riddled talc products; helped win dismissal of the bankruptcy of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies by a federal judge which thereafter resulted in the $6 billion settlement of more than 260,000 lawsuits brought by veterans and U.S. service members alleging that 3M military earplugs caused their hearing loss; and has won tens of millions of dollars for his clients in other lawsuits. He has also led the filing of hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of people abused as minors by the State of Maryland’s juvenile hall facilities via a new law passed in October 2023 that permitted previously time-barred claims by abuse survivors.

Read more here.

BG Team Wins $19.96 Million Judgment on Behalf of Wildcat Coal, LLC

On October 12, 2023, Bailey Glasser prevailed in a lease royalty dispute on behalf of our client Wildcat Coal, LLC, obtaining a judgment of nearly $20 million. This dispute involved calculation of advance royalties in a coal mining lease. The judgment was issued by Judge Freudenthal of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming.

The defendant, Bridger Coal Company, argued that it did not owe Wildcat any advance royalties despite a provision of the mining lease that obligated Bridger to mine at least 45% of its coal from Wildcat’s properties.

“We are glad that Wildcat will receive the advance royalties that Bridger agreed to pay under the lease,” said Bailey Glasser founding partner Brian Glasser, lead counsel in this case.

In addition to Mr. Glasser, the Bailey Glasser team included partners Leslie Brueckner, Jennifer Fahey, and Ben Schwartzman.

The Order granting judgment can be viewed here.

42 Bailey Glasser Lawyers Named To The Best Lawyers in America & Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch 2024 Guides

Today we announce that 42 Bailey Glasser lawyers have been recognized across various categories (including one as a “Lawyer of the Year”) in the 30th edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and the fourth edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America®.

“Lawyer of the Year” honors are awarded annually to only one lawyer per practice area in each region with extremely high overall feedback from their peers, making it an exceptional distinction.

For more, follow this link.

Bailey Glasser Helps Launch R3 Renewables LLC – A Groundbreaking Solar Energy Joint Venture between Riverstone Credit Partners, Summit Partners Credit Advisors and Peabody

Bailey & Glasser, LLP is representing and collaborating with clients Riverstone Credit Partners and Summit Partners Credit Advisors as they launch R3 Renewables, a joint venture with Peabody to develop new solar energy projects in Illinois and Indiana. The joint venture will pursue the development of more than 3.3 GW of solar photovoltaic and 1.6 GW of battery storage capacity over the next five years.

R3 Renewables will be engaged in the development of six potential sites on large tracts of land on, or near, previous coal mining operations in Indiana and Illinois. The portfolio size and strategic site locations, each of which is in close proximity to grid injection points, offers the potential for the development of the largest solar and battery storage projects in those states.

“I am proud of the work that Bailey Glasser did to help bring this innovative partnership to fruition,” said Jonathan Deem, a partner with Bailey Glasser who worked on this matter. “Peabody, Riverstone and Summit should be commended for taking bold action on renewables. We believe this new joint venture is poised to make history helping to form a more sustainable and reliable energy future.”

In addition to Deem, the Bailey Glasser team consisted of partners Brian Glasser, Kevin Barrett, and Marc Weintraub as well as lawyers Lorren Patterson, Fangyu (Fiona) Ye, and Amy Rubin.

Bailey Glasser lawyers worked closely with a team of lawyers from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP on the R3 Renewables transaction.

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