Environment & Energy Publishing tells the story of a Texas-based law firm has spent the past year rounding up potential clients in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania for mass litigation against Chesapeake for shorting royalty owners on payments.

The Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer has generally maintained that its royalty calculations are perfectly legal and that royalty owners have just misunderstood how their contracts work, E&E Publishing says. Nevertheless, royalty owners have sued the company in every state it has operations, resulting in a mixed bag of wins, losses and settlements.

“The royalty owners and their attorneys are adamant that Chesapeake is shortchanging them. In a recent Pennsylvania lawsuit, attorneys even accuse the company of racketeering — raising much-needed cash by selling assets to Access Midstream Partners LP and agreeing to pay the company high prices to move natural gas, then passing those costs to the royalty owners,” E&E Publishing reports.

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NGVAmerica has published a complimentary white paper providing a historical and forward-looking perspective on oil prices, as well as those for gasoline, diesel and natural gas fuels.

The company’s analysis reveals a compelling case for the continued transition to natural gas-powered vehicles (NGVs), especially among commercial and government fleets for whom transportation costs represent a significant portion of their budgets. The long-term stability and low prices for natural gas relative to oil are likely to remain for many years – perhaps even decades, based on well-documented economic models.

“Volatility and short-term declines in crude oil and related gasoline and diesel prices mask the underlying long-term oil supply-demand imbalance,” the report says.

Read or download the white paper.

The National Law Review has posted a paper on the use of drones in the energy industry and the FAA’s upcoming proposed regulations governing unmanned aircraft systems’ usage.

Bracewell & Giuliani associates Michael Weller, Salo Zelermyer and Joshua C. Zive wrote the report.

“The expansion of the UAS market is inevitable, and the use of this technology by the energy industry will only increase,” the authors write. “That being said, there are challenges ahead.  The current approval process will soon give way to a new regulatory program.”

Read the report.

Compliancy Group will present a free webinar about the terms and conditions of business associate agreements that require your attention, and which ones you shouldn’t lose any sleep over.

The 90-minute webinar will be Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Eastern time

At some point, nearly all HIPAA covered entities and business associates must enter into business associate agreements (BAAs). Far too often though, entities commit one of two errors when doing so – they either sign a BAA “as is” without careful consideration of its terms or they negotiate each and every item in the agreement, Compliancy Group says on its website.

The first error may result in significant costs and liability, and the second wastes time and money. This webinar will address the terms and conditions of BAAs that require your attention, and which ones you shouldn’t lose worry about. The webinar will give both covered entities and business associates the tools they need to identify and address BAA risks, while protecting their business and saving time and money.

Register for the webinar.

Applying ordinary principles of contract law, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Sixth Circuit’s ruling that provisions in expired collective bargaining agreements created a right to lifetime contribution-free health care benefits for retirees, their surviving spouses, and their dependents, according to a paper posted by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

The court disapproved of the reasoning in the Sixth Circuit’s 2009 decision in International Union, United Auto, Aerospace, & Agricultural Implement Workers of Am. v. Yard-Man, Inc. (Yard-Man).

The report says that retirees brought a class action against the employer after it announced that they would be required to make health care contributions. The retirees contended that the promise of “full Company contribution towards the cost of [health care] benefits” in collective bargaining agreements provided them with a vested right to receive lifetime health care benefits in retirement without any contributions.

Read the report.

The fundamental legal structure of a well written financial contract follows a state-transition logic that can be formalized mathematically as a finite-state machine (a.k.a. finite-state automaton), write Mark D. Flood and Oliver R. Goodenough.

The automaton defines the states that a financial relationship can be in, such as “default,” “delinquency,” “performing,” etc., and it defines an alphabet of events that can trigger state transitions, such as “payment arrives,” “due date passes,” etc. The core of a contract thus describes the rules according to which different sequences of event arrivals trigger particular sequences of state transitions in the relationship between the counterparties.

Download the white paper.

Bloomberg BNA’s Pension and Benefits blog reports that employers might begin drawing back on using wellness programs if they don’t get clarifying regulations on the treatment of financial incentives under the Americans with Disabilities Act from the EEOC, witnesses said at a Senate committee hearing.

Both Republican and Democrats spoke in favor of wellness programs at the Jan. 29 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but said that recent actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against employers that use financial incentives in their programs may hinder their further growth, because employers that comply with the Affordable Care Act’s provisions on these incentives could find themselves out of compliance with the ADA, the blog reports.

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As human resources has matured into a strategic business function, technology has become its backbone, according to a report at HumanResourcesOnline.net. This is particularly true within recruitment, where technology captures data about the complete lifecycle of talent – from the interview stages, to hiring and induction, and for performance management and exits.

Because many companies set aside large budgets and build entire teams around finessing their digital footprint, the business’s online presence cannot be undermined. How you are perceived online can determine the kind of talent you attract and acquire.

As the talent landscape becomes increasingly competitive, organizations need to strengthen their focus in these areas to ensure they’re top of mind of the best candidates, the site reports.

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A secret recording captures a rare inside look at two embattled executives grappling with the weight of a federal investigation into alleged bribery, according to a report at Nasdaq.com.

“In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice has ramped up enforcement against companies that bribe overseas officials, but has settled most cases with companies out of court, leaving the human element of corporate corruption cases hidden from view. The video reveals some of the ambiguities executives can face when doing business in countries where corruption is rife,” the report says. “When is a payment to a well-connected consultant really a bribe? Who is to blame for a shared decision to make a payment when no one person understands the entire nature of the transaction?”

Read the story.

Microsoft’s general counsel says he wants 2015 to be a “year for solutions” when it comes to the intersection of the internet and international law, according to a report at GeekWire.com.

Brad Smith told an audience at a an event organized by the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, Belgium that the regulations governing how internet companies handle user privacy and government requests for data are woefully outdated and ready for a refresh.

Smith said that governments need to set up a new framework for handling security and data requests, GeekWire reports. In particular, he called for greater transparency, and protection of “fundamental freedoms,” including freedom of speech and a right to privacy.

Read the story.

ICF International experts discuss the polar vortex and its effects on the natural gas industry in a free on-demand webinar.

On its website, ICF says last winter’s polar vortex illuminated ongoing concerns regarding dependence on gas-fired power generation and natural gas infrastructure limitations, particularly in New England. The region experienced high gas and power prices during last winter’s cold snaps; and, because the conditions were not record-breaking, the price impacts further underscored issues associated with the region’s growing infrastructure issues.

The identification of solutions to address these limitations requires a thorough understanding of the full scope of these issues and a detailed understanding of gas deliverability issues. This requires a comprehensive view of the natural gas industry and a nuanced understanding of the portfolio of infrastructure expansion opportunities. The gas market dynamics in New England also raises critical questions for utilities, pipelines, natural gas shippers, and policymakers, the company says.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Data Science Central has posted a complimentary on-demand webinar about using the large amounts of data from sensors, logistics and business operations in oil and gas exploration and production activities.

Given the data volume, variety and velocity, gaining actionable and relevant insights from the data is challenging, Data Science Central says on its website.

The webinar explores approaches for predicting drilling equipment function and failure, a key step towards zero unplanned downtime. In the process of drilling wells, non-productive time due to drilling equipment failure can be expensive. It also highlights how the Pivotal Data Labs team uses big data technologies to build models for predicting drilling equipment function and failure.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

World Oil has scheduled a free webinar presenting its projections of spending and activity relating to the global petroleum exploration and production industry.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. Central time.

During the 50-minute event (including a Q-and-A period), the editors will discuss:

• U.S. drilling forecast for 2015 versus 2014 well totals, including an analysis of activity
• A global drilling forecast for 2015, featuring a breakout of global offshore activity
• U.S. and worldwide oil production figures for 2014 versus 2013
• Estimates for U.S., Canadian and worldwide upstream capital expenditures during 2014, and projections of planned capital expenditures for 2015
• Various geopolitical factors affecting upstream activity

Register for the webinar.

Marsh USA offers a free on-demand webinar discussing the changes in workers’ compensation in 2014 and what to expect in 2015.

Experts from Marsh’s Workers’ Compensation Center of Excellence and Noreen Olson, workers’ compensation claims manager, Starbucks, held a one-hour webcast and provided insights on key developments from the past year and what’s in store for 2015.

The panel of risk experts discussed:

• Key 2014 developments in workers’ compensation.
• Key trends and issues to watch in 2015.
• Updates on pricing and capacity as you plan for the year ahead.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Patrick Stakenas of Selectica and Lloyd Alexander of Seal presented a live webinar to hundreds of General Counsel, Procurement, HR, IT and Sales professionals, and that webinar is available now on-demand.

The webinar is aimed at contract management professionals involved in management strategy and processes.

Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a proven and systematic approach for managing your contracts, Selectica says on its website. The company believes there are nine stages of contracts from contract request to renewal. The net-net of all this is to manage risks and revenue opportunities associated with many contracts in your enterprise.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Benefit Express has posted a free on-demand webinar on dealing with health care reform as it relates to temporary workers.

Topics include: when temporary employees become your employees, the factors the government uses to determine employment status, the steps you can take to avoid these employees becoming your employees, and consequences under Health Care Reform if it is determined that they are your employees.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Business Insurance offers a free on-demand webinar explaining how and why companies should prepare to comply with fresh health benefits requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the political, legal and regulatory changes that could alter the continued implementation of the five-year-old landmark law.

This webinar will explain how and why companies should prepare to comply with fresh health benefits requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the political, legal and regulatory changes that could alter the continued implementation of the five-year-old landmark law, Business Insurance says on its website.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide on the legality of IRS rules that authorize health insurance premium subsidies to the millions of uninsured people obtaining coverage in the 36 states where the federal government runs health insurance exchanges. If the high court strikes down those rules, will health care costs soar again for employers as hospitals and other medical providers move to curtail uncompensated care expenses by increasing medical charges for insured patients?

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The United Steelworkers Union called for its refinery workers to stage their largest walkout in more 30 years Sunday, saying its negotiations with Shell Oil Co. broke down less than two weeks after they began, the Associated Press reports.

The union asked about 3,800 workers at nine refineries mostly in Texas and California to strike shortly after their previous contract expired after midnight.

The AP reports that the call for a strike happened after United Steelworkers, or USW, rejected Shell’s fourth contract offer. The union said Shell refused to provide a counter offer and that the company’s representatives had left the bargaining table.

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Aruvio presents a free on-demand webinar about enterprises and other organizations preparing for increasingly challenging anti-bribery and corruption laws and intensified enforcement (e.g., FCPA, UK Bribery Act) in 2015.

Employees, suppliers and partners can expose the organization to related risk and liability that results in significant business sanctions and costs as well as damaged brand and reputation, the company says on its website. No organization can afford to let this risk go unmonitored. An organization must clearly understand evolving regulatory requirements plus changes and shifts in enforcement actions. Part 1 of this webinar series looks at how you can ensure your enterprise is ready for this year’s anti-bribery & corruption regulations.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Dan Harris, a founding member of Harris Moure, has posted a piece on “Above the Law” describing how a lawyer’s client should ensure a proper signing by its Chinese counterpart.

“You must ensure that your contract is properly executed by the Chinese company with which you are contracting,’ he writes. “It should be with a duly formed Chinese company and signed by the legal representative of that Chinese company. The name and address of the Chinese company should accord with the information registered for this company and the Chinese company’s chop should be used to seal the contract.”

Read the story.