Citigroup said Friday that its profits jumped sharply in the fourth quarter, helped by lower legal and regulatory costs that hammered the bank in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a report on ABC News.

The report says the financial conglomerate had a profit of $3.34 billion in the three-month period ending in December, or $1.02 per share. That’s compared to a profit of $344 million, or 6 cents per share. In the corresponding quarter in 2014, Citigroup incurred $3.5 billion in legal costs tied to settling several high-profile investigations, including allegations of currency trading and interest rate manipulation.

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The pursuit of legitimate corporate strategic goals is increasingly running into the concerns of corporate officers who see themselves at greater personal legal risk if there are ever allegations of corporate misconduct, writes Michael W. Peregrine, a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery in an article in The New York Times.

He writes that new enforcement policies from the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission regarding individual culpability of corporate officials contributed to this tendency.

He outlines some that proposals that “should help reduce the anxiety of gatekeepers and other management team members concerning their personal liability exposure. In so doing, these steps may remove unnecessary barriers to the use of corporate strategies.”

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Morae Legal President and Chief Executive Officer Shahzad Bashir recently sat down for a conversation with Ballard Spahr partner and former DuPont General Counsel Tom Sager. A transcript of their conversation is available for download.

Their far-reaching conversation covered a variety of topics related to the evolution of the law department and how they can better perform to the expectations of today’s corporations. They discuss such issues as the pressure to perform under the scrutiny of measurable quality and efficiency, how to ignite a law department’s business performance, and looking ahead at the future.

The two covered topics including:

• The three reasons general counsel are reluctant to change
• The new pressures law departments face from the c-suite
• Why cost remains the most important metric
• How to collaborate for optimum performance

Read the transcript of the conversation.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a much-anticipated final rule modifying some of the scheduling practices used by interstate natural gas pipelines to better coordinate the scheduling of the wholesale natural gas and electricity markets (Order No. 809 or Final Rule), reports Reed Smith LLP is a new white paper.

“In the Final Rule, FERC retreated from certain changes it proposed in its April 1, 2014, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), which initiated this proceeding,” wrote authors Amy S. Koch, Michael A. Yuffee, Todd L. Brecher. “Notably, FERC did not implement its proposal to change the start of the Gas Day to better align it with the electric operating day. Based on the response of the electric and natural gas industries to this proposal, FERC determined that the record did not establish that the benefits of such a change outweighed the costs. FERC noted that ISO-NE and PJM – two of the regions of most concern – have recently undertaken operational and market actions to address generator availability and performance, and that all of the ISOs and RTOs are considering changes to better align their markets with the Gas Day.”

Read the white paper.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling provides states a greater role in regulating the energy sector, reports Cozen O’Connor.

“In ONEOK, the Court held that states can regulate activities that affect both wholesale and retail transactions to the extent that the regulations do not conflict with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations. In so doing, wide swaths of conduct continue to be subject to both state energy regulations and generally applicable state laws,” wrote Jonathan M. Grossman and Thomas Ingalls. “While the ruling ensures retail customers a remedy for business practices that are proscribed by state law, it may also subject conduct otherwise permitted by FERC to civil liability if that conduct affects retail transactions. This decision may also hold implications for similar regulatory regimes, such as the Federal Power Act (FPA).”

The decision upheld a lower court decision that allowed a greater role for state courts in regulating the energy sectorfinding that state laws may apply to conduct that affects both wholesale and retail transactions provided those laws do not conflict with FERC regulations. The Court rejected a bid by FERC and natural gas wholesalers to exempt from all state regulation activities that affect both types of sales, the report says.

Read the report.

National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Richard F. Griffin Jr. has issued a lengthy guidance memorandum intended to explain modifications to the representation case processing procedures under the Board’s Final Rule, adopted in December 2014, reports Winston & Strawn.

The GC’s guidance covers how representation cases will be processed from beginning to end, incorporating both the Final Rule changes and the procedures that remain unchanged. The Final Rule will go into effect on April 14, 2015, and will apply to representation cases filed on or after that date, the firm reports on its website.

The guidance indicates that neither the Final Rule nor the memorandum “establishes new timeframes for conducting elections or issuing decisions.”

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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.

The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel’s Office has again signaled its commitment to expanding the scope of the current test for joint employment, reports Orrick’s Employment Law and Litigation Blog.

In a move that could have implications for a broad array of franchise relationships, on Dec. 19, 2014, the General Counsel of the NLRB announced that it has issued complaints against both McDonald’s franchisees and McDonald’s USA, the franchisor, as a joint employer.

The decision to name McDonald’s as a respondent is consistent with the General Counsel’s recent advocacy that the current joint employment standard is too narrow, the blog reports.

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Nixon Peabody presents a free on-demand webinar covering the latest news from HUD with respect to “green” affordable housing development.

With sustainability issues continuing to emerge at the forefront of multifamily housing development, HUD is redoubling its efforts to ameliorate the 30% bite that energy takes out of its subsidy budget, the firm says on its website. How can sustainability efforts bring cost benefits that will outweigh the expense of implementation? Find out how you can capture opportunities for enhanced cash flow that you may be leaving on the table.

Topics will include:

• The latest news from HUD with respect to “green” affordable housing development
• How adding energy-saving measures to your project can be beneficial, and what these measures mean to you as an owner and to your housing portfolio
• How to execute a sustainable housing project through a case study example

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Fannie Mae has appointed Brian P. Brooks, 45, as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary effective Nov. 10.

Brooks was vice chairman and chief legal officer at OneWest Bank before his Fannie Mae appointment.

Prior to OneWest Bank, Brooks was a managing partner at the global law firm O’Melveny & Myers where he led an office of more than 150 attorneys and played a lead role in crafting the banking industry’s response to the 2010-2011 foreclosure crisis, Fannie Mae reports in a release.

Brooks received his law degree with honors from the University of Chicago, and holds a BA in Government from Harvard University from which he graduated cum laude.

Read the story.

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP will present a complimentary webinar on how to conduct investigations into complaints of sexual assault and other civil rights violations in educational institutions.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, the firm says that, for colleges, universities and school districts, mishandling sexual assault or harassment investigations can jeopardize student safety and lead to government scrutiny and public relations nightmares. The pressures faced by schools to get these investigations right are mounting as media attention grows.

Hinshaw partner Lora Zimmer, a trained Title IX investigator, will lead the webinar.

The program will cover:

• Title IX overview
• Best practices for handling civil rights investigations
• Standards of proof
• Interview skills
• Patterns of behavior of victims and offenders
• Confidentiality issues

Register for the webinar.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will present a webinar on the implementation of distribution integrity management programs.

The webinar will be Sept. 4, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT.

Gas distribution pipeline operators were required to have prepared and implemented distribution integrity management programs (DIMP) by August 2, 2011. Federal and state regulators have been inspecting those programs and their implementation since that date.

This webinar will be an opportunity for the regulators to share their experience with implementation topics with the public and the regulated community. The webinar will also include discussion of analyses of the 2013 submissions of data concerning mechanical fitting failures in gas distribution pipelines.

Register for the webinar.