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State AG Insights

Foley Hoag’s State Attorney General Investigations lawyers offer their experience, insight and skill to help your business through the considerable challenges of an AG investigation or enforcement action.

California AG Launches Investigation into Fossil Fuel and Petrochemical Industries for Plastic Pollution
Blog May 27, 2022
On April 28, 2022, the California Attorney General launched an investigation into the “fossil fuel and petrochemical industries for their role in causing and exacerbating the global plastics pollution crisis.”  As a first step, the CA AG issued a subpoena to ExxonMobil, “a major source of global plastic pollution, seeking information relating to the company's role in deceiving the public.”  The stated purpose of the investigation is to “target companies that have caused and exacerbated the……
Massachusetts and Other States Challenge Trump's Move to Bar State Vehicle Emissions Regulations
Blog January 15, 2020
Led by California, 23 states, including Massachusetts, have sued the Trump administration challenging new federal regulations that strip the states' authority to set their own vehicle emissions standards.  On December 3, 2019, the administration moved to dismiss on procedural grounds, arguing that the D.C. District Court was the wrong venue, and that the case should have been brought before the D.C. Circuit for its direct review…
ExxonMobil's AG Claims Are Dismissed — What a Shock!
Blog March 30, 2018
Yesterday, Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed claims brought by ExxonMobil against New York Attorney General Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Healey.  Boiled down to their essence, ExxonMobil's claims were that investigations by Schneiderman and Healey into the possibility that ExxonMobil had committed fraud by misleading investors regarding the risks that climate change poses to ExxonMobil's business were politically motivated and in bad faith. The decision was not difficult…
Attorneys General Continue to Battle the Trump Administration Over Environmental Regulations
Blog June 16, 2017
Democratic Attorneys General have continued their efforts to combat the Trump administration's attempts to roll back environmental regulations developed under the Obama administration in two recent actions. Thirteen AGs, including Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, sent a letter last week to Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, threatening legal action if the agency takes steps to weaken or delay the greenhouse gas emissions standards that were established in……
Texas and Alabama AGs Join the Exxon Fray
Blog June 09, 2016
As we reported in April, the Attorney Generals of New York, California, Massachusetts, and the Virgin Islands have joined in a multistate investigation into Exxon's knowledge of the relationship between fossil fuels and climate change as far back as 1977.  Part of that investigation includes a subpoena from the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands, seeking roughly forty years of records from Exxon related to alleged violations of Virgin Islands law…
Massachusetts, Virgin Islands Join Exxon Investigation
Blog April 08, 2016
What began with an investigation by NY AG Eric Schneiderman, later joined by California AG Kamala Harris, has become a multistate AG investigation into Exxon's knowledge of the contributions of fossil fuels to climate change going back as far as 1977. On March 29, 2016, AGs from Massachusetts and the Virgin Islands announced that they were joining with the NY and CA AGs…
Kamala Harris Puts Exxon Under Her Microscope: California AG Reportedly Has Launched Review of Oil Giant's Statements On Climate Change
Blog January 28, 2016
Students of history know that fighting a two front war is a hazard to be avoided. According to the L.A. Times, however, that is precisely the dilemma that now faces Exxon Mobil:  dual investigations from attorneys general on each coast of the United States. Several sources are reporting that California Attorney General Kamala Harris' office is examining what Exxon knew about the science of climate change compared with what the company told investors…
State AGs on Front Lines in Battle over Clean Power Plan
Blog August 21, 2015
In dismissing as premature a lawsuit brought on July 1, 2015 by Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt against the then-unpromulgated Clean Power Plan, N. D. Oklahoma Judge Claire V. Eagan noted “there is no reason to believe that plaintiffs will have to wait for long before renewing proceedings in the D.C. Circuit if they intend to challenge the final rule.” Judge Eagan was right…
Massachusetts Attorney General to Undertake Natural Gas Study
Blog July 07, 2015
Massachusetts Attorney General Healey announced that her office will lead a study to identify and evaluate options to address regional electric reliability needs in New England through 2030. As the Massachusetts ratepayer advocate, the AG's Office has traditionally challenged the efforts of Massachusetts utilities to raise electric and gas rates before the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The announcement that her office will……
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey Describes the Role of the Ratepayer Advocate
Blog June 15, 2015
In her first speech regarding energy policy since her election, Attorney General Healey laid out some of her energy priorities before the Northeast Energy and Commerce Association's annual conference on March 12. The Massachusetts Attorney General serves as the Commonwealth's ratepayer advocate, which has traditionally solely focused on the cost of electricity and natural gas for Massachusetts consumers. In the speech, Healey noted that she expected to be a “21st century ratepayer……

ABOUT

Foley Hoag’s State Attorney General Investigations lawyers have the experience, the insight and the skill to guide your business through the considerable challenges of an AG investigation or enforcement action.

Our team knows firsthand how the AG and her line assistants approach investigations. Our legal team includes a former Massachusetts Attorney General, a former chief deputy attorney general, a former first assistant attorney general, a former deputy attorney general, a former chief of the business and labor bureau, a former deputy chief of the criminal bureau, and four partners who served as assistant United States attorneys.

Foley Hoag will work closely with you to develop and implement winning strategies to achieve your objectives and successfully resolve the investigation. And if there is no reasonable alternative but to litigate, our lawyers, including American College of Trial Lawyers fellows, have a record of substantial courtroom success. Whatever the path, we will fight to protect the reputation of your business and neutralize any adverse public relations implications arising from the AG action.