The Supreme Court's decision this week to push back attempts by states to sue utilities over greenhouse gas emissions was one of three major victories for the business community in the current term, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's top legal advocate said today.

Speaking at a briefing for reporters on the court's 2010 term, which ends next week, Robin Conrad -- head of the Chamber's National Chamber Litigation Center -- said the ruling in American Electric Power v. Connecticut was one of three big wins in an otherwise "mixed bag" of cases.

The other two victories she highlighted were major rulings on class-action litigation: Wal-Mart v. Dukes, and AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion. In both, the court ruled against plaintiffs suing large corporations.

"These three cases were easily the most important business cases of the term," Conrad said.

Overall, with four of the cases in which it participated still undecided, the U.S. Chamber was on the winning side in eight, including AEP, and on the losing side in four.

In AEP, the court ruled 8-0 that the Clean Air Act -- and the Obama administration's efforts to regulate greenhouse gases -- displaced the federal common law "public nuisance" claims asserted by six states, New York City and others (Greenwire, June 20).

Commenting on the case at the U.S. Chamber event, veteran Supreme Court lawyer Carter Phillips, a partner at the Sidley Austin law firm, said the ruling highlighted the court's skepticism about "extraordinary broad litigation" as a vehicle for resolving major disputes.