Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

The Company is from time to time subject to, and is presently involved in, various pending or threatened legal actions and proceedings, including those that arise in the ordinary course of its business. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and to outcomes the financial impacts of which are not predictable with assurance and that may not be known for extended periods of time. The Company records a liability in its consolidated financial statements for costs related to claims, settlements, and judgments where management has assessed that a loss is probable and an amount can be reasonably estimated. The Company’s significant legal proceedings are discussed below.

Securities class action lawsuit: United Food and Commercial Workers Union v. Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc., No. 14-cv-01243-CMA-KMT (U.S. District Court, D. Colo.)

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had a recorded liability and insurance receivable of $4.0 million in connection with this lawsuit as the losses in connection with this matter were probable and reasonably estimable under U.S. GAAP. The liability was originally recorded as of June 30, 2016 in the Legal settlements and accruals line item of the Consolidated Balance Sheet. On February 10, 2017, the Company received an order and final judgment that the lawsuit was settled, and the entire case had been dismissed with prejudice. The Company's insurance carriers funded the full settlement in November 2016. As of June 30, 2017, the Company no longer had any amounts impacting its consolidated financial statements as the order and judgment related to the lawsuit was received during the first quarter of 2017.

Stockholder derivative lawsuits: In Re Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, No. 2014CV-30709 (District Court, Douglas County, Colorado) (consolidated actions).

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had a recorded liability and insurance receivable of $0.6 million in connection with this lawsuit as the losses in connection with this matter were probable and reasonably estimable under U.S. GAAP. The liability was originally recorded as of June 30, 2016 in the Legal settlements and accruals line item of the Consolidated Balance Sheet. A settlement for this lawsuit was approved and the case was closed on January 4, 2017, and the Company's insurance carriers funded the full settlement in January 2017. As of June 30, 2017, the Company no longer had any amounts impacting its consolidated financial statements as the order and judgment related to the lawsuit was received during the first quarter of 2017.

SEC Inquiry

On March 29, 2017, the Company and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement to resolve a previously disclosed investigation into certain accounting issues, as described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, the Company agreed to the terms of the settlement and agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of $0.5 million. The Company had fully reserved for this penalty as of June 30, 2016. The penalty was paid in the first quarter of 2017.

Settlement and royalty indemnity

In August 2008, Norit International N.V. f/k/a Norit N.V. ("Norit") filed a lawsuit against the Company asserting claims for misappropriation of trade secrets and other claims related to the Company's ADA Carbon Solutions, LLC joint venture ("Carbon Solutions") that built an activated carbon manufacturing plant (the “Red River Plant”). In August 2011, the Company and Norit entered into a settlement agreement whereby the Company paid amounts related to the non-solicitation breach of contract claim, and ADA was also required to pay additional damages related to certain future revenues generated from the Red River Plant through the second quarter of 2018 (the "Royalty Award"). Payments of amounts due under the Royalty Award for each quarter are payable three months after such quarter ends. In October 2011, an arbitration panel endorsed and confirmed the terms of the settlement agreement.

Additionally, during November 2011, the Company entered into an Indemnity Settlement Agreement whereby the Company agreed to settle certain indemnity obligations asserted against the Company related to the Norit litigation and relinquished all of its equity interest in Carbon Solutions to Carbon Solutions and amended the Intellectual Property License Agreement dated October 1, 2008 between the Company and Carbon Solutions. Under a provision of the Royalty Award, in the event that the Company declares or otherwise issues a dividend to any or all of its stockholders prior to January 1, 2018, other than repurchases of common stock under employee stock plans, the Company must increase its LC amounts as collateral for payments due to Norit, equal to 50% of the aggregate fair market value of such dividends (the "Dividends Provision"). Additionally, the first time that the Company achieves earnings in excess of $20.0 million for a fiscal year ended prior to January 1, 2018, the Company must also increase its LC amounts as collateral by $5.0 million for payments due to Norit (the "Earnings Provision"). Any increase due to the Dividends Provision or the Earnings Provision should not cause the outstanding LC's to exceed the remaining estimated Royalty Award. Based on the Company's achievement of $97.7 million of net income for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, in March 2017 and pursuant to the Earnings Provision, the Company provided an additional LC of $5.0 million that is secured under the Line of Credit as of June 30, 2017. Although the Company executed a stock repurchase and declared a dividend during the three months ended June 30, 2017, the Company was not required to increase its outstanding LC amounts as the existing LC’s are of a sufficient amount to support future estimated payments due related to the Royalty Award.

During the first quarter of 2017, the Company revised its estimate for future Royalty Award payments based in part on an updated forecast provided to the Company from Carbon Solutions. This forecast included a material reduction in estimated future revenues generated at the Red River Plant. Based primarily on the updated forecast, the Company recorded a $2.9 million reduction to the Royalty Award accrual as of March 31, 2017.

During the second quarter of 2017, the Company revised its estimate for future Royalty Award payments based in part on an updated forecast provided to the Company from Carbon Solutions. This forecast included a material reduction in estimated future revenues generated at the Red River Plant. Based primarily on the updated forecast, the Company recorded a $0.5 million reduction to the Royalty Award accrual as of June 30, 2017.

As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company carried the components of the Royalty Award in Legal settlements and accruals in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets of $4.3 million and $5.7 million, respectively, and in Legal settlements and accruals, long-term of $1.1 million and $5.4 million, respectively. Future amounts to be paid related to the Royalty Award may differ from current estimates due to future adjusted sales of activated carbon from the Red River Plant.

The following table summarizes the Company's legal settlements and accruals as described above, which are presented in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets:



	As of
(in thousands)	June 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Settlement and Royalty Indemnification	$	4,327	$	5,656
Legal settlements	—		5,050
Legal settlements and accruals	4,327		10,706
Settlement and Royalty Indemnification, long-term	1,076		5,382
Legal settlements and accruals, long-term	1,076		5,382
Total legal settlements and accruals	$	5,403	$	16,088

Advanced Emission Solutions, Inc. Profit Sharing Retirement Plan

The Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. Profit Sharing Retirement Plan “(the “Plan”) is subject to the jurisdiction of the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and the Department of Labor ("DOL"). The DOL opened an investigation into the Plan, and the Company is responding to all requests for documents and information from the DOL. The DOL has not issued any findings as of the date of this report and any potential loss is not probable or estimable, thus no accruals have been recorded as of June 30, 2017.

Other Commitments and Contingencies

Tinuum Group

The Company also has certain limited obligations contingent upon future events in connection with the activities of Tinuum Group. The Company, NexGen and two entities affiliated with NexGen have provided an affiliate of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. with limited guaranties (the "Tinuum Group Party Guaranties") related to certain losses it may suffer as a result of inaccuracies or breach of representations and covenants. The Company also is a party to a contribution agreement with NexGen under which any party called upon to pay on a Tinuum Group Party Guaranty is entitled to receive contributions from the other party equal to 50% of the amount paid. No liability or expense provision has been recorded by the Company related to this contingent obligation as the Company believes that it is not probable that a loss will occur with respect to Tinuum Group Party Guaranties.

Performance Guarantee on Equipment Systems

In the normal course of business related to ACI and DSI systems, the Company may guarantee certain performance thresholds during a discrete performance testing period that do not extend beyond six months from the initial test date, the commencement of which is determined by the customer. Performance thresholds include such matters as the achievement of a certain level of mercury removal and other emissions based upon the injection of a specified quantity of a qualified activated carbon or other chemical at a specified rate given other plant operating conditions, and availability of equipment and electric power usage. In the event the equipment fails to perform as specified during the testing period, the Company may have an obligation to correct or replace the equipment. In the event the performance thresholds are not achieved, the Company may have a “make right” obligation within the contract limits. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, the Company was not presented with any performance guarantees nor did it incur any additional claims. Additional performance guarantee claims, if incurred, are included within the Equipment sales cost of revenue line in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.