Environmental

  • February 21, 2025

    Judge Trims $40M Green Energy Co. Investor Suit

    A Tennessee federal judge won't toss a proposed class action claiming that a Chicago green energy outfit and its executives used false promises of extravagant returns to lure investors, but ruled two defendants can escape some of the suit's claims.

  • February 21, 2025

    Judge Questions Trump Administration Fund Freeze Authority

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday left in place a temporary restraining order blocking a funding freeze by President Donald Trump's administration until the judge can rule on a request by a coalition of states for a preliminary injunction.

  • February 21, 2025

    Green, Tribal Orgs Ask To Defend Biden DOI's Coal Decision

    Tribal and conservation groups have asked a federal court to let them join Wyoming and Montana's suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior over the Biden administration's 2024 decision ending new coal leasing on public lands in the Powder River Basin.

  • February 21, 2025

    Energy Co. Says Osage Shouldn't Rush To Destroy Wind Farm

    Enel Green Power North America is urging a federal district court to stay a $4.2 million judgment and order requiring it to remove 84 wind turbines from the Osage Nation's reservation while it appeals to the Tenth Circuit, arguing that the appellate court could find their destruction was unnecessary.

  • February 21, 2025

    Exxon Can't Dodge RICO Claims In Puerto Rico Federal Court

    A U.S. magistrate judge said Puerto Rican municipalities should be allowed to pursue racketeering and antitrust claims against energy companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. that they allege misrepresented the climate dangers of fossil fuel products.

  • February 21, 2025

    Solar Farm Says FERC Can't Justify Grid Upgrade Cost Order

    Developers of a Texas solar farm told the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission acted unlawfully by allowing a transmission operator to assign them $311 million in grid upgrade costs to connect their solar project to the grid.

  • February 21, 2025

    Nuke Plant Renewal Rules Ignore Climate Risks, DC Circ. Told

    Anti-nuclear power groups told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission unlawfully ignored accident risks due to aging equipment and climate change when it crafted new nuclear power plant license renewal rules.

  • February 21, 2025

    Veolia Ends One Of Few Remaining Flint Water Suits For $53M

    A water engineering firm on Friday said it will pay $53 million to settle claims from the state of Michigan and thousands of Flint residents who allege the company failed to properly identify corrosion control treatment issues or alert officials to the dangers of the city's water, prolonging the water crisis.

  • February 21, 2025

    1st Circ. Revives Clean Air Claims Over Idling Shuttle Buses

    Excessive exhaust fumes and concerns about the negative health effects of pollution from idling buses are injuries in fact that can establish standing for members of an environmental advocacy group to sue over violations of the Clean Air Act, the First Circuit said on Thursday, reviving a 5-year-old lawsuit.

  • February 21, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Scraps Ruling On $14M Army Corps Contract Row

    A contract appeals board didn't fully consider the entirety of a modified contract before determining a company tapped to provide emergency power services in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico was not entitled to a $14 million claim, a Federal Circuit panel ruled.

  • February 21, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, V&E, Cravath, Dechert

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Diamondback Energy buys Midland Basin assets from another oil and natural gas company, GTCR closes its second strategic growth fund, Light & Wonder Inc. buys Grover Gaming's assets, and Barings acquires Artemis Real Estate Partners.

  • February 20, 2025

    DOJ Says Job Protections For ALJs Are Unconstitutional

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it no longer backs long-standing job protections for administrative law judges, saying it has determined that the "multiple layers of removal restrictions" shielding ALJs are unconstitutional because they violate the separation of powers doctrine.

  • February 20, 2025

    Tribes Fail To Win Reversal Of Ore. Casino Project Decision

    A D.C. federal judge has denied a bid by three tribes to reverse an Interior Department decision approving a land trust application for another tribe in what is Oregon's first off-reservation casino, ruling that they've failed to show how the project would harm them.

  • February 20, 2025

    Better Process Not Certain As White House Loses NEPA Regs

    The White House says it rescinded National Environmental Policy Act regulations in an effort to "expedite and simplify" the federal permitting process, but attorneys say the immediate effect of the move will likely be to confuse agencies and slow down project approvals.

  • February 20, 2025

    Insurer Can't Quickly Exit Broker Premium Theft Row

    A Louisiana federal court rejected most arguments made by an insurer seeking to avoid professional liability coverage of a broker whose former employee stole policy premiums and failed to secure insurance for clients, leaving the company to cover around $1 million in Hurricane Laura damage.

  • February 20, 2025

    Calif. Rail Project Back In Trump's Crosshairs With DOT Probe

    The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday launched a compliance review into California's high-speed rail project, casting uncertainty over approximately $4 billion in federal funding for the beleaguered project that is back in the Trump administration's crosshairs.

  • February 20, 2025

    FERC Chair Seeking More Clarity On Scope Of Trump Order

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie downplayed concerns Thursday that a recent executive order from President Donald Trump will erode the agency's authority, but acknowledged that it's unclear how much the order seeks to involve the White House in FERC's operations.

  • February 20, 2025

    New SEC Guidance Throws A 'Bit Of Chaos' Into Proxy Season

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent effort to loosen its guidance around what companies can exclude from their proxy statements isn't surprising given the change in administration, but the timing of its release has thrown a monkey wrench into a proxy season that is already underway, attorneys said.

  • February 20, 2025

    DOD To Shift $50B To Trump Defense Spending Priorities

    U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the agency to shift $50 billion from its 2026 budget away from "Biden-legacy programs" to programs that align with President Donald Trump's "America first" agenda. 

  • February 20, 2025

    Green Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Press EPA Again On Atrazine

    Environmental groups are urging the Ninth Circuit to reopen a long-running case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its regulation around the pesticide atrazine, arguing that the agency's yearslong delay in completing a court-ordered review of the chemical has allowed "serious harm to people, plants and wildlife."

  • February 20, 2025

    Select SPAC Targets Are Soaring Ahead Of The Pack

    A select breed of companies that went public through mergers with special purpose acquisition companies are performing well lately — hailing mostly from a few specific industries — in stark contrast to the vast majority of SPAC merger targets that have flopped over the past few years, according to data released on Thursday.

  • February 20, 2025

    Feds Say DC Judge Can't Bar 'Hypothetical' Spending Freezes

    A Justice Department attorney argued before a D.C. federal judge Thursday that there is no basis to continue blocking the Trump administration from implementing a blanket suspension on federal spending, saying the court cannot bar "hypothetical" future freezes.

  • February 20, 2025

    Enbridge's Pipeline Tunnel Approval OK'd By Mich. Panel

    A Michigan appellate court panel on Wednesday struck down environmental groups and tribal nations' challenge to a Michigan Public Service Commission's decision to allow Enbridge Energy to dig an underground tunnel to house part of an oil and natural gas pipeline, finding state regulators' decision was supported by evidence.

  • February 20, 2025

    EPA Sued Over Approval Of Radioactive Waste Road Project

    The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit Wednesday challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of the use of radioactive phosphogypsum in road construction at fertilizer producer Mosaic's facility in Florida.

  • February 20, 2025

    Mich. Judge Won't Defer Atomic Bomb Waste Suit To Agency

    A Michigan state judge on Thursday denied a Wayne County landfill's bid to dismiss claims from communities attempting to prevent the disposal site from accepting radioactive waste from the development of the first atomic bomb, finding that the court can hear the case rather than deferring to the state's environmental agency.

Expert Analysis

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025

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    U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Opinion

    1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress

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    In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.

  • An Underutilized Tool To Dismiss Meritless Claims In Texas

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    In Texas, special appearances provide a useful but often overlooked tool for out-of-state defendants to escape meritless claims early in litigation, thus limiting discovery and creating a pathway for immediate appellate review, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Executive Orders That Could Affect Financial Services In 2025

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    The incoming Trump administration is likely to quickly revive or update a number of prior executive orders, and possibly issue new ones, that could affect financial services by emphasizing market discipline rather than regulatory initiatives to drive change in the industry, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Green Projects Face States' Foreign Land Ownership Limits

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    As states impose restrictions and disclosure requirements around foreign investment in agricultural land — in some cases piggybacking on existing federal rules — renewable energy developers and investors must pay close attention to how the rules vary, says Daniel Fanning at Husch Blackwell.

  • What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

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    The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of Eye Contact At Trial

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    As a growing body of research confirms that eye contact facilitates communication and influences others, attorneys should follow a few pointers to maximize the power of eye contact during voir dire, witness preparation, direct examination and cross-examination, says trial consultant Noelle Nelson.

  • Series

    Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.

  • Hawaii Climate Insurance Case Is Good News For Energy Cos.

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    The Hawaii Supreme Court's recent ruling in a dispute between an oil company and its insurers, holding that reckless conduct in the context of activities that can cause climate harms is covered by liability policies, will likely be viewed by energy companies as a positive development, say attorneys at Fenchurch Law.

  • Cos. Must Brace For New PFAS Regulations And Litigation

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed adding over 100 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to the Toxic Release Inventory — and with increasing scrutiny of PFAS from the states and the plaintiffs bar as well, companies should take steps to reduce risks in this area, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

  • Implications Of NY Climate Case For Generating Facilities

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    Regardless of how Greenidge Generation LLC v. New York Department of Environmental Conservation develops on remand, this decision has immediate repercussions for generating facilities seeking permit applications and renewals in New York, likely involving Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act considerations, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

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