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Environmental
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February 27, 2025
Feds Can't Dodge Firefighting Foam Suits Yet, SC Judge Rules
A South Carolina federal judge on Thursday denied the U.S. government's push to escape dozens of suits over contamination allegedly stemming from its use of forever chemical-containing firefighting foams, saying cases involving a military base in New Mexico showed its global motion to dismiss to be inappropriate.
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February 27, 2025
Congress Prioritizes Enviro Regs On Nix List
Congressional Republicans have lined up several actions that would undo Biden-era environmental initiatives, from water heater efficiency standards to a Clean Air Act amendment that laid the groundwork for grants that are now in the Trump administration's crosshairs.
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February 27, 2025
Ga. Developers Accused Of Polluting During Solar Farm Build
A Floyd County, Georgia, couple has accused local developers of polluting streams and a lake on their property during the construction of a solar farm, in violation of the Clear Water Act.
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February 27, 2025
Feds Sued In Wash. For Denying Coastal Moth ESA Status
President Donald Trump's administration was hit with a lawsuit on Wednesday in Washington federal court brought by a wildlife conservation group seeking Endangered Species Act protections for a Pacific Northwest moth facing a dwindling dune habitat amid coastal development and rising sea levels.
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February 27, 2025
Alsup Halts 'Illegal' Firings Of Probationary Federal Workers
U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday temporarily blocked the mass firings of probationary federal employees ordered by President Donald Trump's administration, determining that the Office of Personnel Management illegally directed government agencies to terminate the probationary employees without authority to do so from Congress.
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February 27, 2025
Congress Sends EPA Methane Fee Rule Repeal To Trump's Desk
Congress on Thursday passed a resolution scrapping the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's imposition of a methane emissions fee on oil and gas companies, a move that may create uncertainty for industry as the fee remains legally mandated.
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February 27, 2025
Energy Co. Sued Over Rent, Radioactive Waste Disclosures
A Brooklyn property owner and two companies accused National Grid of owing rent on the site of a former industrial facility and impeding their businesses by not telling them quickly enough that there were radioactive materials there.
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February 26, 2025
Trump Orders Fed Agencies To Plan For Large Layoffs
The White House is telling federal agencies to submit plans for "large-scale" layoffs by mid-March, accusing them of siphoning funding for "unproductive and unnecessary programs" and "not producing results for the American public."
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February 26, 2025
Calif. AG's Hiring Of Lieff Cabraser In Climate Suit Challenged
California Attorney General Rob Bonta improperly hired Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP to assist with the state's climate deception suit against fossil fuel companies when attorneys in his office were capable of handling the litigation, the union representing the public lawyers contended in a newly filed state court complaint.
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February 26, 2025
USDA Unlawfully Purged Climate Info, Advocacy Groups Say
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has illegally erased scores of data-rich webpages focused on climate change from its websites in a sudden action that denies farmers access to essential information as the country faces extreme weather patterns, according to a lawsuit filed in New York federal court.
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February 26, 2025
EPA's Enviro Justice Reset Upending Community Relations
The Trump administration's undertaking to root out environmental justice staffers, programs and funding has sown confusion and ruptured relationships with communities that had worked more closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recent years.
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February 26, 2025
Chicago Nonprofit Sues Trump Over Anti-DEI Orders
A Chicago-based women's trade group sued the Trump administration in Illinois federal court Wednesday, claiming his recent executive orders restricting federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs are unconstitutional and unlawfully chill the organization's free speech.
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February 26, 2025
Lawmakers Say DOI Energy Order Reviews Lack Transparency
A pair of Democratic federal lawmakers are demanding transparency from the U.S. Department of the Interior on the status of orders by Secretary Doug Burgum to "unleash American energy," saying the agency's leaders have yet to publicly disclose plans for national monuments and land withdrawn from mining development.
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February 26, 2025
Enviro Group Says Chemours Is Dumping PFAS In Ohio River
A nonprofit has asked a West Virginia federal court to stop Chemours from releasing a "forever chemical" into public drinking water sources along the Ohio River.
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February 26, 2025
Lloyds Seeks To Trim Oil Cos.' Suit Over Water Pollution Claim
Certain underwriters at Lloyd's of London urged a New Mexico federal court to toss bad faith claims that two oil and gas companies lodged in a coverage action over the release of a waste byproduct that triggered state-supervised remediation efforts, arguing they haven't even formally denied coverage yet.
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February 26, 2025
Wash. Judge Says Officials Are Immune To Energy Code Suit
A Seattle federal judge has thrown out a building industry coalition's renewed legal challenge to Washington regulations that discourage natural gas appliances in new construction, ruling the state officials named as defendants are protected because they aren't responsible for enforcing the rules.
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February 26, 2025
US Chamber Wants Calif. Climate Disclosure Regs Blocked
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have asked a California federal judge to block the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, arguing companies are already suffering harm due to laws that are "so overinclusive, they flunk any First Amendment test."
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February 26, 2025
Judge Won't Disqualify Firm In Solar Co. Fraud Fight
A federal judge denied Michigan residents' attempt to disqualify attorneys representing a bankrupt solar company's former founding CEO in their fraud case, holding that the law firm's allegedly obstructionist discovery tactics don't amount to an actual conflict of interest.
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February 26, 2025
Kirkland-Led Blackstone Wraps $5.6B Energy-Focused Fund
Private equity giant Blackstone, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Wednesday announced that it wrapped its fourth energy transition-focused private equity fund after securing $5.6 billion of investor commitments.
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February 25, 2025
DC Judge Blocks Trump's Federal Funding Freeze
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from implementing a federal spending freeze while a group of nonprofits challenge the freeze, calling the measure "ill-conceived from the beginning."
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February 25, 2025
Pa. Biotech Co. Can't Escape $4M Trade Secrets Award
A Delaware vice chancellor declined Monday to nix a nearly $4 million arbitral award issued to Finnish company UPM-Kymmene Corp. in a long-running trade secrets dispute, ruling that a link between the arbitrator and the Finnish company's counsel at DLA Piper was "at most, an attenuated connection."
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February 25, 2025
Aircraft Parts Maker Hit With Class Claims Over Explosion
Philadelphia-area aerospace parts manufacturer SPS Technologies LLC has been hit with a class action over an explosion that resulted in a dayslong blaze at its Abington, Pennsylvania, facility that caused school and business closures as well as evacuations.
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February 25, 2025
Sterilization Co. Can't Pin Cancer On Genetics, Jury Told
A Colorado woman who alleged toxic emissions from a medical sterilization plant caused her breast cancer testified Tuesday in state court that her family's cancer history was not as extensive as she originally believed, as a lawyer for the company pressed her on genetics and other factors that could increase her cancer risk.
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February 25, 2025
New Mexico Pueblos Want In On Fed Mineral Lease Ban Suit
Two Native American pueblos have asked a New Mexico federal judge to let them intervene in a Navajo Nation suit seeking to undo a Biden administration order withdrawing federal land from new mineral leasing around Chaco Canyon, saying it is sacred to all pueblo people.
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February 25, 2025
WestRock Blamed For Toxic Vapors In Worker's Injury Suit
The WestRock packaging company has been hit with a negligence suit in Washington federal court by a worker who claims exposure to fumes from a chemical spill while doing repairs at a Pacific Northwest paper mill caused him to suffer a collapsed lung and later be diagnosed with a tumor.
Expert Analysis
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Reg Waiver Eases Calif. Rebuilding, But Proceed With Care
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order suspending some environmental review and permitting requirements for the reconstruction of homes and businesses damaged by recent wildfires may streamline rebuilding efforts, but will require careful navigation of the evolving regulatory landscape, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.
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The Post-Macquarie Securities Fraud-By-Omission Landscape
While the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 opinion in Macquarie v. Moab distinguished inactionable "pure omissions" from actionable "half-truths," the line between the two concepts in practice is still unclear, presenting challenges for lower courts parsing statements that often fall within the gray area of "misleading by omission," say attorneys at Katten.
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Trump's Energy Plans: Climate, Data Centers, LNG And More
With a host of executive orders addressing climate and emissions policies, expanded energy development, offshore and onshore projects, liquefied natural gas and more, the second Trump administration has already given energy companies much to consider, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex
Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.
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A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape
Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.
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Trump's Energy Plans: Funding, Permits And Nuclear Power
In the wake of President Donald Trump's flurry of first-day executive orders focusing on the energy sector, attorneys at Gibson Dunn analyze what this presidency will mean for energy-related grants and loans, changes to permitting processes and developments in nuclear power.
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When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law
In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws
The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.
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Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering
Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.
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A Halftime Analysis Of DOJ's Compensation Pilot Program
The U.S. Department of Justice appears to consider the first half of its three-year pilot program on compensation incentives and clawbacks to be proceeding successfully, so companies should expect prosecutors to emphasize the program and other compliance-related considerations early in investigations, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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A Look At Order Ending Federal Contractor Affirmative Action
To comply with President Donald Trump's executive order revoking affirmative action requirements in the next 90 days, federal contractors should focus on identification of protected groups, responsibilities of "diversity officer" positions and annual compliance reviews, says Jeremy Burkhart at Holland & Knight.
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Opinion
Courts Should Nix Conferencing Rule In 1 Discovery Scenario
Parties are generally required to meet and confer to resolve a discovery dispute before bringing a related motion, but courts should dispense with this conferencing requirement when a party fails to specify a time by which it will complete its production, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law.
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4 Keys To Litigating In An Active Regulatory Environment
For companies facing litigation influenced by government regulatory action — a recent trend that a politically charged atmosphere will exacerbate — there are a few principles that can help to align litigation strategy with broader public positioning in the regulatory and oversight context, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Series
Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.
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Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations
In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.