Environmental

  • April 21, 2025

    AFGE Units Ask Court To Nix Agencies' Labor Contracts Suit

    American Federation of Government Employees affiliates told a Texas federal court Monday to dismiss a lawsuit from the Department of Defense and other federal agencies asking the court to allow termination of collective bargaining agreements, saying the government does not have standing.

  • April 21, 2025

    Wind Farm Co. Asks 10th Circ. To Undo Osage Teardown Order

    Enel Green Power North American Inc. is asking the Tenth Circuit to reverse a lower court's $4.2 million judgment and order requiring it to remove 84 wind turbines from the Osage Nation reservation, arguing that its conclusion of continuing trespass for the retention of backfill rocks is unprecedented and illogical.

  • April 21, 2025

    Offshore Leasing Withdrawal Ruling Not Moot, Court Told

    Environmental groups on Friday insisted an Alaska federal judge can reinstate her decision barring the Trump administration from undoing former President Barack Obama's withdrawal of offshore waters from oil and gas leasing, blasting the government's contention that the ruling remains moot.

  • April 21, 2025

    DOL Tells 5th Circ. It May Rescind Biden-Era ESG Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor told the Fifth Circuit on Monday it's considering rescinding a Biden-era rule allowing retirement fiduciaries to consider issues like climate change and social justice when choosing investments, according to filings in a suit challenging the rule from conservative states and energy companies.

  • April 21, 2025

    Feds Vow To Cut NY Funds If Congestion Pricing Stays On

    The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday amplified threats to pull federal funding for Manhattan roadway projects if congestion pricing continues, saying state officials now have until May 21 to explain why they're flouting a federal directive to halt the "unconscionable" program.

  • April 21, 2025

    Microchip Co. Wants USPTO To Apply New Rules Retroactively

    A California company behind a new kind of energy-efficient microchip says it's retained a former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director in order to make the case that the agency's new rules over discretionary denials should be retroactively extended by seven days, in order to wipe out a partially successful patent challenge from a Chinese rival.

  • April 21, 2025

    Calif. Homeowners Say Insurers Colluded To Limit Coverage

    California property owners affected by the Los Angeles wildfires accused over 300 insurers of conspiring to eliminate competition in the marketplace, forcing consumers to instead obtain fire insurance from the state's insurer of last resort, according to two lawsuits filed in state court.

  • April 21, 2025

    Interior Says Offshore Air Rule Challenge Must Be Nixed

    The U.S. Department of the Interior and an oil and gas industry group on Friday said that the agency got it right in 2020 when it abandoned an Obama-era proposal to revise air pollution rules for offshore oil and gas operations.

  • April 21, 2025

    Unions Score Block On Orders To Fire Probationary Workers

    A California federal judge blocked the Office of Personnel Management from ordering federal agencies to fire probationary employees and stopped several agencies from heeding its directives, but he declined to order them to rehire the workers they've already let go.

  • April 21, 2025

    3 Firms Guide Brazilian Energy Producer's $155M SPAC Deal

    Brazilian oil refiner PX Energy on Monday agreed to merge with special purpose acquisition company Papaya Growth Opportunity Corp. I in a deal that will take PX public in the United States at an estimated $155 million value, guided by three law firms.

  • April 21, 2025

    Baker Botts Adds Enviro Ace From In-House Role In Houston

    Baker Botts LLP announced Monday that it has added a partner in Houston who brings more than 25 years of environmental law experience, including more than a decade on the legal team at Koch Industries.

  • April 21, 2025

    CMOC Buying Lumina Gold For $420M

    China's CMOC Group Ltd. has agreed to acquire Vancouver-based Lumina Gold Corp. in an all-cash deal valued at CA$581 million ($420 million), Lumina said Monday, as the miner looks to expand its gold portfolio in Latin America.

  • April 21, 2025

    Conn. Utility Says Regulators Must Hear PFAS Class Case

    Eversource Energy subsidiary Aquarion Water Co. of Connecticut on Monday said claims that it failed to protect consumers from PFAS chemicals boil down to accusations that a proposed class paid too much for water, asking a state superior court judge to toss a lawsuit that rate regulators hadn't seen first.

  • April 21, 2025

    Solar Co. Oya Gets OK On Ch. 11 Liquidation After Asset Sales

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Monday confirmed solar energy producer Oya Renewables' bid to liquidate through Chapter 11 under a plan supported by creditors, months after the company sold most of its assets for $39 million.

  • April 19, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Preventive Healthcare, LGBTQ Books

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in five cases this week, including disputes over the constitutionality of a task force that sets preventive healthcare coverage requirements, a school district's introduction of LGBTQ-themed storybooks and whether parties can establish standing based on harms affecting third parties. 

  • April 18, 2025

    Enviro Groups Tell 10th Circ. Denver's Dam Appeal Ill-Timed

    Environmental groups have asked the Tenth Circuit to preserve a lower court's order halting construction on a Denver dam, saying a stay requested by the city was filed prematurely.

  • April 18, 2025

    Apache Ask High Court For Quick Ruling In Oak Flat Land Row

    An Apache nonprofit behind the effort to save an ancient worship site from destruction in Arizona is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly rule on its petition after the federal government announced it is moving forward with plans to transfer the site to Resolution Copper for mining.

  • April 18, 2025

    NC High Court Snapshot: Livestock Litigation Takes Limelight

    The North Carolina Supreme Court's April lineup will find the justices delving into a squabble over backyard chickens in a residential neighborhood and a consumer fraud class action with Home Depot in the crosshairs.

  • April 18, 2025

    Ill. Justices To Weigh Scope Of Standard Pollution Exclusions

    The Illinois Supreme Court will consider whether pollution exclusions in standard-form commercial general liability policies apply to industrial emissions allowed under a regulatory permit, the court said Thursday, agreeing to take up a question certified by the Seventh Circuit.

  • April 18, 2025

    Trump Admin Pushes Ahead With New Offshore Oil Leases

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Friday said it's "unlocking the full potential" of offshore oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, a rebuke to the Biden administration's conservative approach to development.

  • April 18, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Global Payments Inc. buys Worldpay from GTCR and FIS, Intel Corp. sells a stake in its Altera business to Silver Lake, KKR acquires OSTTRA from S&P Global and CME Group, and Canada's Capital Power Corp. nabs two U.S. natural gas power plants.

  • April 18, 2025

    5 Takeaways From Texas Stock Exchange's SEC Filing

    The newly formed Texas Stock Exchange LLC is proposing rules that largely resemble those of the New York heavyweights it seeks to challenge, along with some notable differences, leaving questions on how the exchange will distinguish itself. Here are five takeaways from TXSE's securities filing.

  • April 18, 2025

    OxyChem Unit Settles Bid To Share Ohio Derailment Blame

    Chemical shipper OxyVinyls Inc. and Norfolk Southern struck a deal toward the end of a trial seeking to spread the blame — and the cost of a $600 million settlement — for the 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

  • April 17, 2025

    NY Judge Scrubs Groups' Anti-Congestion-Pricing Claims

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday rejected claims from local residents and community groups alleging New York's revised congestion pricing tolls wrongfully discriminated against out-of-state commuters and unfairly benefited public transit riders instead of roadway users.

  • April 17, 2025

    Bard Plant's Emission Controls Weren't Up To Snuff, Jury Told

    A Georgia state jury heard Thursday that a C.R. Bard medical equipment sterilization plant carelessly emitted ethylene oxide by going years without pollution controls, and later failing to diligently use and maintain the controls it did eventually install.

Expert Analysis

  • In-House Expert Testimony Is Tricky, But Worth Considering

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    Litigation counsel often reject the notion of designating in-house personnel to provide expert opinion testimony at trial, but dismissing them outright can result in a significant missed opportunity, say David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law and Martin Pitha at Lillis Pitha.

  • Issues To Watch At ABA's Antitrust Spring Meeting

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    Attorneys at Freshfields consider the future of antitrust law and competition enforcement amid agency leadership changes and other emerging developments likely to dominate discussion at the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week.

  • Tracking Changes To AI Evidence Under Federal Rules

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    As the first quarter of 2025 draws to a close, important changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom are on the horizon, including how to handle evidence that is a product of machine learning, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • State Extended Producer Responsibility Laws: Tips For Cos.

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    As states increasingly shift the onus of end-of-life product management from consumers and local governments to the businesses that produce, distribute or sell certain items, companies must track the changing landscape and evaluate the applicability of these new laws and regulations to their operations, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Law Firm Executive Orders Create A Legal Ethics Minefield

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    Recent executive orders targeting BigLaw firms create ethical dilemmas — and raise the specter of civil or criminal liability — for the government attorneys tasked with implementing them and for the law firms that choose to make agreements with the administration, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • 5 Steps To Promote Durable, Pro-Industry Environmental Regs

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's planned wave of deregulation will require lengthy reviews, and could be undone by legal challenges and future changes of administration — but industry involvement in rulemaking, litigation, trade associations, and state and federal legislation can help ensure favorable and long-lasting regulatory policies, say attorneys at Balch & Bingham.

  • Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind

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    As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.

  • Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law

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    The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How Trump Policies Are Affecting The Right To Repair

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    Recent policy changes by the second Trump administration — ranging from deregulatory initiatives to tariff increases — are likely to have both positive and negative effects on the ability of independent repair shops and individual consumers to exercise their right to repair electronic devices, say attorneys at Carter Ledyard.

  • How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence

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    As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • DOJ Immigration Playbook May Take Cues From A 2017 Case

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    A record criminal resolution with a tree trimming company accused of knowingly employing unauthorized workers in 2017 may provide clues as to how the U.S. Department of Justice’s immigration crackdown will touch American companies, which should prepare now for potential enforcement actions, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • NM Case Shows Power Of Environmental Public Nuisance Law

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    A recent ruling from a New Mexico appeals court finding that a pattern of environmental violations, even without any substantial impact on a nearby community, can trigger nuisance liability — including potential damages and injunctive relief — has important implications for regulated entities in the state, says Kaleb Brooks at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw

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    Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.

  • Opinion

    After Fires, Calif. Must Streamline Enviro Reviews For Housing

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    Recent waivers to the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws granted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to expedite reconstruction of residential property damaged in the Los Angeles wildfires are laudable — but given the state's widespread housing shortage, policymakers should extend the same benefits to other communities, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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