Environmental

  • January 31, 2025

    Environmental Group Of The Year: Bracewell

    Bracewell LLP helped a Louisiana chemical facility stave off a regulatory push that would allegedly force it to shut down, helped small refiners win hardship exemptions from renewable fuel-blending requirements, and helped companies advance regional hydrogen hub and offshore wind projects, earning the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Environmental Groups of the Year.

  • January 31, 2025

    Nippon Targets Sanyo Special Steel After Nixed US Steel Deal

    Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. on Friday announced plans to launch a tender offer valued at 70.5 billion yen ($456 million) to acquire full control of Sanyo Special Steel, a move that comes in the wake of former President Joe Biden blocking Nippon's $14.9 billion megadeal with U.S. Steel.

  • January 30, 2025

    Former North Dakota Gov. Confirmed As Interior Secretary

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 79-18 to confirm President Donald Trump's selection for secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who's vowed to advocate for expanded fossil fuel production.

  • January 30, 2025

    Big Ass Fans Agrees To Fine Over COVID-19 Filtering Claims

    Fan maker Big Ass Fans has agreed to pay nearly half a million dollars in penalties and restitution to resolve false advertising claims related to ceiling fan attachments it marketed during the COVID-19 pandemic as being able to kill over 99% of pathogens within an hour.

  • January 30, 2025

    FERC Says Pacific NW Pipeline Approval Was By The Book

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is defending its approval of a controversial TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest, telling the Fifth Circuit it reasonably determined that the project was needed and adequately reviewed its environmental impacts.

  • January 30, 2025

    Kirkland-Led Oil And Gas Producer Infinity Prices $265M IPO

    Oil and gas producer Infinity Natural Resources priced a $265 million initial public offering Thursday within its range, represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and underwriters counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, adding to a recent wave of energy-related IPOs.

  • January 30, 2025

    Buddhist Temple Urges Halt To Army Corps' Everglades Plan

    A Buddhist temple on Thursday urged a Florida federal court to temporarily halt a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' restoration project in the Everglades set to begin next week, saying the impacts of construction will deter visitors to the temple and disrupt its First Amendment right to religious freedom.

  • January 30, 2025

    Peruvians Tell High Court Smelter Lawsuit Should Proceed

    Peruvian nationals suing U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert's The Renco Group Inc. for allegedly poisoning them with toxic chemicals from a smelting and refining complex in a rural part of the country are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let their litigation move forward.

  • January 30, 2025

    1st Circ. Restores Endangered Whale's Cape Cod Protections

    The First Circuit on Thursday upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service's decision to seasonally ban some lobster and crab fishing equipment near Cape Cod in order to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.

  • January 30, 2025

    Agency In NJ Town Loses Retrial Bid In $26M Land-Taking Fight

    A New Jersey federal judge has denied a redevelopment agency's bid for a new trial in a land-taking battle after a jury determined it should pay $25.6 million for a 22-acre former Michelin Tire & Rubber Co. factory, ruling that it failed to meet the high bar set to overturn a verdict.

  • January 30, 2025

    EPA Says Okla. Must Give Tribes Say In Enviro Policies

    Oklahoma must work with its tribal nations in administering dozens of environmental polices, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said in a decision modifying a previous order that allowed the Sooner State full regulatory authority over the majority of Indian Country.

  • January 30, 2025

    Environmental Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's environmental practice handled a particularly diverse array of cases last year, including successfully defending eBay against U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency allegations that it violated three environmental statutes via harmful products sold using its platform, earning the team a spot among the 2024 Law360 Environmental Groups of the Year.

  • January 30, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Sanctions Miss, Philip Morris Refund

    In the second half of January, the North Carolina Business Court tussled with sanctions against a biogas company, heard claims an insurer tried to deliberately embarrass Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and ordered an $11 million tax refund for Philip Morris.

  • January 30, 2025

    Energy Group Urges UK To Link To EU's Carbon-Tax Measure

    The U.K. government should link to the European Union's Emissions Trading System to mitigate the impact of carbon border taxes on businesses in Northern Ireland, an energy industry group said.

  • January 29, 2025

    Ga. Judge Won't Free Wildlife Rehab From Animal Care Suit

    A Georgia federal judge on Tuesday refused to free Noah's Ark Animal Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary or the chair of its board of directors from an Ohio-based nonprofit's suit alleging the center failed to properly care for its wildlife.

  • January 29, 2025

    Mich. Judge Doubts Discovery Dispute Should DQ Firm

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday said a law firm's alleged "bad behavior" doesn't necessarily mean it can't represent a former CEO of a solar energy company, telling residents who sought to disqualify the firm because of a supposed conflict that their complaints may be better dealt with through discovery motions.

  • January 29, 2025

    Senate Banking Committee Forms NFIP Working Group

    With the National Flood Insurance Program's authorization set to expire in March, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking has formed a working group to reform the program and work toward long-term reauthorization, a press release from committee chairman and South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott said.

  • January 29, 2025

    New DOT Chief Orders Fuel Economy Standards Redo

    U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to retool its "extraordinarily stringent" vehicle fuel economy standards, immediately diving into President Donald Trump's rollback of Biden-era policies aimed at bolstering electric vehicles.

  • January 29, 2025

    Senate Confirms Former Rep. Lee Zeldin To Lead EPA

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  • January 29, 2025

    EPA Can't Invoke Immunity In Flint Water Crisis Suit

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not entitled to a government immunity defense in a lawsuit filed by Flint, Michigan, residents who claim it failed to take proper action during a lead-tainted drinking water crisis, a federal judge has said.

  • January 29, 2025

    Nonprofits Back NC Officials In Animal Waste Permit Suit

    After multiple lower state courts went back and forth on whether certain provisions laid out in a trio of farm animal waste system permits should have been adopted as official state rules, multiple advocacy groups urged the Tar Heel State justices to let them side with the government as they review the issue.

  • January 29, 2025

    4 Questions About Trump's Federal Worker Resignation Policy

    President Donald Trump’s offer of letting federal workers resign with several months of paid administrative leave raises questions about its legality and whether workers will actually get paid, attorneys said. Here, Law360 explores four questions that stem from the policy.

  • January 29, 2025

    2nd Circ. Rejects NY Tribe's Eel Fishing Regs Challenge

    The Second Circuit has upheld a lower court's rejection of the Unkechaug Indian Nation's challenge to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regulations on eel harvests, finding that an agreement dating back to 1676 is not federal law preempting state fishing regulations.

  • January 29, 2025

    Environmental Group Of The Year: Hunton

    Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP secured court victories for Marathon Petroleum in a series of climate change lawsuits around the country, helped a range of industry groups challenge federal regulations and negotiated a landmark $57 million settlement on behalf of an Exelon subsidiary, earning the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Environmental Groups of the Year.

  • January 29, 2025

    Orrick Adds Bradley Arant Energy Regulatory Pro In DC

    Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has grown its energy capabilities in the nation's capital with the addition of an attorney from Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Big Oil Climate Ruling Sets Dangerous Liability Precedent

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    The recent Maryland court dismissal of Baltimore's case seeking to hold BP responsible for climate damage mischaracterized the city's injuries as divorced from the conduct that caused them, and could allow companies that conceal the dangers of their products to escape liability, says Randall Abate at George Washington University Law School.

  • Opinion

    3rd. Circ. Got It Right On Cancer Warning Claims Preemption

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    The Third Circuit's recent, eminently sensible ruling in a failure-to-warn case against Roundup manufacturer Monsanto, holding that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act preempts state law claims, provides a road map that other courts should adopt, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • 5 Ways To Confront Courtroom Technology Challenges

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    Recent cybersecurity incidents highlight the vulnerabilities of our reliance on digital infrastructure, meaning attorneys must be prepared to navigate technological obstacles inside the courtroom, including those related to data security, presentation hardware, video playback and more, says Adam Bloomberg at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • ESA Ruling May Jeopardize Gulf Of Mexico Drilling Operations

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    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Sierra Club v. National Marine Fisheries Service, vacating key Endangered Species Act analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, may create a gap in guidance that could expose operators to enforcement risk and even criminal liability, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority

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    Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.

  • Series

    After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed

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    Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.

  • When Trauma Colors Testimony: How To Help Witnesses

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    As stress-related mental health issues continue to rise, trial attorneys must become familiar with a few key trauma-informed strategies to help witnesses get back on track — leaning in to the counselor aspect of their vocations, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • Navigating The Uncertain Landscape Of Solar Tariffs

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    Solar cell and module manufacturers, exporters and importers must navigate an uncertain compliance landscape, given ongoing challenges to U.S. Department of Commerce antidumping and countervailing duty determinations, which have been mounted both by U.S. and non-U.S. manufacturers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Amid SEC Rule Limbo, US Cos. Subject To ESG Regs In EU

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    Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is facing legal challenges to its climate-disclosure rulemaking, the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in the European Union will force U.S. companies to comply with exactly the kinds of ESG disclosures that are not yet mandated in the U.S., say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

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