Environmental

  • October 22, 2024

    'Alkaline Water' Co. Owes $230M In Latest Liver Trial

    A Nevada state jury awarded $230 million Tuesday in the latest trial over liver damage from Real Water's "alkaline water" and sent the 15 plaintiffs, including a UFC fighter, to a punitive damages phase.

  • October 22, 2024

    Blink Investor Deal Gets Final OK, Attys Score $1.25M Fee

    A Florida federal judge has granted final approval to a $3.75 million settlement between electric-vehicle charging station operator Blink Charging Co. and a proposed class of investors who alleged the company mischaracterized the functionality of its charging network.

  • October 22, 2024

    Copper Mining Co. Asks High Court To Toss Sacred Site Suit

    A copper mining company that wants to build operations in a tribally sacred part of the Tonto National Forest has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a challenge to a Ninth Circuit ruling that allows for the transfer of nearly 2,500 acres of land.

  • October 22, 2024

    Walmart Pays $7.5M To End Hazardous Waste Disposal Suit

    Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of California and district attorneys of several counties who alleged the retail giant improperly disposed of hazardous and medical wastes from its locations to municipal landfills, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Tuesday.

  • October 22, 2024

    Feds Granted More Time For New Gulf Drilling Review

    A Maryland federal judge has agreed to delay the date by which she will vacate a National Marine Fisheries Service review of the effects of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the agency explained that it would not be able to complete a new review by the original Dec. 20 deadline.

  • October 22, 2024

    Organic Food Group Asks 9th Circ. To Upend GMO Label Rule

    An organic food industry advocacy group urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a district judge decision that largely left a Trump-era organic food labeling rule intact, saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture's implementation of a nationwide labeling law for genetically modified foods has been "arbitrary and capricious."

  • October 22, 2024

    Appliance Co., Customers Agree To End Stove Pollutant Row

    Luxury kitchen appliance maker Sub-Zero Group Inc. and the customers behind a proposed class action have agreed to drop the litigation, bringing to an end claims the company sold them gas stoves that emit "health-harming" pollutants.

  • October 22, 2024

    Tribe, Feds Reach Deal Over National Preserve Site

    The federal government, joined by the Pueblo of Jemez, called on the Tenth Circuit to amend its March 2023 ruling granting the tribe title to a portion of the Valles Caldera National Preserve after the parties reached a settlement agreement concerning how the title will be effectuated.

  • October 22, 2024

    Feds Partner With Osage, Navajo To Tackle Orphaned Wells

    The U.S. Department of Energy said it's inked agreements with the Osage Nation and the Navajo Nation that are aimed at identifying undocumented orphaned wells on tribal lands and addressing their harmful impacts.

  • October 22, 2024

    3 Energy Attys Join Greenberg Traurig From Brownstein Hyatt

    Three energy attorneys from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP have moved to Greenberg Traurig LLP as shareholders in Denver, the firm announced Tuesday, as it builds out the practice in response to clients seeking new development opportunities.

  • October 22, 2024

    Latham Leads Hyundai's Indian Biz On Record $3.3B IPO

    Hyundai Motor India Ltd. dipped in debut trading Tuesday after it raised India's largest ever initial public offering at $3.3 billion, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., marking a key milestone in the Korean automaker's overseas expansion.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

  • October 22, 2024

    The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.

  • October 21, 2024

    Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG Want DC Circ. FERC Ruling Redo

    Backers of liquefied natural gas projects on Texas' Gulf Coast are asking the D.C. Circuit to revisit a panel ruling that vacated their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reauthorization orders, with Rio Grande LNG LLC saying that the flawed ruling threatens to halt its $18 billion project and put its future at "grave risk."

  • October 21, 2024

    WisdomTree Will Pay $4M To End SEC ESG Fund Allegations

    WisdomTree Asset Management Inc. on Monday agreed to pay $4 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the adviser made misstatements concerning exchange-traded funds focused on environmental, social and governance causes.

  • October 21, 2024

    Rule Aims To Give Geothermal Energy Projects A Boost

    The U.S. Department of the Interior said it's pitching a new categorical exclusion that's intended to speed up geothermal resource discovery efforts on public lands, with a proposed rule slated to be published Tuesday.

  • October 21, 2024

    Alaskan Tribes Ink Stewardship Land, Water Pacts With Feds

    Three agreements between the federal government and Alaskan tribes and corporations are expected to advance efforts to safeguard salmon relied upon by Indigenous people for thousands of years, further sovereignty and improve easement management to public lands and waters, the U.S. Department of the Interior said.

  • October 21, 2024

    DC Circ. Unsure Right Law Used To Challenge Alaska LNG Project

    Two conservation groups faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit panel on Monday in their challenge to the U.S. Department of Energy's reapproval of a $44 billion liquefied natural gas project in Alaska.

  • October 21, 2024

    Judge Hints 'Contract' Key To Utility Cleanup Enforcement

    An Avangrid Inc. unit's responsibility or lack thereof for cleaning up a contaminated former power plant hinges on whether a partial consent order from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, or DEEP, is legally a contract, a state court judge signaled Monday. 

  • October 21, 2024

    3M Asks 2nd Circ. To Keep Vermont PFAS Case In Fed Court

    3M Co. is asking the Second Circuit to reverse an order remanding a suit by the state of Vermont over "forever chemical" contamination back to state court, saying that it filed for removal as soon as it learned that the claims involved products from a facility that made products for the military.

  • October 21, 2024

    V&E Helps EnCap Amass $5.25B For Latest Energy Fund

    Houston, Texas-based EnCap Investments LP, advised by Vinson & Elkins LLP, on Monday announced that it wrapped its 12th energy-focused fund after securing $5.25 billion from investors.

  • October 21, 2024

    Mike Pence Supports US Steel-Nippon, Calls Critiques 'Bogus'

    Former Vice President Mike Pence has come out in support of Nippon Steel's planned $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, stating that Nippon will inject essential funding into the ailing Pennsylvania-based steelmaker while helping to fend off China and Russia's growing levels of global steel production. 

  • October 21, 2024

    High Court Will Review Clean Air Act Jurisdiction Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review Tenth Circuit and Fifth Circuit rulings that reached different conclusions about whether legal challenges to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules belong in the D.C. Circuit.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Colo. County, Enviros Back DC Ruling In High Court Rail Fight

    Conservation groups and a Colorado county are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a D.C. Circuit ruling that overturned federal approval of a rail project proposed to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin, as justices set arguments for a challenge to that ruling for Dec. 10.

Expert Analysis

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address

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    The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges

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    The Bureau of Land Management's interpretation of land "use" in its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule is contrary to the agency's past practice and other Federal Land Policy and Management Act provisions, leaving the rule exposed in four legal challenges that may carry greater force in the wake of Loper Bright, say Stacey Bosshardt and Stephanie Regenold at Perkins Coie.

  • 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.

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