Environmental

  • October 15, 2024

    $5M Alcoa Unit Deal Ends EPA's Smelter Foul-Air Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday approved an Alcoa Corp. subsidiary's $5.25 million settlement with the federal government over the alleged release of illegal levels of pollutants at a now-shuttered Washington aluminum smelting plant.

  • October 15, 2024

    EPA Says GHG Power Plant Rule Is In 'Heartland' Of Authority

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is urging the D.C. Circuit to approve its plan to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying its prescribed methods for controlling releases are legally sound, effective, reliable and reasonably affordable for the facilities that must implement them.

  • October 15, 2024

    Texas Insurance Chief Denies Last-Resort Insurer's Rate Hike

    The Texas insurance commissioner rejected a 10% rate hike filed by the state's windstorm insurer of last resort, saying the increase would be unfair because of the hardships it would impose on Texas' coast.

  • October 15, 2024

    FERC Can't Pass On LNG Pipeline Review, DC Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shirked its legal obligations when, through inaction, it effectively greenlit the expansion of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Puerto Rico, environmental and community groups told the D.C. Circuit on Friday.

  • October 15, 2024

    PE-Backed Ingram Micro Leads 2 IPOs Seeking $466M Total

    Private equity-backed information technology company Ingram Micro Holding Corp. on Tuesday unveiled a price range on an estimated $400 million initial public offering set to price next week, one of two companies to launch plans for IPOs that could net $466 million combined.

  • October 15, 2024

    Polsinelli Adds Merck Legal Director To Energy Group In Philly

    An attorney who specializes in representing energy and utility clients and has experience as in-house counsel has left Merck, where she was a legal director for nearly three years, to become the first new lateral shareholder to join Polsinelli's Philadelphia office since the firm opened its doors there in August.

  • October 15, 2024

    EPA Pitches Deal For Endocrine-Disruptor Screening Suit

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a plan to settle a lawsuit that farmworker and environmental health groups brought over its alleged inaction on an Endocrine-Disruptor Screening Program meant to consider how pesticide chemicals may harm people's hormone systems.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

  • October 15, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders

    Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.

  • October 11, 2024

    11th Circ. Reinstates, Remands Alabama Burial Ground Fight

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Friday vacated and remanded a lower court's order in a fight between two Alabama tribes over a sacred burial site, saying it failed to review the litigation's sovereign immunity issues on a claim-by-claim basis.

  • October 11, 2024

    Tribes, Enviro Orgs. Can Defend EPA In Pebble Mine Row

    A federal judge in Alaska has allowed a slew of environmental groups and Alaskan tribes to defend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to block the planned creation of the controversial Pebble Mine, saying they made a convincing argument that intervention is warranted.

  • October 11, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: CBD Injuries & The Clean Water Act

    The U.S. Supreme Court will be closed Monday, but the justices will return to the bench Tuesday to hear arguments over whether the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act allows litigants to pursue claims of economic harm tied to personal injuries, and how specific pollutant discharge limits have to be under the Clean Water Act.

  • October 11, 2024

    Wash. DOT Settles Deadly Highway Tree Fall Suit For $775K

    The Washington State Department of Transportation will pay $775,000 to the surviving members of a family who sued the agency after a Douglas fir fell on their vehicle while they were traveling along a state highway on the Olympic Peninsula in 2017, causing two deaths and devastating injuries to the survivors.

  • October 11, 2024

    6th Circ. Blocks Work On Tenn. Pipeline For TVA Gas Plant

    A split Sixth Circuit panel on Friday temporarily blocked construction of a Kinder Morgan unit's pipeline that would serve a Tennessee Valley Authority natural gas-fired power plant in Cumberland City, as conservation groups challenge Clean Water Act permits Tennessee and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued for the pipeline.

  • October 11, 2024

    Monsanto Inks $35M Deal With LA For Waterway Cleanup

    Los Angeles announced Friday it inked a $35 million settlement with Bayer AG's Monsanto Co. and two other companies over their alleged contamination of the city's bodies of water with toxic chemicals, ending the 2½-year-old lawsuit, with the companies agreeing to various cleanup efforts and reimbursement for previous costs.

  • October 11, 2024

    Unions Say EPA Rule Contains Protective Wear Loophole

    Two major trade unions told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a rule that lets the agency consider the use of personal protective equipment when conducting risk evaluations, in violation of federal law.

  • October 11, 2024

    Parties Look To Vacate 40-Year-Old Ore. Tribal Fishing Decree

    The U.S. government, Oregon and a Native American tribe are asking a federal court to vacate a 1980 agreement that established hunting and fishing rights for the tribe, arguing that the consent decree was a product of its time and represented a distorted view on tribal sovereignty.

  • October 11, 2024

    Bellwether Plaintiffs Let Halliburton Escape Pollution Dispute

    Two bellwether plaintiffs in litigation seeking to hold the owners and operators of a former pipe manufacturing facility liable for contamination have agreed to permanently drop their claims against Halliburton Energy Services.

  • October 11, 2024

    Feds Designate 3rd-Largest Marine Sanctuary Off Calif. Coast

    The Biden administration on Friday said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is designating more than 4,500 square miles of ocean off California's central coast as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

  • October 11, 2024

    DOI Defends Offshore Lease Schedule At DC Circ.

    The U.S. Department of the Interior defended its scaled-back offshore leasing program for 2024-2029 from dueling challenges at the D.C. Circuit, arguing it relied on "extensive quantitative and qualitative analyses" that it prepared over several years to reach its decision.

  • October 11, 2024

    FERC Defends Keeping Calif. In Hydro Permitting Role

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defended its conclusion that California's water board didn't waive its Clean Water Act permitting authority over two hydroelectric dams, telling the D.C. Circuit there's nothing to suggest there was a coordinated effort to string out the permitting process.

  • October 11, 2024

    Conn. Judge OKs $5M Deal To Resolve AG's Vision Solar Case

    A Connecticut state judge approved a $5 million judgment to resolve an unfair trade practices suit Attorney General William Tong brought against Vision Solar LLC.

  • October 11, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says USMCA Review Bars Importer's Duty Suit

    The Federal Circuit has backed the U.S. Court of International Trade's dismissal of a Canadian lumber company's challenge to increased tariffs, saying the U.S. court couldn't take the case once a U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement panel began reviewing the duties.

  • October 11, 2024

    Hurricane Effects Prompt More NC Court Deadline Extensions

    Chief North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby on Friday gave litigants in the state's western counties another two-week extension on their court deadlines as they deal with Hurricane Helene, writing in his order that the region is still plagued by "catastrophic conditions" due to the severe weather and flooding.

  • October 11, 2024

    More Ga. PFAS Suits Are Coming. Here's How Attys Prepare

    Leading attorneys in PFAS litigation say new regulations and ever-increasing lawsuits require attorneys to think carefully about proactive measures clients can take to limit PFAS use, and about the latest scientific research into how the so-called forever chemicals impact humans and the environment.

Expert Analysis

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • How Corner Post Affects Enviro Laws' Statutes Of Limitations

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board has helped to alter the fundamental underpinnings of administrative law — and its plaintiff-centric approach may have implications for some specific environmental laws' statutes of limitations, say Chris Leason and Liam Martin at Gallagher and Kennedy.

  • 2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances

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    Progress in trial technologies in the last 10 years has been transformative for courtroom presentations, but two core communication axioms are still relevant in today's world of drone footage evidence and 3D animations, say Adam Bloomberg and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Nuclear Power Can Help Industrial Plants Get To Net-Zero

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    In the race to fight climate change and achieve net-zero emissions, the industrial sector currently faces immense challenges — but the integration of nuclear energy is a promising solution, so companies should consider the financial and regulatory issues, opportunities, and risk-mitigating factors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror

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    Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Class Action Law Makes An LLC A 'Jurisdictional Platypus'

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    The applicability of Section 1332(d)(10) of the Class Action Fairness Act is still widely misunderstood — and given the ambiguous nature of limited liability companies, the law will likely continue to confound courts and litigants — so parties should be prepared for a range of outcomes, says Andrew Gunem at Strauss Borrelli.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • Rebuttal

    Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence

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    While a previous Law360 guest article criticizes the International Agency for Research on Cancer's processes, its reliance on peer-reviewed literature is proper and its refusal to allow corporate influence is sound science, say Lance Oliver and Ridge Mazingo at Motley Rice.

  • Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases

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    Trial advocacy programs often teach lawyers to loosely track the progression of a lawsuit during preparation — case analysis, then direct examination, then cross-examination, openings and closings — but reverse-engineering cases by working backward from opening and closing statements can streamline the process and also improve case strategy, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How Courts' Differing Views On Standing Affect PFAS Claims

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    Two recent opinions from New York federal courts — in Lurenz v. Coca-Cola, and Winans v. Ornua Foods North America — illustrate how pivotal the differing views on standing held by different courts will be for product liability litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly consumer claims, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • New State Carbon Capture Laws: Key Points For Developers

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    Multiple states have introduced or expanded legal frameworks for carbon capture and sequestration this year, and while there are some common themes, many of these state laws include unique approaches and requirements — which developers and investors should be aware of when considering potential projects and investment risks, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

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