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Environmental
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February 20, 2025
Tribes Fail To Win Reversal Of Ore. Casino Project Decision
A D.C. federal judge has denied a bid by three tribes to reverse an Interior Department decision approving a land trust application for another tribe in what is Oregon's first off-reservation casino, ruling that they've failed to show how the project would harm them.
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February 20, 2025
Better Process Not Certain As White House Loses NEPA Regs
The White House says it rescinded National Environmental Policy Act regulations in an effort to "expedite and simplify" the federal permitting process, but attorneys say the immediate effect of the move will likely be to confuse agencies and slow down project approvals.
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February 20, 2025
Insurer Can't Quickly Exit Broker Premium Theft Row
A Louisiana federal court rejected most arguments made by an insurer seeking to avoid professional liability coverage of a broker whose former employee stole policy premiums and failed to secure insurance for clients, leaving the company to cover around $1 million in Hurricane Laura damage.
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February 20, 2025
Calif. Rail Project Back In Trump's Crosshairs With DOT Probe
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday launched a compliance review into California's high-speed rail project, casting uncertainty over approximately $4 billion in federal funding for the beleaguered project that is back in the Trump administration's crosshairs.
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February 20, 2025
FERC Chair Seeking More Clarity On Scope Of Trump Order
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie downplayed concerns Thursday that a recent executive order from President Donald Trump will erode the agency's authority, but acknowledged that it's unclear how much the order seeks to involve the White House in FERC's operations.
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February 20, 2025
New SEC Guidance Throws A 'Bit Of Chaos' Into Proxy Season
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent effort to loosen its guidance around what companies can exclude from their proxy statements isn't surprising given the change in administration, but the timing of its release has thrown a monkey wrench into a proxy season that is already underway, attorneys said.
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February 20, 2025
DOD To Shift $50B To Trump Defense Spending Priorities
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the agency to shift $50 billion from its 2026 budget away from "Biden-legacy programs" to programs that align with President Donald Trump's "America first" agenda.
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February 20, 2025
Green Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Press EPA Again On Atrazine
Environmental groups are urging the Ninth Circuit to reopen a long-running case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its regulation around the pesticide atrazine, arguing that the agency's yearslong delay in completing a court-ordered review of the chemical has allowed "serious harm to people, plants and wildlife."
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February 20, 2025
Select SPAC Targets Are Soaring Ahead Of The Pack
A select breed of companies that went public through mergers with special purpose acquisition companies are performing well lately — hailing mostly from a few specific industries — in stark contrast to the vast majority of SPAC merger targets that have flopped over the past few years, according to data released on Thursday.
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February 20, 2025
Feds Say DC Judge Can't Bar 'Hypothetical' Spending Freezes
A Justice Department attorney argued before a D.C. federal judge Thursday that there is no basis to continue blocking the Trump administration from implementing a blanket suspension on federal spending, saying the court cannot bar "hypothetical" future freezes.
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February 20, 2025
Enbridge's Pipeline Tunnel Approval OK'd By Mich. Panel
A Michigan appellate court panel on Wednesday struck down environmental groups and tribal nations' challenge to a Michigan Public Service Commission's decision to allow Enbridge Energy to dig an underground tunnel to house part of an oil and natural gas pipeline, finding state regulators' decision was supported by evidence.
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February 20, 2025
EPA Sued Over Approval Of Radioactive Waste Road Project
The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit Wednesday challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of the use of radioactive phosphogypsum in road construction at fertilizer producer Mosaic's facility in Florida.
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February 20, 2025
Mich. Judge Won't Defer Atomic Bomb Waste Suit To Agency
A Michigan state judge on Thursday denied a Wayne County landfill's bid to dismiss claims from communities attempting to prevent the disposal site from accepting radioactive waste from the development of the first atomic bomb, finding that the court can hear the case rather than deferring to the state's environmental agency.
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February 20, 2025
NY Expands Local Power To Give Storm Damage Tax Breaks
New York state expanded municipalities' authority to provide property tax breaks to owners of property damaged by severe storms and other natural disasters by allowing that relief to be granted for small business' property as part of a bill signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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February 20, 2025
Musk's X Seeks Cash At $44B Valuation, Plus More Rumors
Elon Musk is seeking to raise money for his social media platform X at a $44 billion valuation — the same price he paid to buy the site in 2022 — while BP is considering selling its Castrol lubricants unit for $10 billion and KKR could inject $5 billion into ailing British utility Thames Water. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.
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February 20, 2025
BakerHostetler Environmental Pro Jumps To Morgan Lewis
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP has hired the former national co-chair of BakerHostetler's environmental team as a partner in its environmental litigation practice, the firm said Thursday.
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February 19, 2025
Eaton Fire Class Action Blames SoCal Edison Power Lines
Southern California Edison was hit with a proposed class action Tuesday alleging that its failure to maintain its electrical grid and shut down power lines during fire weather conditions sparked the Eaton Fire that killed 17 people and destroyed more than 9,000 structures in Altadena, California.
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February 19, 2025
Lululemon Gets 'Greenwashing' Ads Suit Tossed
Lululemon Athletica Inc. has escaped a proposed class action accusing it of misleading the public into thinking the company is environmentally friendly, after a Florida federal judge tossed the suit because the consumers couldn't make a price-premium connection.
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February 19, 2025
PVC Pipe Giant Atkore Discloses DOJ Grand Jury Probe
Atkore Inc.'s antitrust woes have grown from civil price-fixing litigation targeting the company's PVC pipe manufacturing, according to a new investor filing disclosing a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation.
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February 19, 2025
MDL Plaintiffs Misread Blackout Protocols, Texas Justices Told
Transmission and distribution utility providers told Texas justices Wednesday that the thousands of plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation stemming from a crippling winter storm in 2021 "misunderstand" how load-shedding protocols work as it pushed the court to free it of the final two claims in the MDL.
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February 19, 2025
10th Circ. Says ARCO Superfund Suit Wasn't Too Late
A Tenth Circuit panel on Wednesday determined ARCO's lawsuit to force a smelter to contribute to environmental cleanup costs at an old Colorado mine wasn't time-barred because a district court mischaracterized the claim.
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February 19, 2025
FERC Watchers Seek Clarity As Trump Curbs Agency Powers
Energy industry representatives hope to get some clarity from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members at the agency's monthly open meeting on Thursday, as uncertainty over the commission's future swells in the wake of President Donald Trump's moves to curb independent agencies' powers.
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February 19, 2025
Energy Credit Market Still Robust Amid Uncertainty, Attys Say
Companies continue to buy and sell valuable tax credits earned from large-scale clean energy tax development projects despite President Donald Trump's active efforts to undermine renewable energy and cut the federal workforce administering the incentives, practitioners said Wednesday.
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February 19, 2025
Groups Say Trump Can't Reopen Areas To Offshore Drilling
President Donald Trump may have promised to "drill, baby, drill," but should know he can't undo a prior administration's decision to withdraw vast swaths of outer continental shelf from oil and gas leasing, conservation groups told an Alaska federal judge.
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February 19, 2025
NY Vows To Fight Trump's Bid To Kill Congestion Pricing
New York officials vowed to continue implementing congestion pricing after the Trump administration moved to kill the program Wednesday, teeing up an intense legal battle by swiftly launching a counterattack in federal court to preserve the tolls on all vehicles entering Manhattan's busiest corridor.
Expert Analysis
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Teaching Your Witness To Beat The Freeze/Appease Response
In addition to fight-or-flight, witnesses may experience the freeze/appease response at trial or deposition — where they become a deer in headlights, agreeing with opposing counsel’s questions and damaging their credibility in the process — but certain strategies can help, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.
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Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out
In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How Litigation, Supply Chains Buffeted Offshore Wind In 2024
U.S. offshore wind developers continue to face a range of challenges — including litigation brought by local communities and interest groups, ongoing supply chain issues, and a lack of interconnection and transmission infrastructure — in addition to uncertainty surrounding federal energy policy under the second Trump administration, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.
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What Bisphenol S Prop 65 Listing Will Mean For Industry
The imminent addition of bisphenol S — a chemical used in millions of products — to California's Proposition 65 list will have sweeping compliance and litigation implications for companies in the retail, food and beverage, paper, manufacturing and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity
Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Permitting, Offtake Among Offshore Wind Challenges In 2024
Although federal offshore wind development started to pick up this year, many challenges to the industry became apparent as well — including slow federal permitting, the pitfalls of restarting permits after changes in project status, and the difficulties of negotiating economically viable offtake agreements, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.
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Series
Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.
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Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review
For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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The Fashion Industry Should Prep Now For State PFAS Bans
New York and California have each passed legislation regulating PFAS in apparel and other textiles, so retailers should consult with manufacturers and suppliers and obtain the requisite certification documents as soon as possible to avoid disruptions in supply chains, say attorneys at Venable.
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California Supreme Court's Year In Review
Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.
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DC Circ. Decision Opens Door To NEPA Regulation Litigation
A recent D.C. Circuit decision in Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration could open the door to more litigation over the White House Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and could affect how many agencies conduct and interpret environmental assessments, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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Service Providers Must Mitigate 'Secondary Target' Risks
A lawsuit recently filed in an Illinois federal court against marketing agency Publicis over its work for opioid manufacturers highlights an uptick in litigation against professional service providers hired by clients that engaged in alleged misconduct — so potential targets of such suits should be sure to conduct proper risk analysis and mitigation, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Opinion
FTC Actions In Oil Cases Go Against Its Own Rulemaking
Two recent Federal Trade Commission actions concerning the oil and gas industry appear to defy its own merger guidelines, with allegations that fall far short of the commission's own standard — raising serious questions about the agency's current approach, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.
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How Global Data Center Regs May Influence US Policies
As regulators around the world react to the growth of data centers, and their increasing consumption of energy, water and land, international policies in this area may influence how the incoming U.S. administration regulates data centers in this country, say attorneys at HWG.
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Series
Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.