Environmental

  • 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.

  • January 29, 2025

    Tribal Leaders Call Funding Freeze A 'Step In Wrong Direction'

    Native American nonprofit groups and tribal leaders are weighing the effects of the Trump administration's possible federal funding freeze, calling the president's directive, which was revoked on Wednesday, shocking and vowing to bring legal action if necessary to protect Indian Country and the nation's Indigenous citizens.

  • January 29, 2025

    $7.8B ChampionX Deal Gets Added Scrutiny Across The Pond

    SLB's path to closing its proposed $7.8 billion acquisition of ChampionX got a little trickier Wednesday as the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority launched a formal investigation into a deal that is also under the scrutiny of U.S. regulators. 

  • January 29, 2025

    White House Rescinds Trump's Spending Freeze

    The White House on Wednesday rescinded a directive freezing federal funding, saying it wants to end litigation and confusion, but said the move will not end a review of spending to ensure compliance with a series of executive orders by the president.

  • January 28, 2025

    Trump Tells Federal Workers They're Welcome To Resign

    The Trump administration on Tuesday emailed about 2 million federal employees offering them the option to resign but continue to be paid to the end of September, in an effort to implement a campaign promise to drastically cut the federal workforce and only keep employees who are "loyal" and "trustworthy."

  • January 28, 2025

    Norfolk Southern Cuts $22M Derailment Deal With Ohio Village

    Norfolk Southern Corp. has reached a $22 million settlement with East Palestine, Ohio, to resolve claims over the 2023 train derailment and chemical spill near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, according to a joint statement published on the village's website Monday.

  • January 28, 2025

    Energy Co. Seeks Abeyance In Dakota Access Pipeline Row

    The operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline has asked the D.C. federal district court to suspend a South Dakota tribe's suit to shut down the pipeline's use until the court first rules on the tribe and federal government's competing motions for summary judgment.

  • January 28, 2025

    FCC Scraps Reg Plan For Cell Tower Enviro Reviews

    The Federal Communications Commission's new Republican chief said Tuesday the agency was dropping a plan launched during the Biden administration to more rigorously vet cell tower building projects for environmental impacts.

  • January 28, 2025

    SoCal Edison Faces More Suits Over Eaton Blaze

    At least two more lawsuits were filed in California state court against Southern California Edison, alleging the investor-owned public utility is responsible for sparking the devastating Eaton Fire that began Jan. 7 and destroyed most of Altadena, California, killing at least 17 people.

  • January 28, 2025

    New FERC Chair Backs Status Quo For Gas Project Reviews

    Newly minted Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie told Law360 in an exclusive interview that he sees no reason to change the approval process for gas infrastructure projects despite recent court rulings that have dinged FERC for legally inadequate reviews.

  • January 28, 2025

    Feds, Enviro Orgs. Look To Sink Farm's 'Swampbuster' Challenge

    The federal government and environmental groups have asked an Iowa federal court to reject a farm owner's effort to overturn the "Swampbuster" conservation law that aims to protect wetlands in agricultural areas.

  • January 28, 2025

    NJ Targets MTA's Changes In Revised Congestion-Pricing Suit

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy plans to target New York City's public transit agency and the altered toll amounts in the state's renewed legal challenge to congestion pricing, according to a proposed amended complaint.

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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