Environmental

  • October 31, 2024

    FERC Unlawfully Rewrote Grid Hookup Policy, DC Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's revised policy on hooking up new power projects to the grid unlawfully imposes a punitive, one-size-fits-all system on transmission owners, regional grid operators and transmission companies told the D.C. Circuit Wednesday.

  • October 31, 2024

    Judge Asks If Full 6th Circ. Needs To Settle Emissions Conflict

    A Sixth Circuit judge expressed discomfort Thursday with the possibility his panel could be asked to declare that colleagues made conflicting calls in separate suits alleging carmakers deceived consumers about vehicle sustainability, wondering if the full circuit needed to weigh in.

  • October 31, 2024

    MVP: Baron & Budd's Scott Summy

    Scott Summy, head of Baron & Budd PC's environmental litigation group, won what the firm says are the largest and second-largest drinking water contamination settlements in U.S. history — a $12.5 billion settlement with 3M and a $1.185 billion agreement with DuPont — as well as other major water settlements, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 Environmental MVPs.

  • October 31, 2024

    NC City Urges Panel To Rethink Stormwater Ruling

    A North Carolina city has urged a state appeals court panel to rethink its decision reviving part of a condo association's suit over damage the city allegedly caused by dumping stormwater onto the group's properties after Hurricane Matthew, arguing that the majority's opinion relies on a factual error.

  • October 31, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard

    Check out the Law360 Pulse Leaderboard to see which firms made the list of leaders in all-around excellence this year.

  • October 31, 2024

    Firms' Hiring Strategies Are Evolving In Fight For Top Spot

    Competition for top talent among elite law firms shows no signs of slowing down, even amid economic uncertainty, with financially strong firms deploying aggressive strategies to attract and retain skilled professionals to solidify their market position.

  • October 31, 2024

    IFC Projects Must Do More On Emissions, Report Says

    An accountability arm of the International Finance Corp. is encouraging it to bolster its methods to identify and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from financed projects, saying its current approaches are not fully up to date and limit its effectiveness in addressing global warming.

  • October 31, 2024

    Firms Fight Bid To Revive Malpractice Suit Over Liability Case

    Two firms are asking the Delaware Supreme Court to affirm the dismissal of a malpractice suit filed by parents over damages sought for their child's "catastrophic injuries," allegedly caused by contamination from a chicken plant.

  • October 30, 2024

    'Vague' Witness Sinks Green Materials Co. Investor Suit

    A California federal judge dismissed an investor suit Tuesday filed against a maker of sustainable materials alleging it failed to disclose a change in direction in its manufacturing plans and a delay in building a new plant, saying the suit relies heavily on statements of a confidential witness that are "fatally vague."

  • October 30, 2024

    Calif. Panel Axes $10.6M Abex Asbestos Verdict

    A California appellate panel has thrown out a $10.6 million asbestos verdict against Pneumo Abex LLC and ordered a new trial, finding that the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict that rejected the now-bankrupt braking lining manufacturer's sophisticated user defense.

  • October 30, 2024

    No Ruling On Zeta DQ Bid After Second Marathon Hearing

    A Houston judge declined Wednesday to decide whether to disqualify Transocean's counsel from Hurricane Zeta litigation following the second hearing on a former Arnold & Itkin LLP law clerk-turned-defense-lawyer's work with the plaintiffs' firm, indicating she needed time to figure out when the parties reasonably should have learned of the potential conflict of interest.

  • October 30, 2024

    DOI Invests $46M In Klamath Basin Restoration

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Wednesday unveiled nearly $46 million in investments from the bipartisan infrastructure law for ecosystem restoration activities in the drought-prone Klamath River Basin of Southern Oregon and Northern California. 

  • October 30, 2024

    Ax Green Groups' Suit Over 'Resiliency' Definition, FEMA Says

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked a D.C. federal judge on Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit brought by environmental advocacy and consumer groups alleging the agency missed its deadline to define "resilient."

  • October 30, 2024

    Ariz. Tribe Will Get Back 3,200 Acres In US Land Exchange

    The Yavapai-Apache Nation will receive 3,200 acres of its ancestral homelands in exchange for six parcels of land located within four national forests in Arizona as part of an agreement with the U.S. National Forest Service and Department of Agriculture that has been decades in the making.

  • October 30, 2024

    Brookfield Scoops UK Wind Farms Assets In $2.3B Deal

    Brookfield has agreed to buy a minority stake in four of Danish multinational energy company Orsted's operational U.K. offshore wind farms in a deal valued at £1.745 billion ($2.27 billion), Orsted announced Wednesday. 

  • October 30, 2024

    Landscape Workers Can Be 3 Classes In OT Suit

    U.S. citizens and H-2B landscape workers who claimed that a company cheated them out of overtime pay can keep their collective status while also proceeding in three separate classes, a Kansas federal judge ruled.

  • October 30, 2024

    Maryland Says Electricity Greenwashing Law Is Constitutional

    Renewable energy company Green Mountain Energy Co. and a national advocacy organization cannot block a Maryland law aimed at cracking down on electricity suppliers' "greenwashing" claims, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown argued in federal court.

  • October 30, 2024

    Holtec Wins $6.9M Over Gov't's Failure To Store Nuclear Fuel

    Nuclear plant operator Holtec Palisades LLC has been granted $6.9 million in damages after a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge found the federal government had breached an agreement to store spent nuclear fuel at the company's Michigan facility.

  • October 30, 2024

    Class Members Can't Change Opt-Out Rules In Chevy EV Deal

    A Michigan federal judge won't grant a bid by individual class members to change the opt-out procedure in a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with defective batteries, calling the motion an improper late objection to the settlement's preliminary approval.

  • October 30, 2024

    AI-Focused SPAC Joins Pipeline With $200M IPO Filing

    Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co., a special purpose acquisition company targeting the artificial intelligence industry, filed plans on Wednesday for an estimated $200 million initial public offering, while another SPAC, energy-transition focused Tavia Acquisition Corp., downsized plans.

  • October 30, 2024

    Green Groups Urge EPA To Address 'Big Ag' Nitrate Pollution

    More than 20 environmental and community groups have called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency powers under the Safe Drinking Water Act to address industrial agriculture's nitrate contamination of drinking water in communities across the country.

  • October 30, 2024

    Gov't Contracts Of The Month: Uranium And Missile Detection

    Over the past month, the Biden administration advanced plans to secure the nuclear energy supply chain with $3.5 billion worth of uranium enrichment contracts and added $1.8 billion to its next-generation missile detection program. Here are Law360's most note-worthy government contracts for October 2024.

  • October 30, 2024

    Hershey's Candy Wrappers Contain PFAS, Spooky Suit Says

    A chocolate lover has sued The Hershey Co. in Pennsylvania federal court just days before Halloween alleging the packaging of its milk chocolate bars and Kisses, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Reece's Pieces and KitKat Bars contain dangerous "forever chemicals."

  • October 30, 2024

    Connecticut Water Users Amend Utility PFAS Class Action

    A proposed class of Connecticut consumers filed an amended complaint for a suit alleging a water utility knowingly sold water containing unhealthy levels of "forever chemicals" without installing treatment equipment that could have prevented the contamination from reaching people.

  • October 30, 2024

    MVP: Napoli Shkolnik's Paul Napoli

    Paul Napoli of Napoli Shkolnik LLP secured four massive settlements with 3M, Tyco Fire Products, DuPont de Nemours and BASF Corp. ranging from $316.5 million to $12.5 billion on behalf of public water systems impacted by "forever chemical" contamination, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Environmental MVPs.

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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