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Environmental
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November 05, 2024
Mich. Judge Won't Delay Benton Harbor Lead Pollution Suit
A federal magistrate judge in Michigan rejected a request to push back a scheduling conference in litigation over lead contamination in a Michigan city's drinking water, ordering the parties on Monday to press forward with resolving the significantly narrowed case.
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November 05, 2024
Groups Lose Early Bid To Undo Calif. Climate Disclosure Laws
A California federal judge rejected the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups' attempt to block California's corporate climate disclosure rules before discovery, ruling Tuesday that discovery is needed for the court to answer whether the laws facially violate the First Amendment.
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November 05, 2024
States Say EPA 'Wants To Drive The Car' In CWA Row
Idaho and a coalition of states are asking a North Dakota federal judge to strike down a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring states to consider tribal treaty rights when they set their water quality standards, arguing the agency has no such power under the Clean Water Act.
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November 05, 2024
EPA's Superfund 'Blank Check' Dooms PFAS Rule, Groups Say
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote itself a legal "blank check" to increase the number of chemicals subject to required cleanups under federal Superfund law, industry advocates told the D.C. Circuit.
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November 05, 2024
Conagra Settles False Ad Suit Over 'Sustainable' Fish
Conagra and a proposed class of consumers have settled a suit accusing the food giant of deceptively labeling its seafood products as sustainable despite using ocean-harming methods to source them, according to a minute order entered Tuesday.
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November 05, 2024
FERC Skimped On Pipeline Review, Environmental Groups Say
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wrongly limited its review of a methane gas pipeline that crosses the U.S.-Mexico border to a 1,000-foot border facility, ignoring the 157-mile U.S.-based pipeline segment that cuts across Western Texas, environmental groups told the D.C. Circuit.
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November 05, 2024
Holland & Knight Gains Latham Project Finance Atty In DC
Holland & Knight LLP has hired a former Latham & Watkins LLP attorney, who has joined the firm as a partner in Washington, D.C., to represent equity investors, developers, lenders and other clients in a range of project finance matters, the firm announced Tuesday.
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November 05, 2024
On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election
Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.
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November 04, 2024
Couple Avoids Prison For $500K Emission-Tampering Scheme
A Washington federal judge on Monday sentenced a married couple who owned an auto repair shop to four months of GPS monitor and four years of probation for raking in more than $500,000 by illegally altering pollution-control devices on hundreds of diesel trucks.
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November 04, 2024
NC Commission Signs Off On Duke Energy Resource Plan
The North Carolina Utilities Commission has signed off on Duke Energy's latest resource plan, with one nonprofit lamenting that the order gives the utility giant "essentially everything it wanted."
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November 04, 2024
Post-Chevron, DC Circ. Wrestles With At-Sea Monitoring Rule
A D.C. Circuit panel on Monday revisited a challenge to federal regulations requiring fishermen to fund the cost of compliance monitors aboard their ships, grappling with how to interpret the federal statute underlying the regulations following the demise of the Chevron deference.
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November 04, 2024
Monsanto Can't Keep Expert PCB Estimates From Seattle Jury
A Washington state judge has slapped down Monsanto's bid to stop a plaintiffs' expert from sharing chemical exposure opinions with jurors in a Seattle PCB poisoning tort, saying on Monday that the company's stance that the testimony is "junk science" relies on an outdated record in a related Court of Appeals case.
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November 04, 2024
FERC, NJ Conservation Orgs Battle Over Pipeline Rehearing
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is clashing with a host of conservation groups and the New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel over whether the D.C. Circuit should reconsider a panel decision that vacated the agency's approval for a natural gas pipeline expansion on the East Coast.
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November 04, 2024
Hurricane Zeta MDL Judge Orders Mediation Amid DQ Battle
A Houston judge overseeing a multidistrict litigation created to handle claims from crew members who say they were injured while weathering Hurricane Zeta on a Transocean drilling rig ordered the parties to mediation Friday in the midst of a bitter disqualification battle between their feuding firms.
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November 04, 2024
Shell Slips Negligence Claim In Pa. Nuisance Lawsuit
Neighbors of Shell Chemical Appalachia's Western Pennsylvania ethylene cracker plant will need to be more specific about dust and pollution affecting their homes if they want to revive a negligence claim that a federal court struck from a proposed class action Monday.
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November 04, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Block Coal Ash Rule During Challenge
The D.C. Circuit has denied East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc.'s effort to block the implementation of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that strengthened the federal regulations requiring safe management of coal ash dumped at operating and retired power plants.
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November 04, 2024
Class Cert. Sought In Ga. Man's 'Forever Chemicals' Suit
A Georgia man who lives near a Mount Vernon Mills textile plant asked a federal judge on Friday to certify two classes of neighbors who want to hold the manufacturers of so-called "forever chemicals" responsible for the alleged pollution of city drinking water.
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November 04, 2024
Michigan County Fights To Keep Radioactive Waste Out
Wayne County urged a Michigan federal judge to keep in place an order barring a local landfill from accepting deliveries of radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project, arguing the surrounding communities' and environmental health could suffer for "billions of years."
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November 04, 2024
Texas Border Buoy Trial Delayed After En Banc Ruling
An Austin federal judge paused an impending bench trial between the Biden administration and the state of Texas over a 1,000-foot buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, reopening discovery Monday in the wake of an en banc circuit court opinion that slammed the judge for ordering the removal of the buoys.
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November 04, 2024
UAE Grocery Giant Lulu Seeks $1.7B IPO As Demand Grows
United Arab Emirates grocery chain Lulu Retail Holdings PLC on Monday unveiled additional investment in an upsized initial public offering that could net $1.7 billion, potentially making it the largest UAE listing this year, guided by three law firms.
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November 04, 2024
Texas Rips Feds' 5th Circ. Bid To Revive Highway GHG Rule
Texas is telling the Fifth Circuit there's no reason to disturb a district court's decision to vacate a Federal Highway Administration rule that called on states to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects.
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November 04, 2024
US IPO Activity Hits Standstill As Election Takes Center Stage
U.S. initial public offerings have screeched to a halt amid peak election season, and dealmakers expect new listings to largely remain iced until next year as market participants sort out ramifications of Tuesday's presidential and congressional contests.
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November 04, 2024
Supreme Court Won't Hear Apache's Mining Regs Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court will let stand a ruling that sides with a state environmental agency's decision to let a copper mining company discharge untreated wastewater into a creek that's considered sacred to an Arizona Indigenous community.
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November 01, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Uphold Veto Of Fla. Dredge Program
A coalition of environmental groups urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to uphold a lower court ruling depriving Florida of its authority to issue wetland dredge and fill permits under the Clean Water Act, saying regulators must follow the rigorous laws protecting endangered species.
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November 01, 2024
Texas Justice Says Amici Should Get Say In Religion Case
A Texas Supreme Court justice released a statement Friday saying the court should have granted First Liberty Institute's request for five minutes to argue its position in a case about religious freedom under the Lone Star State's constitution, saying help from an amici would be "sensible and advisable."
Expert Analysis
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Class Action Law Makes An LLC A 'Jurisdictional Platypus'
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.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
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.
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Rebuttal
Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence
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.
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Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases
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.
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How Courts' Differing Views On Standing Affect PFAS Claims
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.
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New State Carbon Capture Laws: Key Points For Developers
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.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
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.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
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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New NHTSA Fuel Economy Rule Adds Compliance Complexity
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's recently announced final rule on new corporate average fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks will create challenges for manufacturers, which must also comply with the EPA's multipollutant rule and California's zero-emission vehicle programs, say Joanne Rotondi and Hannah Graae at Hogan Lovells.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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Series
After Chevron: NRC Is Shielded From Loper Bright's Effects
While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Loper Bright v. Relentless decision brought an end to Chevron deference, Congress' unique delegation of discretionary authority to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will likely insulate it from the additional judicial scrutiny that other federal agencies will face, say Ryan Lighty and Scott Clausen at Morgan Lewis.
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How Loper Bright Weakens NEPA Enviro Justice Strategy
The National Environmental Policy Act is central to the Biden administration's environmental justice agenda — but the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo casts doubt on the government's ability to rely on NEPA for this purpose, and a pending federal case will test the strategy's limits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Opinion
Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis
For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.