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Environmental
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November 21, 2024
Feds Outline Next Steps For Colo. River Basin Agreement
The U.S. Department of the Interior released five proposed alternatives for the Colorado River's post-2026 operations aimed at ensuring the long-term stability of the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin for the communities and habitats that rely on it.
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November 21, 2024
Pa. Enviro Hearing Board Can Sanction Atty, Court Affirms
Pennsylvania's Environmental Hearing Board was within its power to issue its first-ever sanctions against an attorney for trying to delay an appeal with false claims that the state Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were looking to talk to Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. over her case, a state appellate court ruled Thursday.
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November 21, 2024
Newell Brands Wants Baby Bottle Microplastics Suit Tossed
Newell Brands Inc. moved Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of misleading buyers by labeling its Nuk brand of baby bottles as BPA-free while failing to disclose the products leach microplastics when heated, saying the label is "objectively truthful."
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November 21, 2024
House Appropriations Deputy Staff Director Moves To H&K
An attorney who most recently worked as the deputy staff director, budget director and counsel to the House Committee on Appropriations has joined Holland & Knight LLP's public policy and regulation group as a partner, the firm announced Thursday.
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November 21, 2024
2 Energy Transition-Focused SPACs Raise $210M Combined
Two special purpose acquisition companies looking to capitalize on energy transition opportunities began trading publicly on Thursday after announcing pricing for their respective initial public offerings, which combined would raise $210 million.
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November 21, 2024
PE Posting Near-Record Megadeal Numbers, Report Shows
Private equity dealmaking has built significant momentum this year, notching respectable deal volume and posting a record number of megadeals over $5 billion, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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November 21, 2024
SEC Chair Gensler To Step Down When Trump Takes Office
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said Thursday that he will be leaving the agency on Jan. 20, clearing the way for new leadership under an incoming Trump administration that is expected to dismantle Gensler's climate disclosure regulation and open the SEC's door to more crypto-friendly policies.
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November 21, 2024
House Dems Tell Gorsuch To Recuse Over NEPA Case Conflict
A group of House Democrats has called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to recuse himself from a dispute over federal environmental review requirements, arguing the court's decision could directly benefit a Colorado billionaire and former client who campaigned for the justice's first judicial appointment.
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November 21, 2024
Gaetz Ends AG Bid, Citing 'Distraction' To Trump Transition
Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
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November 20, 2024
Musk, Ramaswamy Say High Court Rulings OK Federal Cuts
Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's picks to lead a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency," on Wednesday said two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings will give them the authority to cut off power to regulatory agencies and conduct massive federal layoffs.
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November 20, 2024
9th Circ. Judge Asks How Loper Bright Impacts EPA Fine Case
A Ninth Circuit judge wondered on Wednesday what weight the court should give the Environmental Protection Agency's view in a chemical wholesaler's appeal of an $850,000 fine in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, suggesting the justices might next end agency deference in regulatory interpretation.
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November 20, 2024
Arizona Governor Settles Tribal Water Rights Claims
Two agreements signed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs settled four tribal nations' water rights claims and will help to provide safe drinking water to thousands of Native Americans on reservation lands that depend on the Colorado River Basin System.
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November 20, 2024
GM Can't Get Full 6th Circ. Redo Of Duramax Emissions Case
The full Sixth Circuit on Wednesday left untouched a divided panel's recent decision partly reviving drivers' claims alleging General Motors deceptively marketed Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, but two dissenting judges said the case warranted en banc review.
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November 20, 2024
Tribe Fights Ore. Irrigation District At 9th Circ. Over Water Use
The Yurok Tribe has joined with fishing and conservation groups in asking the Ninth Circuit to deny an irrigation district's bid to certify questions to the Oregon Supreme Court over the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's authority to control water use under state law.
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November 20, 2024
Va. Gov. Can't Exit Carbon Trading Program, Judge Says
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration can't withdraw from a regional carbon emissions-trading program the Legislature ordered the state to join three years ago without first securing legislative approval, a Virginia circuit court judge ruled Wednesday.
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November 20, 2024
FERC Says There's No Need To Ref Mich. Grid Upgrade Fight
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defended its decision that Michigan Electric Transmission Co. failed to establish that shared ownership of new grid updates needed to serve a Michigan solar farm was necessarily precluded, telling the D.C. Circuit the electric utility hasn't shown how it's harmed.
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November 20, 2024
Split Ohio Supreme Court OKs Power Co.'s Herbicide Use
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an early win for landowners in a case against Ohio Edison Co. that had sought to stop the company from using herbicide on their property to clear space for power lines.
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November 20, 2024
11th Circ. Told Everglades Project Will Reduce Water Supplies
Several Florida sugar growers urged the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to reverse a decision allowing an Everglades flood control project to proceed, saying a lower court wrongly accepted a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impact analysis that will result in water supply loss to the surrounding area.
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November 20, 2024
Texas Offers Up Land To Help Trump's Mass Deportation Plan
The Texas General Land Office is offering up 1,400 acres of ranch land near the U.S.-Mexico border to the incoming Trump administration to construct deportation facilities to support the president-elect's plan for mass removals.
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November 20, 2024
FERC Made Climate Case For Tennessee Pipeline, DC Circ. Told
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission properly considered the climate change benefits of a Tennessee pipeline project that will serve a Tennessee Valley Authority gas-fired power plant set to replace a coal-fired plant, the project's developers and customers told the D.C. Circuit.
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November 20, 2024
3 Law Firms Can't Dodge TCPA Suit Over Camp Lejeune Claims
A trio of law firms accused of calling a veteran dozens of times promising they could represent him in claims over toxic drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, despite his never having been stationed there, cannot evade the former soldier's lawsuit, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Tuesday.
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November 20, 2024
Bill Aimed At Creating Ga.'s First National Park Moves Ahead
The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted Tuesday to advance a bill that would establish Georgia's first national park, upgrading the ancestral home of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma from its national monument status while also offering protections for Native American burial mounds.
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November 19, 2024
Monsanto's Bid To Pause PCB Trial Again Shot Down
A Washington state appellate commissioner on Friday again refused to undo a trial court's decision not to pause a chemical poisoning tort trial playing out in Seattle, rejecting Monsanto's contention that the court committed "obvious error" in letting the trial proceed while the state's highest court decides a similar case.
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November 19, 2024
11th Circ. Urged To Revive Fla. Cancer Cluster Suit
Several Florida individuals diagnosed with cancer after exposure to soil that defense contractor Pratt & Whitney allegedly contaminated with radiation told the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday their claims shouldn't be barred by statute of limitations, saying a jury should determine what caused their illnesses.
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November 19, 2024
Wash. Tribe Looks To Ax Wildlife Refuge Protection Suit
A Washington state tribe is looking to dismiss a challenge by three environmental groups to the federal government for failing to protect a national wildlife refuge from an industrial aquaculture operation, arguing that the true purpose of the case is to restrict its members from farming in their historic homeland.
Expert Analysis
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Sublimit And Policy Interpretation Lessons From Amtrak Case
The recently settled dispute between Amtrak and its insurers over sublimit coverage illustrates that parties with unclear manuscript policies may wish to avoid litigation in favor of settlement — as the New York federal court declined to decide the case by applying prior term interpretations, says Laura Maletta at Chartwell Law.
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3rd Circ. Hertz Ruling Highlights Flawed Bankruptcy Theory
The Third Circuit, in its recent Hertz bankruptcy decision, became the latest appeals court to hold that noteholders were entitled to interest before shareholders under the absolute priority rule, but risked going astray by invoking the flawed theory of code impairment, say Matthew McGill and David Casazza at Gibson Dunn.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging
More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.
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Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal
By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future
As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.
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New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability
California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.
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Conn. Court Split May Lead To Vertical Forum Shopping
As shown by a recent ruling in State v. Exxon Mobil, Connecticut state and federal courts are split on personal jurisdiction, and until the Connecticut Supreme Court steps in, parties may be incentivized to forum shop, causing foreign entities to endure costly litigation and uncertain liability, says Matthew Gibbons at Shipman & Goodwin.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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Enviro Policy Trends That Will Continue Beyond The Election
Come October in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a winner-take-all scenario, with the outcome of the vote determining how or even whether we are regulated — but there are several key ongoing trends that will continue to drive environmental regulation regardless of the election results, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.
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Series
Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.
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Using Primacy And Recency Effects In Opening Statements
By understanding and strategically employing the primacy and recency effects in opening statements, attorneys can significantly enhance their persuasive impact, ensuring that their narrative is both compelling and memorable from the outset, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.
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Opinion
Supreme Court Must Halt For-Profit Climate Tort Proliferation
If the U.S. Supreme Court does not seize the opportunity presented by Honolulu v. Sunoco to reassert federal authority over interstate pollution regulation, the resulting frenzy of profit-driven environmental mass torts against energy companies will stunt American competitiveness and muddle climate policy, says Gale Norton at Liberty Energy.
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Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession
About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.