Environmental

  • January 28, 2025

    Calif. Bill Targets Oil Cos. For Climate Disaster Costs

    A Democratic lawmaker in California has introduced a bill aimed at improving insurance affordability in the state by allowing insurers and victims of natural disasters to pursue action against oil and gas companies for their role in fueling the climate crisis.

  • January 28, 2025

    NY Battery Startup Hits Ch. 11 With $136M Debt, Sale Plans

    Electric vehicle and renewable energy storage lithium-ion battery maker iM3NY filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware, reporting around $136 million in debt after it wasn't able to drum up new funding for a battery production plant in New York.

  • January 27, 2025

    Anadarko Prevails In La. Kickback Defense Coverage Suit

    An environmental remediation company should defend and indemnify Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in a decade-old Louisiana kickback lawsuit, a Texas federal court judge has ruled.

  • January 27, 2025

    SoCal Edison To Leave Power Off Amid Eaton Fire Litigation

    Southern California Edison agreed Monday that it won't re-energize the power lines leading to the site of this month's deadly Eaton Fire for three more weeks, after plaintiffs' firm Edelson PC obtained a video that appears to show electrical sparks near the utility's equipment just before the fire began.

  • January 27, 2025

    Alaskan Co. Says Texas Firm Bungled Wash. Dam Scaffolding

    An Alaska Native-owned corporation is claiming a Texas firm supplied faulty underwater scaffolding designs that allegedly caused a structural collapse at a Pacific Northwest dam, exposing one of the corporation's subsidiaries to a demand of more than $1.4 million from the project's lead contractor.

  • January 27, 2025

    Enbridge Urges Line 5 Judge To Stall For Trump Admin Talks

    Enbridge Energy LP suggested Monday that a judge should "sit tight" rather than immediately rule on the merits of Michigan's lawsuit over its Line 5 pipeline to give the new U.S. presidential administration time to reach a resolution with Canada in the long-running dispute.

  • January 27, 2025

    Buddhist Group Wants Army Corps Everglades Plan Blocked

    A Buddhist community asked a Florida federal court to block construction on an Everglades restoration water retention project, arguing its concerns that the project will make its adjacent religious retreat center unusable have fallen on deaf ears at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

  • January 27, 2025

    Drone Co., Media Biz And Tire-Maker Announce SPAC Mergers

    Three overseas companies spanning industries from drones to fashion media and tire manufacturing announced plans on Monday to go public in the U.S. by merging with special purpose acquisition companies in deals projected to exceed $1.1 billion in value, guided by at least eight law firms.

  • January 27, 2025

    Fed Fisheries Seek Win In Tide Gate Fight Over Salmon

    The National Marine Fisheries Service has sought an early win in a suit by a county dike district challenging a U.S. government biological opinion that says a proposed tide gate project endangers salmon, telling a Washington federal judge that its ecological findings are reasonable.

  • January 27, 2025

    Norfolk Southern Can't Block Expert Testimony On Derailment

    A railcar inspector with over 45 years of experience is clear to testify against Norfolk Southern in litigation over the 2023 train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, a federal judge has ruled, rejecting the rail company's argument that he was not qualified to opine on certain train safety equipment.

  • January 27, 2025

    Holland & Hart Names New Senior Director Of Federal Affairs

    Holland & Hart LLP said Monday that it is bolstering its federal affairs team with the addition of a lobbyist who previously led the energy and environment practice at Cassidy & Associates.

  • January 27, 2025

    Arnold & Porter Adds Former Interior Dept. Energy Solicitor

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP has hired the former deputy solicitor for energy and mineral resources at the U.S. Department of the Interior, who is joining the firm's D.C. team as a counsel, the firm announced Monday.

  • January 27, 2025

    Pipeline Cos. Tell DC Circ. FERC Project Review Is Solid

    Companies behind a methane gas pipeline set to run between West Texas and Mexico are asking the D.C. Circuit to uphold the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of the project, which is being challenged by environmentalists.

  • January 27, 2025

    High Court Passes On Solar Project Fine Levied Without Jury

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the Vermont Supreme Court's ruling that the state Public Utility Commission has the authority to bypass a jury trial and unilaterally impose civil penalties on solar energy project backers that allegedly cleared land without a permit.

  • January 24, 2025

    Syngenta, Chevron Headed For October Paraquat Bellwether

    An Illinois federal judge has set an October date for Syngenta and Chevron's first trial in a multidistrict litigation alleging that the pesticide paraquat causes Parkinson's disease, after the previous dismissal of trial-selected plaintiffs and the disqualification of an expert.

  • January 24, 2025

    Trump Admin Requests Justices Pause Three Energy Cases

    The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause three cases so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can review Biden-era regulatory decisions that may alter the government's legal positions.

  • January 24, 2025

    Ga. Judge Gives Tentative OK To $1M PFAS Deal

    A federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $1 million settlement in a sprawling class action over forever chemicals allegedly released from a north Georgia textile plant, potentially ending the involvement of one of the half-dozen chemical companies in the suit.

  • January 24, 2025

    Trump Fires Inspectors General Without Notice

    President Donald Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general Friday night, some of whom he had appointed, prompting concerns from both sides of the aisle that the president had not followed legal protocol.

  • January 24, 2025

    Enviros Want To Reopen Yellowstone Bison Suit

    An environmental group has asked a Montana federal court to reopen a case over the management of Native American tribes' bison hunting on public land near Yellowstone National Park, saying new analysis is needed to determine whether the United States' national mammal can now roam free.

  • January 24, 2025

    Trump Energy Order Disrupts High-Profile NEPA Cases

    One of President Donald Trump's first energy-related executive orders is unsettling closely watched litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit regarding the executive branch's power to implement the National Environmental Policy Act.

  • January 24, 2025

    Law Students Scramble As Federal Gov't Yanks Job Offers

    Law students across the country are scrambling to figure out their next steps after a range of federal agencies yanked job and internship offers this week because of the new hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration.

  • January 24, 2025

    US Steel Will Pay $6.1M To End Suit Over Pa. Plant's Dust

    U.S. Steel will invest $4.6 million in efforts to reduce dust pollution from its Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and will pay another $1.5 million to be split among residents of six neighboring communities, under a class action settlement that a state judge gave his preliminary approval.

  • January 24, 2025

    10 AGs Target Major Banks Over DEI, ESG Initiatives

    Major financial institutions in the United States, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, could have made business decisions to follow political agendas, attorneys general from 10 states said, urging them to tackle a series of questions about their diversity and inclusion policies.

  • January 24, 2025

    Norway's Orkla Selling Hydropower Portfolio In $545M Deal

    Norwegian industrial investment company Orkla said Friday it has agreed to sell its entire hydropower portfolio in two separate transactions that value the portfolio at NOK 6.1 billion ($544.9 million).

  • January 24, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Remand New Orleans Coastal Damage Suit

    A Fifth Circuit panel denied New Orleans' bid to have a lawsuit alleging that Chevron, ExxonMobil and other pipeline companies damaged its coastal areas returned to a Pelican State court, affirming a decision that kept the litigation in federal courts as the companies requested.

Expert Analysis

  • Implications Of NY Climate Case For Generating Facilities

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    Regardless of how Greenidge Generation LLC v. New York Department of Environmental Conservation develops on remand, this decision has immediate repercussions for generating facilities seeking permit applications and renewals in New York, likely involving Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act considerations, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Teaching Your Witness To Beat The Freeze/Appease Response

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    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.

  • How Litigation, Supply Chains Buffeted Offshore Wind In 2024

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    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.

  • What Bisphenol S Prop 65 Listing Will Mean For Industry

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    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.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    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.

  • Permitting, Offtake Among Offshore Wind Challenges In 2024

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    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.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    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.

  • The Fashion Industry Should Prep Now For State PFAS Bans

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    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.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    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.

  • DC Circ. Decision Opens Door To NEPA Regulation Litigation

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    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.

  • Service Providers Must Mitigate 'Secondary Target' Risks

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    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.

  • Opinion

    FTC Actions In Oil Cases Go Against Its Own Rulemaking

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    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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