Environmental

  • December 11, 2024

    EPA Gives States, Tribes Clearer Path To Water Permit Power

    States and Native American tribes have a clearer path to gaining the authority to set water pollution standards that may be even stronger than federal ones under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule finalized Wednesday.

  • December 11, 2024

    Feds, Illinois Sue East St. Louis For Sewage Pollution

    The federal government and state of Illinois sued the city of East St. Louis on Wednesday alleging its failure to operate the city's sewer system in compliance with the law has led to the pollution of local waterways with untreated sewage for years.

  • December 11, 2024

    Nippon Offers $5K Bonuses To Ease US Steel Deal Concerns

    Nippon Steel Corp. has committed to providing $5,000 closing bonuses to employees of U.S. Steel in hopes of easing concerns about the controversial $14.9 billion merger between the two companies, which both the sitting and incoming president have said they oppose.

  • December 11, 2024

    Dutch Duo Beats Insurer's Claims Of Poor Greenhouse Design

    Neither a Dutch greenhouse builder nor designer were responsible for the failure of a Michigan produce farm's $14.1 million greenhouse, a federal judge ruled, granting an early win to the pair in an insurer's subrogation suit seeking coverage for a storm loss.

  • December 11, 2024

    DC Circ. Lets Pipeline Safety Rule Remain Amid Agency Fix

    The D.C. Circuit has agreed to leave in place one of four new safety standards for gas transmission pipelines while the U.S. Department of Transportation works to amend them, after an industry group said not doing so could cause unnecessary repair costs.

  • December 11, 2024

    3M Gets Georgia Man's $850M PFAS Remediation Bid Denied

    A Georgia federal judge has shut down a proposed injunction requiring 3M Co. and other companies to pay $850 million for remediation of water sources in Dalton contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, saying the named plaintiff doesn't have standing to call for the remediation.

  • December 11, 2024

    Developer, Feds Ask Justices To Pass On Offshore Wind Case

    The federal government and Vineyard Wind 1 LLC are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a Massachusetts group's latest bid to block the large offshore wind farm taking shape in waters off Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

  • December 11, 2024

    Liberty Mutual Accused Of Stalling On $21M Loss Claims

    The owners of a Massachusetts metal recycling plant that was severely damaged in an explosion last year say Liberty Mutual is attempting to avoid a $20.8 million payout in part by claiming that the facility, ordered razed by the city of Springfield, could have been repaired instead.

  • December 10, 2024

    Feds Tell Justices To Stay Out Of Climate Change Tort Fights

    U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to weigh in on climate change torts filed against fossil fuel companies, arguing in a pair of briefs that the state court cases aren't the correct vehicles for resolving the issues, at least not yet.

  • December 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds $850K Penalty In EPA Fine Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a $850,000 penalty against Multistar Industries Inc. for Clean Water Act violations related to chemical storage, saying it agrees with the Environmental Protection Agency's view that the company was not exempt from the rules for storing hazardous materials.

  • December 10, 2024

    Feds Propose Enviro Protections For Monarch Butterfly

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule on Tuesday that would list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and designate 4,395 acres of critical habitat in coastal California.

  • December 10, 2024

    Kid Climate Activists Ask Justices To Save Twice-Nixed Case

    Youth plaintiffs have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their climate change lawsuit against the federal government but said the court should decide a key death penalty case first that involves a similar constitutional question.

  • December 10, 2024

    Utah Counties' Narrow NEPA Test Meets High Court Critics

    Utah counties looking to narrow courts' ability to review federal agencies' environmental analyses of proposed projects hit roadblocks Tuesday from skeptical U.S. Supreme Court justices and the U.S. Department of Justice, who said the proposed limits go too far.

  • December 10, 2024

    6th Circ. Wary Of Axing Fishing Pact Over Tribe's Objections

    A Sixth Circuit panel gave an icy reception Tuesday to a tribe's request that it unwind a Great Lakes fishing decree because the tribe was excluded from late-stage negotiations and denied a trial on its objections.

  • December 10, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Won't Revive Tesla Worker's Whistleblower Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit refused to revive a terminated Tesla worker's Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claim alleging he was retaliated against for reporting unlawful activity, ruling on Tuesday the worker is precluded from re-litigating in district court whether he engaged in protected activity, since an arbitrator already decided that he did not.

  • December 10, 2024

    Wash. HOA Can't Get Early Win Bid In Water Damage Row

    A homeowners association for a Seattle-area condominium complex can't yet prevail on its bad faith claims against its insurer over coverage for extensive water damage, a Washington federal court ruled, finding a material factual dispute over whether the association filed its coverage action within its policy's two-year suit-filing deadline.

  • December 10, 2024

    Davis Polk Leads Aerospace-Focused PE Firm To $2.2B Fund

    Middle-market private equity shop J.F. Lehman & Co., advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, on Tuesday announced that it clinched its sixth fund after securing $2.23 billion of investor commitments.

  • December 10, 2024

    Insurer QBE Settles Suit Over Failed $18M Wind Support Deal

    Belgium-based insurer QBE Europe has settled a lawsuit accusing it of wasting available policy limits on pointless litigation rather than make a reasonable offer in a separate $18 million dispute over a failed wind support vessel deal, according to a Tuesday filing.

  • December 10, 2024

    Google, TPG To Help Steer $20B Clean Energy Investment

    Google and an arm of private equity shop TPG that is focused on solutions to combat climate change revealed plans to partner with clean energy company Intersect Power to invest $20 billion in renewable power infrastructure by the end of the decade, with an initial plug of $800 million announced on Tuesday.

  • December 10, 2024

    NY Appealing Judge's Dismissal Of Plastic Pollution Suit

    New York Attorney General Letitia James is appealing a harshly worded ruling that dismissed her suit against PepsiCo Inc. and its Frito-Lay subsidiary over plastic pollution on the Buffalo River.

  • December 10, 2024

    Stellantis, CATL Invest Up To €4.1B For Battery Plant In Spain

    Automaker Stellantis announced Tuesday that it has formed a joint venture with Chinese battery maker CATL that sees the two investing up to €4.1 billion ($4.3 billion) to help build a large-scale European lithium iron phosphate battery plant in Spain.

  • December 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Tosses Regal Cinemas' COVID Coverage Suit

    Regal Cinemas cannot get coverage for its losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, finding that a decision from New York's top court, along with a contamination exclusion, doomed any chance of coverage under the theater chain's policies with units of Allianz, Liberty Mutual and Zurich.

  • December 09, 2024

    Meet The Attys Arguing Over Trademark Liability At High Court

    A Gibson Dunn partner who has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court 27 times will square off against the former solicitor general of West Virginia in a high court fight Wednesday over whether corporate affiliates must pay a real estate development company's $46.6 million trademark infringement judgment when they are not parties in the case.

  • December 09, 2024

    EV Carmaker Lucid Wants To Shed More Of Inflated Biz Suit

    Electric carmaker Lucid Group has asked a California federal judge to toss most of the latest version of a proposed investor class action alleging its production forecasts were misleading, arguing that parts of the suit that remained intact after a recent dismissal order involved statements taken out of context.

  • December 09, 2024

    DC Circ. Unsure Of Wading Into FERC Grid Plan Fight

    D.C. Circuit judges appeared reluctant on Monday to entertain the legality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's 2023 rejection of a grid operator's plan to manage certain transmission project costs, given that the agency later approved related projects in May.

Expert Analysis

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Tips For Implementing EU Sustainability Reporting Guidance

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    Lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell discuss the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s recently published guidance on double materiality assessments and offer takeaways on achieving a sustainability directive-compliant process that could enhance clarity and consistency among multinational stakeholders.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.

  • California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil

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    California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.

  • Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors

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    Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • How Attorneys Can Reduce Bad Behavior At Deposition

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    To minimize unprofessional behavior by opposing counsel and witnesses, and take charge of the room at deposition, attorneys should lay out some key ground rules at the outset — and be sure to model good behavior themselves, says John Farrell at Fish & Richardson.

  • FERC Rule Is A Big Step Forward For Transmission Planning

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent electric transmission system overhaul marks significant progress to ensure the grid can deliver electricity at reasonable prices, with a 20-year planning requirement and other criteria going further than prior attempted reforms, say Tom Millar and Gwendolyn Hicks at Winston & Strawn.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Electrifying Transportation With Public-Private Partnerships

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    Many clean energy goals remain public policy abstractions that face a challenging road to realization — but public-private partnership models could be a valuable tool to electrify the transportation sector, says Michael Blackwell at Husch Blackwell.

  • Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation

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    As greenwashing lawsuits continue to gain momentum with a shift in focus to carbon-neutrality claims, businesses must exercise caution and ensure transparency in their environmental marketing practices, taking cues from recent legal challenges in the airline industry, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

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