Environmental

  • January 06, 2025

    Farm Owners, Rail Co. Spar Over Toxic Spill Trial Evidence

    Mississippi landowners fired back at a Canadian National Railway unit's attempt to block a train derailment report containing its admissions of fault from an upcoming trial in Mississippi federal court, saying the company's claims that the report is incomplete "ring hollow."

  • January 06, 2025

    Feds Hit Georgia Developer With Suit Over Native Artifacts

    The United States has accused a Georgia developer of violating its Clean Water Act permit by illegally filling in wetlands, so it could build residences on a floodplain even though it knew about the presence of protected archaeological sites and cultural objects on the property.

  • January 06, 2025

    Mich. Residents Say Solar Investors Can't Arbitrate Fraud Suit

    Michigan residents who allege Florida investment firms funded a company that duped them into buying defective solar panels have urged a federal judge to deny the firms' bid to arbitrate or dismiss the claims, saying the court has already rejected the investors' arguments.

  • January 06, 2025

    Biden Closes Off Coastal Areas To Offshore Drilling

    President Joe Biden on Monday announced a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S. waters on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in Alaska after determining that the environmental and economic risks and harms outweigh the benefits of drilling.

  • January 06, 2025

    Paul Hastings, Cravath Steer Pork Giant Smithfield's IPO Filing

    Pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. on Monday submitted the year's first filing for an initial public offering, part of a spinoff from China's WH Group Ltd., represented by Paul Hastings LLP and underwriters' counsel Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP.

  • January 06, 2025

    Nippon, US Steel Hit Back With Suits After Biden Blocks Deal

    Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. have filed two lawsuits following President Joe Biden's Friday decision to block their planned $14.9 billion merger, claiming Monday that the deal was blocked for "purely political reasons." 

  • January 03, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Hit Brakes On NY Congestion Toll Launch

    New York City's highly litigated congestion pricing toll program began Sunday morning after the Third Circuit denied an emergency motion for an injunction to delay it while an appeal by the state of New Jersey unfolds.

  • January 03, 2025

    Energy Cos. Ask Top Calif. Court To End Climate Change Suits

    A half-dozen global energy giants urged California's top court Thursday to review a lower court's decision allowing climate change suits against them to proceed, arguing that California courts don't have jurisdiction over claims stemming from global fossil fuel use.

  • January 03, 2025

    3 Firms Seek $36M Fee Award In 'Historic' NJ PFAS Deal

    The Law Offices of John K. Dema PC, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and Cohn Lifland Pearlman Herrmann & Knopf LLP have asked a New Jersey state court to award $36.7 million in attorney fees for their work in securing a $393 million deal over "forever chemical" contamination by Belgian chemical company Solvay as special counsel to the Garden State.

  • January 03, 2025

    Treasury Unveils Flexible Final Regs For Hydrogen Tax Credit

    The U.S. Treasury Department released final rules Friday for hydrogen production tax credits that allow fuel produced using nuclear-generated electricity or methane to qualify for the incentive, making the regulations more flexible than what was proposed last year.

  • January 03, 2025

    Biden Blocks $14.9B US Steel-Nippon Deal

    President Joe Biden on Friday formally blocked the planned $14.9 billion merger between Japan's Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, making good on a prior pledge to keep the latter steelmaker U.S.-owned in one of his final flexes of executive power over cross-border deals.

  • January 02, 2025

    Samsung Sued Over Alleged PFAS In Galaxy Watch Wristbands

    Samsung has been putting "forever chemicals" in the wristbands it sells for its smartwatches and fitness trackers, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court by a Los Angeles resident who cites a newly published scientific study.

  • January 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Pot Fines Suit Against Calif. County

    A proposed class of Northern California landowners can pursue a swath of constitutional claims against Humboldt County officials with the Ninth Circuit ruling they plausibly pled the county was overzealous in its efforts to crack down on allegedly illegal cannabis growers.

  • January 02, 2025

    Calif. Says Insurers Must Expand Coverage In High-Risk Areas

    California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Monday that carriers will be required to increase coverage in areas of the state that are at high risk of wildfires, marking the final major step in the department's historic regulatory effort to restabilize the state's insurance market.

  • January 02, 2025

    Solar Panel Tech Co. Faces Investor Suit Over Project Delays

    Solar power software and tracking company Nextracker Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action in California federal court alleging it misled investors about production delays it faced following a spike in demand caused by tax credits offered through the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • January 02, 2025

    Feds Ink $1B Supply Deal With Constellation Nuke Plants

    The U.S. General Services Administration said Thursday it has cut the largest energy procurement deal in its history after purchasing 10 million megawatt-hours of electricity from Baltimore-based Constellation New Energy Inc. in combined energy contracts totaling more than $1 billion.

  • January 02, 2025

    Ga. County Sues 3M, Daikin To Remove PFAS From Landfill

    A Georgia county has filed a lawsuit against 3M Co., Daikin America Inc. and several other manufacturers and users of so-called forever chemicals, alleging the sale and use of the toxic chemicals in carpet manufacturing has caused a "public-health crisis" across the northwestern part of the state.

  • January 02, 2025

    Trump Transition Underway At Key Environmental Agencies

    President-elect Donald Trump's landing teams — tasked with aiding the upcoming transition in the White House — are busy gathering information to set the new administration on course to implement its priorities on day one.

  • January 01, 2025

    How Wall Street Regulators May Adapt To Trump's Return

    The incoming presidency of Donald Trump is likely to upend some Biden-era policies at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, leaving proposed rules on climate and artificial intelligence in the lurch while its sister agency, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, could be given more authority over the cryptocurrency industry.

  • January 02, 2025

    The Top Property Insurance Cases To Watch In 2025

    Two cases that could change the policies offered by California's insurer of last resort and a forthcoming Hawaii Supreme Court decision on a $4 billion wildfire settlement are among the top property insurance suits to follow in the new year. Here, Law360 looks at five cases that practitioners should note in 2025.

  • January 01, 2025

    The Top 5 High Court Cases To Watch This Spring

    The U.S. Supreme Court justices will return from the winter holidays to tackle major First Amendment questions and several administrative law disputes — all arising from the Fifth Circuit — that could further change how federal agencies promulgate rules and defend them.

  • January 01, 2025

    Georgia Cases To Watch In 2025

    The fate of a prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump, Ford's ongoing fight over claims it hid the rollover dangers of its Super Duty trucks, and a feeding frenzy of class actions after a major metro Atlanta industrial fire are among the cases that will take center stage in Georgia's courts this year.

  • January 01, 2025

    5 Energy Transactional Trends To Watch In 2025

    A second Donald Trump presidency and a resulting shift in federal policy away from clean energy and toward fossil fuels will cloud the dealmaking environment for the energy industry, but attorneys believe the deal pace will remain brisk across the sector. Here are five transactional trends that are worth watching closely this year.

  • January 01, 2025

    3 Areas Where SEC Enforcement May Change Under Trump

    The leadership of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is slated to change hands in three weeks when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, and attorneys believe that a Republican-led SEC is likely to bring with it a downturn in crypto- and climate-related cases as well as a potential end to recordkeeping sweeps.

  • January 01, 2025

    The Hottest Topics Appellate Attys Are Tracking In 2025

    Appellate lawyers in 2025 should probably stock up on coffee and expect some all-nighters — numerous high-profile appeals, a new presidential administration and a new framework for legal challenges to regulations suggest it'll be an uncommonly tumultuous trip around the sun.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

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    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • Integrating ESG Into Risk Management Programs

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    Amid increasing regulations and reporting requirements for corporate sustainability in the European Union and the U.S., companies might consider how to incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into more formalized risk management, say directors at Alvarez & Marsal.

  • How Labeling And Testing May Help Reduce PFAS Litigation

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    As regulators take steps to reduce consumers’ exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals, companies can take a proactive approach to mitigating litigation risks not only by labeling their products transparently, but also by complying with testing and marketing standards, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight

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    Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.

  • 'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG

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    A wave of ESG-related litigation and regulations have led some companies to retreat altogether from any public statements about their ESG goals, a trend known as "greenhushing" that was at the center of a recent D.C. court decision involving Coca-Cola, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.

  • 5 Credibility Lessons Trial Attys Can Learn From Harris' Run

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    In launching a late-stage campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris must seize upon fresh attention from voters to establish, or reestablish, credibility — a challenge that parallels and provides takeaways for trial attorneys, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules

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    A Missouri federal court’s recent order enjoining the state’s anti-ESG rules comes amid actions by state legislatures to revise or invalidate similar legislation imposing disclosure and consent requirements around environmental, social and governance investing, and could be a blueprint for future challenges, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address

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    The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges

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    The Bureau of Land Management's interpretation of land "use" in its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule is contrary to the agency's past practice and other Federal Land Policy and Management Act provisions, leaving the rule exposed in four legal challenges that may carry greater force in the wake of Loper Bright, say Stacey Bosshardt and Stephanie Regenold at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    Big Oil Climate Ruling Sets Dangerous Liability Precedent

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    The recent Maryland court dismissal of Baltimore's case seeking to hold BP responsible for climate damage mischaracterized the city's injuries as divorced from the conduct that caused them, and could allow companies that conceal the dangers of their products to escape liability, says Randall Abate at George Washington University Law School.

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