Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Environmental
-
November 12, 2024
Kentucky Plunges Into 2nd Challenge To Waters Of US Rule
Kentucky has refiled its lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule defining the scope of the federal government's jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, after the Sixth Circuit found that a federal district judge improperly dismissed the case.
-
November 12, 2024
Wash. Labor Dept. Wants Out Of Union's Farm Wage Claims
The Washington Employment Security Department wants to escape a farmworker union's Administrative Procedure Act challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage rules in federal court, saying that the law isn't applicable to state agencies.
-
November 12, 2024
Feds Want Pasadena Claims Tossed In Caltech Pollution Suit
The U.S. government is urging a California federal court to throw out cross-claims from the city of Pasadena in a suit over groundwater contamination from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's work in the mid-20th century, saying the city is wrongly conflating claims against the California Institute of Technology and the government.
-
November 12, 2024
EPA Finalizes Waste Emissions Charge For Oil, Gas Facilities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued a final rule implementing a waste emissions charge aimed at slashing methane emissions from high-emitting oil and gas facilities by 1.2 million metric tons through 2035.
-
November 12, 2024
Trump's 'Pro-Business' Agenda Could Be A Boon For M&A
President-elect Donald Trump's "pro-business" priorities and an anticipated relaxation of antitrust scrutiny are expected to boost mergers and acquisitions activity, but his tariff plan may have mixed results across sectors — and select deals could be subject to his "unpredictability," attorneys told Law360.
-
November 12, 2024
Nuke Discharge Law Doesn't Usurp Feds, NY Says
A New York state law banning discharges of radioactive material into the Hudson River is aimed at protecting the local economy as the Indian Point nuclear power plant is decommissioned and therefore isn't federally preempted, the Empire State told a federal judge Friday.
-
November 12, 2024
Skadden Adds Former Solar Company General Counsel In DC
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has hired the former general counsel of solar company Summit Ridge Energy to beef up its energy and infrastructure practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced on Tuesday.
-
November 12, 2024
Supreme Court Won't Revive Youth Climate Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will not undo the Ninth Circuit's order allowing the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by youth plaintiffs who accuse the federal government of endangering their futures with policies that exacerbate climate change.
-
November 12, 2024
Shell Gets Dutch Climate Emissions Ruling Overturned
A Dutch appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling that ordered Shell to reduce its carbon emissions, finding on Tuesday that there was no "social standard of care" requiring the oil and gas producer to meet legally imposed climate targets.
-
November 08, 2024
LA Waterkeeper Claims BNSF Polluted Waters For Years
BNSF Railway Co. has been discharging polluted stormwater into the waters of Los Angeles County for more than four years, the Los Angeles Waterkeeper has alleged in a new suit.
-
November 08, 2024
Trump's Election Swings The Energy Policy Pendulum Again
The reelection of former President Donald Trump means the energy industry faces yet another drastic shift in U.S. policy, continuing a decadelong pattern of regulatory pendulum swings. Here's a rundown of what the energy industry is in for when Trump reenters the White House.
-
November 08, 2024
Invesco To Pay SEC $17.5M Over Misleading ESG Statements
Invesco Advisers Inc. agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the investment adviser made misleading statements about the percentage of its assets that incorporated so-called ESG factors into investment decisions.
-
November 08, 2024
Water Utility Hits PVC Pipe Makers With Price-Fixing Suit
A public water utility on Friday hit some of the nation's largest PVC pipe manufacturers with a class action accusing them of using a commodity pricing service to exchange information and illegally fix prices, claiming the companies reaped "historic profits" at the expense of public utilities.
-
November 08, 2024
Monsanto Judge Pushes Sanction 'Distraction' To After Trial
A Washington state judge is pausing an order for eight of Monsanto's attorneys to personally pay a total of $20,000 for late disclosure of expert reports in a toxic tort lawsuit, saying he believes the issue will distract from the upcoming trial and the court can revisit the defense lawyers' reconsideration request after the jury returns a verdict.
-
November 08, 2024
Atlanta's 'Cop City' Nears Completion, Outrunning The Courts
A series of legal challenges and a protest movement that thrust Atlanta into the international spotlight appear unlikely to halt construction of the city's controversial public safety training center known as "Cop City," which is headed for completion in the coming months.
-
November 08, 2024
Ga. Judge Sets 2nd Trial Plan For Solar Farm Damages Fight
A Georgia federal judge said he's moving ahead with plans for a second jury to decide how much in damages the owner and developers of Lumpkin Solar Farm owe a neighboring property owner for harms stemming from runoff and some 1,000 cubic yards of sediment that have washed off the site.
-
November 08, 2024
NYC Water Worker Alleges Retaliation For Off-Duty Pot Use
A municipal water treatment worker has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the New York City Department of Environmental Protection claiming he was wrongly punished for his legal off-duty use of cannabis and wrongly terminated for refusing to take a drug test when he was actually suffering a medical emergency.
-
November 08, 2024
NH Defends Feds' White Mountain Logging Projects
The state of New Hampshire is asking a federal judge to reject a conservation group's bid to block two logging projects the U.S. Forest Service approved for the White Mountain National Forest, arguing that they will deliver needed forest and wildlife habitat improvements.
-
November 08, 2024
NC Forest Service Workers Defend OT Wage Suit Win
A group of state foresters urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court order requiring they be paid overtime for work combating forest fires, saying state agencies clearly agreed to compensate them at a rate of time-and-a-half of their regular pay under a reimbursement deal with the federal government.
-
November 08, 2024
ND Wants To Back Feds In Dakota Access Pipeline Row
North Dakota wants to back the federal government in a challenge by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe seeking to block a Texas-based energy company from continuing to operate the Dakota Access Pipeline, arguing a shutdown would undermine the state's interests in oil and gas regulation activity.
-
November 08, 2024
Kentucky Utility Asks High Court To Stay EPA Coal Ash Rule
A Kentucky electric utility called on the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule strengthening federal regulations requiring safe management of coal ash dumped at operating and retired power plants, while it appeals the D.C. Circuit's refusal to block the rule.
-
November 08, 2024
Special Master Recommends $7.8M For Flint Plaintiffs' Attys
A Special Master has recommended that attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Flint Water Crisis litigation receive $7.8 million in fees for their role in securing a $25 million settlement with Veolia North America finalized last month.
-
November 08, 2024
Landowners Ink $6.5M Deal To Cap Inactive Gas Wells
A group of landowners is asking a West Virginia federal court to approve a proposed settlement that would have Diversified Energy Co. more than quadruple its commitment to plugging inactive gas wells that it obtained from EQT Corp., meaning that it will cap off at least 2,600 wells in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee by 2035.
-
November 08, 2024
White & Case Adds Life Sciences IP Atty From A&O Shearman
A veteran life sciences patent litigator has jumped from Allen Overy Shearman Sterling to White & Case LLP in New York, expanding the firm’s capabilities to represent medical and pharmaceutical industry clients in complex litigation.
-
November 08, 2024
Experienced Dealmakers Lead 3 SPACs Raising $365M Total
Three special purpose acquisition companies began trading Friday after pricing initial public offerings that raised $365 million combined under guidance from four law firms, marking the latest sign that more SPACs, particularly those with prior deals under their belts, are willing to test an improving market.
Expert Analysis
-
Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
-
What To Expect From Evolving Wash. Development Plans
The current round of periodic updates to Washington counties' growth and development plans will need to address new requirements from recent legislation, and will also likely bring changes that should please property owners and developers, says Jami Balint at Seyfarth.
-
Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
-
Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus
Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
-
Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
-
Energy And AI: Key Issues And Future Challenges
Artificial intelligence promises new technical advantages for the energy industry, but it is also responsible for vast, and growing, energy consumption — so the future of AI and energy will require balancing technological advancement with regulatory oversight, environmental responsibility and infrastructure development, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
From Muppet Heads To OJ's Glove: How To Use Props At Trial
Demonstrative graphics have become so commonplace in the courtroom that jurors may start to find them boring, but attorneys can keep jurors engaged and improve their recall by effectively using physical props at trial, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.
-
Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
-
Opinion
It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
-
How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act
In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.
-
How Corner Post Affects Enviro Laws' Statutes Of Limitations
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board has helped to alter the fundamental underpinnings of administrative law — and its plaintiff-centric approach may have implications for some specific environmental laws' statutes of limitations, say Chris Leason and Liam Martin at Gallagher and Kennedy.
-
2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances
Progress in trial technologies in the last 10 years has been transformative for courtroom presentations, but two core communication axioms are still relevant in today's world of drone footage evidence and 3D animations, say Adam Bloomberg and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
-
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
-
Nuclear Power Can Help Industrial Plants Get To Net-Zero
In the race to fight climate change and achieve net-zero emissions, the industrial sector currently faces immense challenges — but the integration of nuclear energy is a promising solution, so companies should consider the financial and regulatory issues, opportunities, and risk-mitigating factors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror
Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.