Environmental

  • March 31, 2025

    DuPont Must Face NC Residents' PFAS Claims

    A North Carolina federal judge partially granted homeowners' motions for judgment on their claims that a factory operated by DuPont contaminated their land with PFAS, but said Monday that determining damages would be up to a jury.

  • March 31, 2025

    Ex-Blood Bank Atty Goes Back To Ballard Spahr In Phoenix

    Ballard Spahr LLP has picked up a former in-house intellectual property lawyer from nonprofit blood bank Vitalant who had worked at the law firm a little over a decade ago.

  • March 31, 2025

    Federal Worker Union Challenges Trump Order Gutting CBAs

    The National Treasury Employees Union sued on Monday to block portions of President Donald Trump's recent executive order ending collective bargaining at a number of federal agencies where its members work, saying the directive amounts to unlawful "political retribution" for the union's legal advocacy against Trump's agenda.

  • March 31, 2025

    House Passes Bill Easing Up Tax Relief For Disasters

    The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation Monday to allow victims of state-declared emergencies more time to file federal returns and debated a second measure to allow affected taxpayers to qualify for extended deadlines for refund claims and collection notices.

  • March 31, 2025

    Ford Escapes Calif. Driver's Cooling Pump Warranty Claims

    A California federal judge said Ford can evade a proposed class action alleging it violated state law by keeping its cooling system pump out of California's emission control system warranty, saying a state regulator agreed the pump is not an emissions-related part.

  • March 31, 2025

    Local, State Officials Cautious On Rollback Of Enviro Rules

    Several national groups representing local regulatory officials responsible for overseeing infrastructure projects told the White House they're concerned about a rule rolling back regulations for complying with environmental review requirements.

  • March 31, 2025

    DC Nonprofit Says EPA Climate Fund Freeze Is Unlawful

    Justice Climate Fund has asked a D.C. federal judge to declare that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Citibank NA broke the law by blocking its access to $940 million awarded by the agency for climate investments in low-income communities.

  • March 31, 2025

    Agencies Shouldn't Hear PFAS Class Claims, Conn. Court Told

    A Connecticut state judge should not dismiss most of a putative class action alleging that Aquarion Water Co. knowingly sold water contaminated with "forever chemicals" because the Eversource Energy unit is wrong that the claims should go before state regulators first, according to the plaintiffs.

  • March 31, 2025

    Class Says Sunoco Pipeline Leaked Jet Fuel Into Groundwater

    Sunoco has been hit with a proposed class action alleging that it allowed its Twin Oaks Pipeline in Pennsylvania to spring a "massive and still unquantified leak of jet fuel and petroleum products" that have seeped into groundwater in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Says Army Misled Radioactive Cleanup Contractor

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has backed a joint venture in its $7.2 million dispute over a U.S. Army radioactive waste remediation contract, saying the Army misled the company regarding the scope of expected work.

  • March 31, 2025

    DOI Rescinds Gaming Eligibility In $700M Calif. Casino Project

    The Department of the Interior has temporarily suspended a gaming eligibility determination for a California tribe's $700 million casino and gaming resort project, saying Secretary Doug Burgum is concerned that the agency didn't consider additional evidence regarding the 160-acre parcel's restored lands exception.

  • March 31, 2025

    Insurer Can Limit Rates But Not Counsel In Utility Litigation

    A Swiss Re unit can limit the rates it pays to defend utility company Aqua's successor entity in litigation over alleged lead contamination in a Chicago suburb's water supply, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled, adding that the insurer cannot make Aqua change its counsel.

  • March 31, 2025

    Denver Defeats Landlord's Challenge To Energy Standards

    A Colorado federal judge tossed a suit challenging state and Denver laws that set target dates for certain properties to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, saying the trade groups that brought the claims lacked standing.

  • March 31, 2025

    DOJ Seeking Steep Costs To Make Challengers Think Twice

    The U.S. Department of Justice is quickly implementing President Donald Trump's plan to seek huge sums of money from litigants whose cases impede his agenda but ultimately prove unsuccessful, court records show.

  • March 31, 2025

    Aspiration Partners Hits Ch. 11 After Founder's Fraud Arrest

    Sustainability-focused financial services company Aspiration Partners Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, less than a month after founder Joseph Sanberg was arrested and hit with federal fraud charges.

  • March 28, 2025

    Exxon Says It Never Oversold Plastic Recycling Claims

    Exxon Mobil Corp. has urged a California federal court to throw out a lawsuit brought by four environmental groups accusing it of fueling plastic pollution through decades of misleading recycling claims, arguing the case is based on implausible allegations.

  • March 28, 2025

    Mich. Judge Wonders If Methane Fee Block Moots EPA Suit

    A Michigan federal judge has said trade groups challenging the constitutionality of a methane waste emissions charge and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should prepare to tell the court whether recent Trump administration orders disapproving the EPA's methane rule renders the case moot.

  • March 28, 2025

    Feds Must Consider Whales, Climate In Gulf Gas Lease Sale

    The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management failed to fully consider the effects an oil and gas lease sale offering 73 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico could have on the endangered Rice's whale and climate change, a D.C. federal judge has ruled.

  • March 28, 2025

    DOD Seeks To Void Union Deals Over Efficiency Concerns

    The U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies asked a Texas federal judge to bless President Donald Trump's move to end collective bargaining with their workers, saying in a new suit that their union deals are hampering national security by inhibiting the president's federal workforce shakeup.

  • March 28, 2025

    DC Circ. Tosses Green Groups' Challenge To La. Gas Pipelines

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday rejected an environmental challenge to a Tellurian subsidiary's $1.5 billion plan to construct parallel, roughly 30-mile gas pipelines in Louisiana, ruling that federal energy regulators reasonably weighed greenhouse gas impacts and market demand in approving the project.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Ends $400M Air Force Base PFAS Contamination Case

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has dismissed a $400 million lawsuit from New Mexico landowners alleging that PFAS runoff from a nearby U.S. Air Force base contaminated their land, saying they hadn't shown any taking by the government.

  • March 28, 2025

    Tribe Not Ready For '2nd Bite' In Pipeline Row, Judge Says

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that looked to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying the litigation was prematurely filed and the precise nature of relief requested by the tribe remains unclear.

  • March 28, 2025

    Woodside Sells Oil, Gas Assets In Trinidad, Tobago For $206M

    Australian energy company Woodside on Friday unveiled plans to sell its Greater Angostura assets in Trinidad and Tobago to British independent hydrocarbon producer Perenco for $206 million.

  • March 28, 2025

    5th Circ. OKs Largest US Crude Export Terminal's Expansion

    A Fifth Circuit panel found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dotted its i's and crossed its t's before it greenlighted an expansion of the largest crude oil export terminal by volume in North America, finding in a Friday opinion the agency adequately studied the project's effects.

  • March 28, 2025

    Insurer Denied Early Win In $6.1M Cargo Loss Coverage Suit

    A New York federal judge said there was too much controversy to hand an early win to a stone company in its case seeking coverage of a more than $6.1 million loss over marble destroyed by a snail infestation. 

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Steps To Promote Durable, Pro-Industry Environmental Regs

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's planned wave of deregulation will require lengthy reviews, and could be undone by legal challenges and future changes of administration — but industry involvement in rulemaking, litigation, trade associations, and state and federal legislation can help ensure favorable and long-lasting regulatory policies, say attorneys at Balch & Bingham.

  • Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind

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    As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.

  • Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law

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    The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How Trump Policies Are Affecting The Right To Repair

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    Recent policy changes by the second Trump administration — ranging from deregulatory initiatives to tariff increases — are likely to have both positive and negative effects on the ability of independent repair shops and individual consumers to exercise their right to repair electronic devices, say attorneys at Carter Ledyard.

  • How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence

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    As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • DOJ Immigration Playbook May Take Cues From A 2017 Case

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    A record criminal resolution with a tree trimming company accused of knowingly employing unauthorized workers in 2017 may provide clues as to how the U.S. Department of Justice’s immigration crackdown will touch American companies, which should prepare now for potential enforcement actions, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • NM Case Shows Power Of Environmental Public Nuisance Law

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    A recent ruling from a New Mexico appeals court finding that a pattern of environmental violations, even without any substantial impact on a nearby community, can trigger nuisance liability — including potential damages and injunctive relief — has important implications for regulated entities in the state, says Kaleb Brooks at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw

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    Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.

  • Opinion

    After Fires, Calif. Must Streamline Enviro Reviews For Housing

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    Recent waivers to the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws granted by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to expedite reconstruction of residential property damaged in the Los Angeles wildfires are laudable — but given the state's widespread housing shortage, policymakers should extend the same benefits to other communities, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • State Securities Enforcers May Fill A Federal Enforcement Gap

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears poised to take a lighter touch under the new administration, but state enforcement efforts are likely to continue unabated, and potentially even increase, particularly with regard to digital assets and ESG disclosures, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Perfecting Security Interests In Renewable Energy Tax Credits

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    The ability to transfer renewable energy tax credits has created new opportunities for developers, investors and lenders, but it also raises important questions regarding when and how the security interests in these credits are perfected — questions that must be answered definitively to protect credit claims and transactions, says Harry Teichman at Stinson.

  • Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Opinion

    We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment

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    As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • High Court Water Permit Ruling Lacks Specificity

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    The enforcement impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may not be significant, because while the ruling makes clear that certain water permit provisions must instruct permittees on how to achieve stated goals, it doesn’t clarify the level of necessary instruction, says Daniel Deeb at ArentFox Schiff.

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