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Environmental
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March 18, 2025
DC Circ. Gives FERC Chance To Redo LNG Project Approvals
The D.C. Circuit Tuesday said it would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to fix problems in its reauthorizations for two natural gas projects in Texas, revising an August 2024 decision vacating the reauthorizations altogether after the commission said President Donald Trump's revocation of environmental orders should clear them.
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March 18, 2025
NRC Says Texas Reactor Licensing Suit Is In The Wrong Court
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants a Texas federal judge to toss a lawsuit claiming the agency doesn't have the authority to license small-scale nuclear reactors, saying not only is the suit meritless, but it was also brought in the wrong court.
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March 18, 2025
BlackRock Calls Red States' Suit Over Coal Prices 'Farfetched'
BlackRock Inc. and two other large asset managers have urged a Texas federal judge to toss claims brought by a coalition of Republican-led states alleging the firms ran a scheme to drive up coal prices as part of an "investment cartel," saying the case "spins a farfetched theory."
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March 18, 2025
NY Can't Escape Rail Cos. Challenge To 'Waste By Rail' Law
Railway and recycling industry groups can proceed with their challenge to a New York law that requires coverings be placed over solid waste when transported by rail within the state, a federal judge has said, as they have plausibly claimed that the state law is preempted by federal law.
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March 18, 2025
Fate Of Boston Women's Soccer Stadium Turns On Site Status
Opponents of a $200 million project to turn a decrepit 75-year-old stadium into the home of a new professional women's soccer team at a historic Boston park urged a judge on Tuesday to find that officials have failed to follow a state law intended to preserve public parks.
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March 18, 2025
Haynes Boone Enviro Group Adds 'Relatable' EPA Atty In Dallas
Haynes Boone has bulked up its environmental practice group with a partner in Dallas who brings nearly a decade of experience as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lawyer, the firm said this week.
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March 18, 2025
Simpson Thacher Gains Securitization Expert In NY
A former Vinson & Elkins LLP aviation finance practice co-head has joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as a New York partner, the firm said Tuesday.
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March 18, 2025
Savannah Wants 3M PFAS Pollution Suit Back In State Court
Savannah's lawsuit against 3M Inc. and others over the "forever chemical" contamination of its drinking water should remain in Georgia state court, the city argued in an emergency bid, saying the company wants to push the municipality into a "judicial purgatory."
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March 18, 2025
Ancora Wants US Steel Meeting Delayed After Blocked Sale
U.S. Steel Corp. shareholder Ancora Holdings Group on Tuesday urged the company's board to delay its upcoming 2025 annual meeting of shareholders until more information comes out about the company's blocked $14.9 billion deal with Japan's Nippon Steel Corp.
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March 17, 2025
Toyota Seeks Exit From Investors' Emission Tests Fraud Suit
Toyota Motor Corp. has asked a California federal judge to dump a proposed class action alleging it deceived investors by failing to thoroughly investigate reports of falsified vehicle certification data, saying the plaintiffs have twisted executives' public statements to inflate their securities fraud claims.
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March 17, 2025
Savannah Sues Over PFAS Pollution In River
Numerous chemical and manufacturing companies, including 3M and DuPont, tainted the water supply of the city of Savannah, Georgia, with "forever chemicals" despite knowing for decades the dangers these substances pose, according to a lawsuit removed to federal court.
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March 17, 2025
Amazon Hit With Greenwashing Suit Over Paper Products
Consumers in four different states have launched a proposed class action against Amazon in Washington federal court, accusing the retail giant of greenwashing its claims about its "Basics" line of paper products and misleading buyers about the sustainability of products whose supply chains are in fact "deeply unsustainable."
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March 17, 2025
LA Settles Suit Over Port's Alleged Pollutant Discharges
Los Angeles and an environmental nonprofit announced they have settled a Clean Water Act suit filed this past summer in federal court that accused the city of violating its wastewater discharge permit by exceeding limits on dangerous pollutants dispersed into the San Pedro Bay.
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March 17, 2025
Insurer Drops Claims That Lamp Cos.' Negligence Caused Fire
A Detroit cannabis farm and its insurance company have agreed to drop a lawsuit alleging a host of lighting and gardening equipment manufacturers negligently designed and marketed their products, after a grow lamp malfunction led to a fire that caused more than $8.5 million of damage at a grow facility.
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March 17, 2025
Calif. Panel Sides With Tribe In Hotel Construction Fight
A California appeals panel has sided with a Native American tribe in its decision to reverse a lower court ruling and invalidate the city of Clearlake's approval of a hotel project on what was tribal land, finding that the city failed to comply with a state environmental law.
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March 17, 2025
Split 9th Circ. Won't Halt Federal Workers Reinstatement Order
A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Monday denied President Donald Trump's administration an immediate administrative stay of a California district court order requiring reinstatement of some probationary federal workers fired from six agencies, the majority saying a pause "would disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head."
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March 17, 2025
Vague Settlement Can't Free Insurer From Asbestos Claims
An insurer that says its policies' limits were exhausted while paying over $5 million toward an asbestos injury settlement on behalf of BNSF Railway failed to show it actually went over its limits, a Texas appeals court found.
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March 17, 2025
Union, Green Groups Fight EPA Bid To Redo Biden TSCA Rule
Labor unions and green groups are asking the D.C. Circuit to reject the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's bid to reconsider a Biden-era rule that strengthened regulations to assess chemicals' health and environmental risks.
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March 17, 2025
FERC Grid Upgrade Fight Has DC Circ. Judges Flummoxed
D.C. Circuit judges appeared to struggle Monday with how to determine ownership of new grid upgrades needed for a Michigan solar farm as they consider a transmission company's challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's refusal to grant it sole ownership.
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March 17, 2025
NJ Offshore Wind Farm Permit Pulled Over Trump Orders
An environmental permit for a wind power facility off the New Jersey shore has been sent back to regulators for reconsideration in light of President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily halting all offshore wind leases for review, according to a federal environmental appeals board order.
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March 17, 2025
Chevron Buys 5% Of Hess With 'Confidence' In Merger Close
Chevron Corp. disclosed Monday that it has purchased 4.99% of Hess Corp.'s outstanding common stock, a move that signals the oil giant's "continuing confidence" in completing its pending $53 billion acquisition of Hess despite ongoing arbitration challenges.
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March 17, 2025
Simpson Thacher Taps Kirkland Atty To Co-Lead Enviro Group
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has hired a former Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney, who is joining the firm in Washington, D.C., to co-lead its environmental practice and continue her work with the environmental issues involved in commercial transactions, the firm announced Monday.
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March 17, 2025
Brightmark Puts Indiana Plastic Recycling Plant Into Ch. 11
Recycling company Brightmark LLC has put certain units into bankruptcy in Delaware in order to keep its Indiana plastics processing center operational as it pursues a sale.
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March 14, 2025
ExxonMobil Brings $14M Clean Air Act Suit To High Court
ExxonMobil on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn both a "radically divided" en banc Fifth Circuit's opinion upholding $14.25 million in air pollution penalties as well as a decades-old high court ruling concerning redressability, saying it was being made to pay penalties environmental group plaintiffs won't even receive.
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March 14, 2025
Fort Worth's Unwieldy PFAS Suit Against Gov't, Cos. Gets Split
A Texas federal judge on Friday ruled that Fort Worth's $420.6 million suit seeking to hold the federal government and various manufacturers liable for PFAS contamination must be split into separate cases, or risk being too unwieldy and confusing for jurors.
Expert Analysis
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After CEQ's Rollback, Fate Of NEPA May Be In Justices' Hands
The White House Council on Environmental Quality recently announced its intention to rescind its own National Environmental Policy Act regulations, causing additional burdens to existing NEPA challenges, and raising questions for regulated entities and federal agencies that may only be resolved by a pending U.S. Supreme Court case, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Making The Case For Rest In The Legal Profession
For too long, a culture of overwork has plagued the legal profession, but research shows that attorneys need rest to perform optimally and sustainably, so legal organizations and individuals must implement strategies that allow for restoration, says Marissa Alert at MDA Wellness, Carol Ross-Burnett at CRB Global, and Denise Robinson at The Still Center.
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4 Ways Women Attorneys Can Build A Legal Legacy
This Women’s History Month, women attorneys should consider what small, day-to-day actions they can take to help leave a lasting impact for future generations, even if it means mentoring one person or taking 10 minutes to make a plan, says Jackie Prester, a former shareholder at Baker Donelson.
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Cleanup Claim Characterization Key For Timeliness Inquiry
The Tenth Circuit's recent ruling in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. NL Industries, determining that ARCO's contribution claim was timely, highlights the importance of accurately characterizing a claim for recoupment of environmental cleanup costs as a cost-recovery action or contribution to avoid dismissal or recharacterization of the claim, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.
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A Judge's Pointers For Adding Spice To Dry Legal Writing
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery shares a few key lessons about how to go against the grain of the legal writing tradition by adding color to bland judicial opinions, such as by telling a human story and injecting literary devices where possible.
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How To Create A Unique Jury Profile For Every Case
Instead of striking potential jurors based on broad stereotypes or gut feelings, trial attorneys should create case-specific risk profiles that address the political climate, the specific facts of the case and the venue in order to more precisely identify higher-risk jurors, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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6th Circ. Ruling Paves Path Out Of Loper Bright 'Twilight Zone'
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright ruling created a twilight zone between express statutory delegations that trigger agency deference and implicit ones that do not, but the Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Moctezuma-Reyes v. Garland crafted a two-part test for resolving cases within this gray area, say attorneys at Wiley.
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CO2 Oil Recovery Vs. Carbon Capture: Key Legal Differences
As more states seek primacy over carbon capture and storage wells, it is increasingly important for companies to understand the regulations surrounding CCS, and how they differ from the arguably less complex legal framework for the closely related technology of carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery, says Sarah Milocco at Husch Blackwell.
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Recent Cases Suggest ESG Means 'Ever-Shifting Guidelines'
U.S. courts have recently handed down a number of contradictory decisions on important environmental, social and governance issues, adding to an already complex mix of conflicting political priorities, new laws and changing regulatory guidance — but there are steps that companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Navigating The Uncertain Future Of The Superfund PFAS Rule
The D.C. Circuit's recent grant of a pause in litigation while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviews the Biden-era designation of two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous" under the Superfund law creates new uncertainty for companies — but more lawsuits are likely as long as the rule remains in effect, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing
As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.
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7 Tips For Associates To Thrive In Hybrid Work Environments
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
As the vast majority of law firms have embraced some type of hybrid work policy, associates should consider a few strategies to get the most out of both their in-person and remote workdays, says James Argionis at Cozen O’Connor.
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Series
Playing Beach Volleyball Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My commitment to beach volleyball has become integral to my performance as an attorney, with the sport continually reminding me that teamwork, perseverance, professionalism and stress management are essential to both undertakings, says Amy Drushal at Trenam.
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Managing Anti-Corporate Juror Views Revealed By CEO Killing
After the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson laid bare deep-seated anti-corporate sentiments among the public, companies in numerous industries will have to navigate the influence of related juror biases on litigation dynamics, say Jorge Monroy and Keith Pounds at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Opinion
California Climate Lawsuit Bill Is Constitutionally Flawed
A bill in the California Legislature that would let victims of climate-related disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires sue oil and gas producers for spreading misinformation about climate change is too vague, retroactive and focused on one industry to survive constitutional scrutiny, says Kyla Christoffersen Powell at the Civil Justice Association of California.