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Environmental
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November 15, 2024
NC AG Wins Early Halt Of Alleged Helene Price-Gouging
A North Carolina court granted state attorney general and incoming governor Josh Stein's request for a preliminary injunction against a businessman accused of price-gouging for tree removal services in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and taking jobs he knew his businesses were not qualified to handle.
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November 15, 2024
Sterilization Co. Cosmed Hits Ch. 11 Amid Cancer Claims
Sterilization company Cosmed Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court Thursday with over $100 million in liabilities, much of it related to cancer claims over the gas that it uses for sterilization.
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November 14, 2024
Trump Picks ND Gov. To Lead Interior Dept.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior, a Republican who has been a staunch supporter of the fossil fuel industry.
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November 14, 2024
Florida AG Says FEMA Failed Trump Supporters After Storms
The Florida Attorney General's Office announced Thursday it has launched a federal lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency's administrator and a fired agency official over an alleged directive instructing hurricane relief workers to avoid homes displaying signs in support of President-elect Donald Trump.
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November 14, 2024
Trade Groups Back Red States In EPA Water Rule Dispute
A slew of trade groups have joined a dozen red states in urging a North Dakota federal judge to strike down a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring all states in the nation to consider tribal treaty rights when they set their water quality standards.
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November 14, 2024
Biden Admin Backs Controversial Alaskan Land Swap, Road
The Biden administration is backing a federal land swap that will allow a road to be built through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, while conservation groups and tribes say the move will cause major impacts to the area's migratory birds and cut off a food source for Indigenous communities.
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November 14, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Affirms SEC's Kroger Proxy Decision
A divided Fifth Circuit on Thursday rejected a "purely theoretical" challenge brought by conservative shareholders unhappy that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission greenlighted the exclusion of a shareholder proposal from Kroger Co.'s 2023 ballot, noting that the case was moot since the company authorized a vote on the proposal anyway.
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November 14, 2024
NY Gov. Brings Back Manhattan Congestion Pricing Plan
The resurrection of New York City's plan to charge all vehicles a fee for entering Manhattan's busiest corridor demonstrates a mad dash in the final months of the Biden administration to expedite infrastructure projects perceived as political lightning rods before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
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November 14, 2024
EPA Expands List of Solvent Risks, Targets Tire Chem Rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said a chemical commonly used in solvents presents health risks to humans in more ways than had previously been stated, and said it's researching whether to regulate a chemical used in tire production that has been shown to kill salmon.
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November 14, 2024
Boeing Could Sell Navigation Unit For $6B, And More Rumors
Boeing is mulling a sale of its Jeppesen navigation unit at potential $6 billion price tag, Pfizer may be seeking billions for its hospital drug unit, and a U.S. gas station and convenience store business could be sold at a $1.5 billion value. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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November 14, 2024
Ovintiv Buys Montney Assets For $2.4B, Sells Others For $2B
Natural gas producer Ovintiv Inc. said Thursday it will purchase certain Montney Basin assets in Canada from Paramount Resources Ltd. in an all-cash deal worth about $2.38 billion, and also announced plans to divest its Uinta Basin assets in a sale to FourPoint Resources Ltd. and its private equity partners for $2 billion, with at least five law firms advising on the deals.
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November 14, 2024
Gaetz's Slim Legal Resume Raises Concerns Over AG Role
Having never served as a prosecutor and with minimal experience practicing law, Matt Gaetz would have the thinnest legal resume of any attorney general in recent history and would face a steep learning curve, including daunting leadership challenges, if he were to take up the reins of the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.
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November 14, 2024
Fake Bear, Real Fraud: Calif. Arrests 4 In Insurance Scheme
Four Los Angeles area residents were charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy after claiming that over $141,000 in damages to luxury autos were caused by a bear, though videos submitted to their insurers showed a person in a bear costume wreaking havoc, a California Department of Insurance spokesperson said.
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November 14, 2024
Trump Picks RFK Jr. To Lead Health & Human Services
President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent anti-vaccination activist and former presidential candidate, is his nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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November 13, 2024
Conn. PFAS Judge Vexed By 'Messy' Pollution Source Query
A Connecticut federal judge weighing the state's motion to remand a pollution lawsuit against 3M and other companies warned Wednesday that the government was advancing "messy" arguments about the sources of contamination, although he did find the case "interesting."
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November 13, 2024
A 3M PFAS Win Could Be Hollow, Mich. Justice Suggests
Michigan Supreme Court justices asked Wednesday what it would mean to invalidate the state's regulations on so-called forever chemicals in drinking water, with one justice commenting that winning the case might be of little consequence for 3M, the company that brought the challenge, while undoing protections for the water supply.
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November 13, 2024
Md. Electricity 'Greenwashing' Law Is A Muzzle, Judge Told
A Maryland law attempting to crack down on electricity suppliers' "greenwashing" claims unconstitutionally mandates companies speak about their product in a way that conforms to what the state considers "sustainable energy," a renewable energy company and an advocacy organization argued in Maryland federal court.
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November 13, 2024
Indigenous Groups Can Join Colombia's Fight With Glencore
An international tribunal has agreed to allow two Indigenous Wayuu communities to express their views about a massive mining project's water use in an arbitral dispute between commodities giant Glencore International AG and the Republic of Colombia.
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November 13, 2024
EPA Tells DC Circ. That Mercury Rule Is Sound
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told the D.C. Circuit that opponents of its rule strengthening standards for mercury and other toxic air emissions at power plants are seeking to hamstring the agency with a too-narrow interpretation of the Clean Air Act.
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November 13, 2024
Judge To Confirm Ambri Ch. 11 Wind-Down Plan
A Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday agreed to approve the Chapter 11 plan of battery company Ambri Inc., which will sell its assets to its lenders and wind down.
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November 13, 2024
LNG Co. Says Full DC Circ. Must Revive Texas Project
The company behind a liquefied natural gas project on the Texas Gulf Coast urged the full D.C. Circuit on Wednesday to vacate a panel's ruling nixing its federal approval, citing another panel's decision finding the White House Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act regulations are unenforceable.
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November 13, 2024
NC Wetlands Developer Wants 4th Circ. To Revive Projects
A North Carolina landowner has urged the Fourth Circuit to block a new rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act, arguing that the new rule saddles him with "extraordinary compliance costs" for wetland development projects and goes beyond the law's actual scope.
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November 13, 2024
Mass. AG Ready To Reprise Office's Role As Trump Foil
Taking a page from her predecessor's book, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told Law360 she is hoping to work with the incoming Trump administration, but the Democrat said she is nevertheless prepared to use her office's "significant tools and power" to challenge actions she feels are at odds with her constituents' interests.
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November 13, 2024
Trump Taps DOJ Critic Matt Gaetz For Attorney General
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next U.S. attorney general, seeking to elevate a close political ally to lead a Justice Department that the Florida lawmaker has sharply criticized and that last year declined to charge him in a sex-trafficking investigation.
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November 13, 2024
EPA Effluent Rule Is Fatally Flawed, 8th Circ. Told
Republican-led states, utilities and industry groups called on the Eighth Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule setting new wastewater limitations for coal-fired power plants, saying it is based on economically unavailable technologies in an effort to further the Biden administration's goal of shuttering coal plants.
Expert Analysis
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How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources
Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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Calif. Ruling Offers Hope For Mitigated Negative Declarations
In Upland Community First v. City of Upland, a California appeals court upheld a warehouse development's mitigated negative declaration over its greenhouse gas emissions thresholds — a rare victory against this type of challenge providing reassurance that such declarations can be upheld, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Jarkesy May Short-Circuit FERC Enforcement Cases
As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently suspended an enforcement proceeding under the Natural Gas Act — and the commission's customary use of administrative hearings in such proceedings could face major changes, say attorneys at Willkie.
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How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment
Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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High Stakes In Justices' Review Of Clean Air Act Venue Fights
Disputes over the Clean Air Act's venue provision may seem arcane, but a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision encompassing three cases will affect core principles of the separation of powers and constitutional due process in ways that could have significant consequences for the regulated community, say J. Michael Showalter and David Loring at ArentFox Schiff.
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Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month
Despite an uptick in filings in the Texas Business Court's initial months of operation, the docket remains fairly light amid an apparent wait-and-see approach from some potential litigants, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Opinion
Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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Fluoride Ruling Charts Path To Bypass EPA Risk Evaluations
A California federal court's recent ruling in Food and Water Watch v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ordering the agency to address the public health risks of fluoridated drinking water, establishes a road map for other citizen petitioners to bypass the EPA's formal risk evaluation process, say attorneys at Wiley.
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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The Ups And Downs Of SEC's Now-Dissolved ESG Task Force
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force, which was quietly disbanded sometime over the summer, was marked by three years of resistance from some stakeholders to ESG regulation, a mixed record in the courts and several successful enforcement actions, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What Hawaii High Court Got Right And Wrong In AIG Ruling
Though the Hawaii Supreme Court in its recent Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance decision correctly adopted the majority rule that recklessly caused harm is an accident for coverage purposes, it erred in its interpretation of the pollution exclusion by characterizing climate change as "traditional environmental pollution," say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight
Because jurors tend to pay a little more attention to cross-examination, attorneys should train their witnesses to strike a balance — making it tough for opposing counsel to make their side’s case, without coming across as difficult to the jury, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Series
Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.
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Useful Product Doctrine May Not Shield Against PFAS Liability
Courts have recognized that companies transferring hazardous recycled materials can defeat liability under environmental laws by showing they were selling a useful product — but new laws in California and elsewhere restricting the sale of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances may change the legal landscape, says Kyle Girouard at Dickinson Wright.