Environmental

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump Taps Oil Advocate, Ex Wyo. Official For Interior Posts

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, and Brian Nesvik, a former Wyoming Fish and Game head, to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service.

  • February 12, 2025

    8 Ousted Inspectors General Sue Over Firings

    Eight inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump sued the administration Wednesday, asking a D.C. federal judge to declare their terminations "legal nullities" and to order their reinstatement.

  • February 11, 2025

    Trump Tells Agencies To Plan 'Large-Scale' Cuts With Musk

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that directs agencies to prepare for "large-scale" cuts to the federal workforce and gives Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency the authority to approve the future hiring of career officials.

  • February 11, 2025

    Calif.'s Insurance Safety Net Gets $1B Infusion For Fire Claims

    California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has signed off on $1 billion in additional funding for California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, to ensure the plan can keep paying consumer claims to survivors of the Southern California wildfires, according to an order issued Tuesday.

  • February 11, 2025

    SoCal Edison Investors Sue Over LA Wildfire Mitigation Claims

    The parent company of Southern California Edison was hit with a putative shareholder class action on Tuesday that alleges the public utility company misled investors about implementing the power company's wildfire-mitigation measures in the lead-up to the Eaton and Hurst fires that devastated an area north of Los Angeles.

  • February 11, 2025

    Kids Can't Save Reworked EPA Climate Suit, Judge Rules

    A California federal judge on Tuesday threw out, for good, children's amended allegations that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's climate policies violate their constitutional rights, ruling that they haven't shown that the alleged harms they've suffered in the midst of climate change can be traced to the policies.

  • February 11, 2025

    Billionaire Ira Rennert Says Justices Must Resolve Peru Fight

    A mining company controlled by billionaire Ira Rennert has repeated its bid for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve whether the Eighth Circuit mistakenly denied dismissal of claims by more than 1,000 Peruvians over alleged pollution, saying the circuit court's opinion "distorted" international comity.

  • February 11, 2025

    Justices Ponder If Colo. Climate Case Would Open Floodgates

    Colorado justices on Tuesday asked a city and county seeking damages against ExxonMobil and Suncor over the local impacts of climate change why such suits don't amount to an attempt to regulate the oil and gas industry, with one justice saying he has "practical concerns" about more municipalities bringing novel climate tort claims.

  • February 11, 2025

    Couple's Chickens Are Pets, Not Poultry, NC Justices Told

    A North Carolina couple urged the state's highest court to back a state appeals court's ruling finding their 60-plus chickens are household pets, arguing that a jury was improperly instructed that chickens can't be pets under their neighborhood's restrictive covenant.

  • February 11, 2025

    Monsanto Loses Attempt To Overturn $1.25M Roundup Award

    A Missouri appellate court on Tuesday refused Monsanto's request to overturn a $1.25 million award to a man who claimed Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, leaning on reasoning from several other state and federal appeals courts that favored consumers over the company.

  • February 11, 2025

    Fla. Senate Committee Advances Resilient Building Tax Credit

    A Florida Senate committee unanimously voted on Tuesday to advance bills to create a resilient building tax credit program, develop guidelines for green and gray infrastructure to address rising sea levels and require public hearings for state park land management plans.

  • February 11, 2025

    PFAS Litigation Finds A New Frontier: Consumer Products

    Smartwatch wristbands, adhesive bandages, tampons and juice containers — what do they all have in common? In a growing trend, plaintiffs attorneys allege the products contain toxic forever chemicals and that manufacturers misled consumers about it.

  • February 11, 2025

    Monsanto PCB Appeal Seems To Divide Wash. High Court

    Thorny choice-of-law issues seemingly divided the Washington State Supreme Court during oral arguments Tuesday, with one justice suggesting that the teachers who brought suit are relying on "forum-shopping" to reinstate a $185 million win against Monsanto, and another saying the company's stance violates state law intended to hold corporations accountable for harming citizens.

  • February 11, 2025

    EV Charging Supply Chain In Limbo Amid Funding Freeze

    The Trump administration's suspension of a $5 billion program funding electric vehicle charging stations nationwide infuses uncertainty into the future of the U.S. electric-vehicle supply chain, triggering costly project delays and fresh litigation, experts told Law360.

  • February 11, 2025

    Feds Must Enforce Law In Dakota Pipeline Row, Court Told

    The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is fighting a bid by the federal government and a slew of Republican-led states to dismiss its lawsuit that seeks to block an energy company from operating the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying there's a mandatory duty to ensure its operations comply with environmental laws.

  • February 11, 2025

    Insurer Says $641M Deal Over Tainted Flint Water Not Covered

    An insurer told a Michigan federal court Tuesday that it shouldn't have to pay any part of a $641 million settlement reached by a Flint, Michigan, medical center on behalf of patients who supposedly suffered from legionella and lead exposure because of unclean drinking water in the facility.

  • February 11, 2025

    Eaton Fire Victim Wants Sanctions Against SoCal Edison

    A victim of the recent devastating Eaton Fire in Altadena has told a California state judge that Southern California Edison and its attorneys should face sanctions for allegedly concealing efforts to reenergize electrical transmission lines while the blaze was still burning last month.

  • February 11, 2025

    Plant Nursery To Shell Out $2.5M In H-2A Wage Suit

    An operator of plant nurseries in California agreed to shell out $2.5 million in back wages after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined that it coerced H-2A workers to quit in order to dodge the program's wage and hour requirements, the department said. 

  • February 11, 2025

    Activist Elliott Targets Phillips 66 Again Over Lack Of Progress

    Activist investor Elliott Investment Management LP on Tuesday sent a letter to the board of directors of energy conglomerate Phillips 66 calling for "urgent changes" to improve operating performance and regain shareholder trust, saying "another year of empty rhetoric and broken promises is unacceptable."

  • February 11, 2025

    Pot Grower Says Nearby Farm's Pesticides Caused $17M Loss

    A Massachusetts cannabis grower says pesticides used by an adjacent berry farm contaminated its entire 2022 harvest, costing the lost value of that crop and two subsequent years' revenue, totaling at least $17 million.

  • February 11, 2025

    Award Enforcement Suit Must Focus On Italy Immunity First

    A D.C. federal judge said Italy has at least a "colorable" sovereign immunity defense to litigation by Dutch, Danish and Luxembourgish firms seeking to enforce $23 million in arbitral awards granted after the country rolled back renewable energy subsidies.

  • February 11, 2025

    Republican-Led SEC Pauses Climate Regulation Litigation

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signaled Tuesday that it may not move forward with a Biden-era regulation requiring public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, asking the court overseeing litigation against the climate reporting rules not to schedule the case for oral argument.

  • February 11, 2025

    Automakers Lose Fight To Block Mass. 'Right To Repair' Law

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday tossed what was left of a long-running suit filed by major automakers seeking to block a Bay State law requiring vehicle manufacturers to provide open access to telematics systems.

  • February 10, 2025

    Xcel, Telecom Cos. Say Colo. Fire Plaintiffs Can't Opt Out Of Trial

    Xcel Energy and two telecom companies being sued over the Marshall Fire in Colorado told a state judge that hundreds of plaintiffs pushing to opt out of a common liability trial should not be able to do so, at least until expert reports are shared.

  • February 10, 2025

    Calif. Ruling Holds Wildfire Debris Not A Coverable Loss

    Two California homeowners didn't have a covered claim for wildfire debris that infiltrated their home, a state appeals panel ruled, saying there was no evidence the debris caused the kind of loss or damage required for coverage.

Expert Analysis

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • Consider The Impact Of Election Stress On Potential Jurors

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    For at least the next few months, potential jurors may be working through anger and distrust stemming from the presidential election, and trial attorneys will need to assess whether those jurors are able to leave their political concerns at the door, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    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.

  • Calif. Ruling Offers Hope For Mitigated Negative Declarations

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    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.

  • Jarkesy May Short-Circuit FERC Enforcement Cases

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    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.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    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.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    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.

  • High Stakes In Justices' Review Of Clean Air Act Venue Fights

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    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.

  • Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    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.

  • Fluoride Ruling Charts Path To Bypass EPA Risk Evaluations

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    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.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    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.

  • The Ups And Downs Of SEC's Now-Dissolved ESG Task Force

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    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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