Environmental

  • October 23, 2024

    No More Coverage For Paper Co.'s Pollution Claim, Panel Says

    A WestRock Co. subsidiary that owned a Montana paper mill later identified as a Superfund site isn't entitled to additional coverage from its AIG insurer, an Illinois state appeals court ruled, saying two pollution conditions on the property were related and subject to a single $5 million limit of liability.

  • October 23, 2024

    Religion Law Can't Save Sacred Worship Site, High Court Told

    A law designed to protect religious freedom can't help an Apache nonprofit's bid to save a sacred worship site in Arizona from destruction, the federal government said, arguing that the tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify a congressional statute crafted to allow federal third-party land transfers.

  • October 23, 2024

    USDA Unveils $1.5B In Conservation, Climate-Smart Projects

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday revealed a $1.5 billion investment in 92 partner-driven conservation projects through the agency's Regional Conservation Partnership Program. 

  • October 23, 2024

    Judge Says Ex-Steward Hospital Nurse Row Out Of His Hands

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday declined to order the new owner of former Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts to take back changes to nurses' union contracts it assumed under his sale order, saying it wasn't up to him to make the call.

  • October 23, 2024

    'Alkaline Water' Co. Hit With $5B In Punitive Damages

    A Nevada jury awarded $5 billion in punitive damages Wednesday in a 15-plaintiff trial over liver damage linked to Real Water's "alkaline water," the largest verdict yet in ongoing litigation against the bankrupt company.

  • October 23, 2024

    EPA Can't Restart Crafting Smog Rule, DC Circ. Told

    A group of Democratic-led state governments is telling the D.C. Circuit that the Clean Air Act doesn't mandate reconsideration of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2023 "Good Neighbor" emissions regulation as two steel manufacturers say.

  • October 23, 2024

    Roundup Suit Pared As Preemption Claim Sways Mass. Judge

    A Massachusetts judge has dismissed portions of a suit claiming a woman's use of the weedkiller Roundup caused her cancer, ruling a federal labeling law preempts her theory that Monsanto failed to warn consumers about the chemical's dangers.

  • October 23, 2024

    Chemical Co. GC Fires Back At Pregnancy Bias Claims In NJ

    Arxada and its general counsel struck back at a former in-house attorney's claims in a New Jersey state court lawsuit that the specialty chemicals company unlawfully dismissed her in the days after she talked about taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.

  • October 22, 2024

    'Alkaline Water' Co. Owes $230M In Latest Liver Trial

    A Nevada state jury awarded $230 million Tuesday in the latest trial over liver damage from Real Water's "alkaline water" and sent the 15 plaintiffs, including a UFC fighter, to a punitive damages phase.

  • October 22, 2024

    Blink Investor Deal Gets Final OK, Attys Score $1.25M Fee

    A Florida federal judge has granted final approval to a $3.75 million settlement between electric-vehicle charging station operator Blink Charging Co. and a proposed class of investors who alleged the company mischaracterized the functionality of its charging network.

  • October 22, 2024

    Copper Mining Co. Asks High Court To Toss Sacred Site Suit

    A copper mining company that wants to build operations in a tribally sacred part of the Tonto National Forest has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a challenge to a Ninth Circuit ruling that allows for the transfer of nearly 2,500 acres of land.

  • October 22, 2024

    Walmart Pays $7.5M To End Hazardous Waste Disposal Suit

    Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of California and district attorneys of several counties who alleged the retail giant improperly disposed of hazardous and medical wastes from its locations to municipal landfills, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Tuesday.

  • October 22, 2024

    Feds Granted More Time For New Gulf Drilling Review

    A Maryland federal judge has agreed to delay the date by which she will vacate a National Marine Fisheries Service review of the effects of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the agency explained that it would not be able to complete a new review by the original Dec. 20 deadline.

  • October 22, 2024

    Organic Food Group Asks 9th Circ. To Upend GMO Label Rule

    An organic food industry advocacy group urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a district judge decision that largely left a Trump-era organic food labeling rule intact, saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture's implementation of a nationwide labeling law for genetically modified foods has been "arbitrary and capricious."

  • October 22, 2024

    Appliance Co., Customers Agree To End Stove Pollutant Row

    Luxury kitchen appliance maker Sub-Zero Group Inc. and the customers behind a proposed class action have agreed to drop the litigation, bringing to an end claims the company sold them gas stoves that emit "health-harming" pollutants.

  • October 22, 2024

    Tribe, Feds Reach Deal Over National Preserve Site

    The federal government, joined by the Pueblo of Jemez, called on the Tenth Circuit to amend its March 2023 ruling granting the tribe title to a portion of the Valles Caldera National Preserve after the parties reached a settlement agreement concerning how the title will be effectuated.

  • October 22, 2024

    Feds Partner With Osage, Navajo To Tackle Orphaned Wells

    The U.S. Department of Energy said it's inked agreements with the Osage Nation and the Navajo Nation that are aimed at identifying undocumented orphaned wells on tribal lands and addressing their harmful impacts.

  • October 22, 2024

    3 Energy Attys Join Greenberg Traurig From Brownstein Hyatt

    Three energy attorneys from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP have moved to Greenberg Traurig LLP as shareholders in Denver, the firm announced Tuesday, as it builds out the practice in response to clients seeking new development opportunities.

  • October 22, 2024

    Latham Leads Hyundai's Indian Biz On Record $3.3B IPO

    Hyundai Motor India Ltd. dipped in debut trading Tuesday after it raised India's largest ever initial public offering at $3.3 billion, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., marking a key milestone in the Korean automaker's overseas expansion.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

  • October 22, 2024

    The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.

  • October 21, 2024

    Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG Want DC Circ. FERC Ruling Redo

    Backers of liquefied natural gas projects on Texas' Gulf Coast are asking the D.C. Circuit to revisit a panel ruling that vacated their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reauthorization orders, with Rio Grande LNG LLC saying that the flawed ruling threatens to halt its $18 billion project and put its future at "grave risk."

  • October 21, 2024

    WisdomTree Will Pay $4M To End SEC ESG Fund Allegations

    WisdomTree Asset Management Inc. on Monday agreed to pay $4 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the adviser made misstatements concerning exchange-traded funds focused on environmental, social and governance causes.

  • October 21, 2024

    Rule Aims To Give Geothermal Energy Projects A Boost

    The U.S. Department of the Interior said it's pitching a new categorical exclusion that's intended to speed up geothermal resource discovery efforts on public lands, with a proposed rule slated to be published Tuesday.

  • October 21, 2024

    Alaskan Tribes Ink Stewardship Land, Water Pacts With Feds

    Three agreements between the federal government and Alaskan tribes and corporations are expected to advance efforts to safeguard salmon relied upon by Indigenous people for thousands of years, further sovereignty and improve easement management to public lands and waters, the U.S. Department of the Interior said.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Expect From Evolving Wash. Development Plans

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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?

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

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