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Environmental
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June 06, 2024
Prof Can Test NC State Building For Carcinogens
A split state appeals court has granted a former North Carolina State University employee stricken by cancer access to gather evidence in a campus building that studies showed contained cancer-causing materials.
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June 06, 2024
5th Circ. Sides With Miss. In Pipeline Permitting Row
The Fifth Circuit has found a lower court properly threw out an interstate pipeline company's assertion that annual levee crossing fees sought by Mississippi regulators were unconstitutional because they fell outside the scope of the company's 75-year-old permit.
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June 06, 2024
5th Circ. Backs Chevron In La. Drilling Contamination Fight
The Fifth Circuit on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling directing Chevron to submit a plan to clean up Louisiana properties allegedly contaminated by oil and gas development, saying that state law only requires the company to look for potential damage.
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June 06, 2024
EPA To Reevaluate Widely Used Toxic Chemical Under TSCA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to limit the use of a chemical found in hundreds of products from paint to cleaning products that has been linked to miscarriages, reduced male fertility and other health issues.
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June 06, 2024
Ex-IRS Worker Indicted In $2M Exxon Credit Theft Scheme
A former Internal Revenue Service employee used his account management job at the agency to steal more than $2 million worth of tax credits from Exxon Mobil and pocket the money, according to a Utah federal grand jury indictment.
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June 06, 2024
Haynes Boone Guides Natural Gas Producer's SPAC Merger
An Italian natural gas producer has said that it will merge with a Nasdaq-listed blank-check company to help accelerate its transition to clean energy in a deal steered by Haynes and Boone and Greenberg Traurig.
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June 05, 2024
BIA Escapes Washington Ranch's $48M Wildfire Suit
A federal judge in Washington state on Wednesday tossed a ranch's $48 million negligence lawsuit alleging the Bureau of Indian Affairs is liable for damages from a 2020 wildfire, ruling that agreements between the bureau and a Native American tribe did not spell out a specific firefighting duty.
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June 05, 2024
Dems Urge SEC To Double Down On Climate Enforcement
A group of 38 Democratic lawmakers is urging U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler to step up enforcement of the agency's existing climate disclosure-related guidance, as the agency faces court challenges to its controversial climate rule.
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June 05, 2024
Lawmakers Endorse Solar-Cell Duty Petition As Curb To China
Bipartisan lawmakers told the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission Tuesday that new duties on solar-cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam could help thwart China's global solar supply-chain domination.
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June 05, 2024
Brown Rudnick Partner's 50% Fee Hike Nixed In Ch. 11 Case
A Brown Rudnick LLP bankruptcy partner Wednesday had his 50% fee increase rejected by a Delaware judge, who took issue with the proposed hike to $1,500 an hour for representing the creditors' committee in Kidde-Fenwal Inc.'s Chapter 11 case.
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June 05, 2024
Hertz Hit With Shareholder Suit Over Costs Tied To EVs
Car rental giant Hertz Global Holdings Inc. and two Hertz executives are facing a proposed investor class action in Florida federal court alleging the company hurt investors by overhyping demand for electric cars only later to announce a nearly $200 million hit to earnings as it worked to offload electric vehicles.
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June 05, 2024
Google Cleared From Suit Over Animal Abuse YouTube Videos
A California appeals panel has tossed a nonprofit's suit alleging that Google LLC breached its contract by allowing animal abuse videos on YouTube, saying Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act blocks all its claims.
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June 05, 2024
Utah Tribe Wants 'Depleting' State Water Contract Drained
Utah entered into a water contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior without properly considering the Ute Indian Tribe's water rights, the tribe told a federal court in a request to set aside the deal.
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June 05, 2024
Sierra Club Touts Offshore Wind Cost Savings In New England
The Sierra Club is heralding offshore wind investment as critical to achieving New England's climate goals, slashing energy costs and protecting residents from volatile natural gas prices, citing a new report it commissioned that Synapse Energy Economics Inc. authored.
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June 05, 2024
Colo. To Exempt Modular Homes From Sales Tax
Colorado will exempt new modular home sales from state tax under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.
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June 05, 2024
Feds Say $1B Power Line Permit Challenge Should Be Zapped
The Biden administration and developers of a proposed $1 billion transmission line that would ship hydropower from Quebec to New England are urging a federal judge to dump challenges to federal approvals for the project, saying there's no question they were lawfully issued.
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June 05, 2024
Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Must Specify Water Caused Illnesses
The North Carolina federal court overseeing the Camp Lejeune contaminated-water litigation said Wednesday that former residents of the Marine base need to show that their illnesses were caused specifically and generally by exposure to the tainted water.
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June 05, 2024
Donziger Deserves Pardon, Enviro Groups Tell Biden
A group of environmental and human rights groups are calling on President Joe Biden to pardon disbarred environmental lawyer Steven Donziger for his criminal contempt conviction in litigation brought by Chevron over his role in securing a $9.5 billion environmental judgment in Ecuador.
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June 04, 2024
Judiciary Panel Clears 1st MDL Rule, Eyes 'Mouthpiece' Amici
Top rulemaking gatekeepers for the federal judiciary Tuesday capped off seven years of strife in the defense and plaintiffs bars by backing a milestone measure aimed at optimizing multidistrict litigation, and then promptly greenlighted an entirely different war of words over new efforts to ferret out amicus briefs from "paid mouthpieces" masquerading as independent experts.
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June 04, 2024
Monsanto Tries To Flip $1B PCB Losses As Plaintiffs Press On
Monsanto is moving to capitalize on a Washington state appellate victory it claims casts doubt on more than $1.1 billion in PCB poisoning verdicts, while plaintiffs are staking out positions to defend — and even build on — their blockbuster wins.
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June 04, 2024
GOP Spending Bill Aims To Cut SEC Budget, Nix Climate Rule
The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee released a spending bill Tuesday that threatens to cut funding for financial service agencies and prevent the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from funding its controversial climate disclosure rules and bar Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spending on a contentious rule, as well.
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June 04, 2024
Monsanto Gets $2.25B Roundup Verdict Slashed To $404M
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday slashed a $2.25 billion verdict awarded to a cancer patient who claimed Monsanto's glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup contributed to his lymphoma, reducing the jury's 10-figure damages award to $404 million after the Bayer AG subsidiary argued that the initial award was "unconstitutionally excessive."
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June 04, 2024
Bill Would Give Tribes Stronger Say In Forest Protection
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced legislation that would correct oversights and expand the language of the Tribal Forest Protection Act, arguing that the law has proved too restrictive for Indigenous communities and prevented Alaskan Native corporations from participating in its programs entirely.
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June 04, 2024
Wildfire Attys Descend On Colo. As Xcel Litigation Ramps Up
Hundreds of lawsuits seeking to hold Xcel Energy responsible for a devastating 2021 Colorado wildfire are just the latest battleground for a relatively small community of lawyers who have been involved in some of the biggest catastrophic fire suits in the western U.S.
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June 04, 2024
Red States Target EPA's Tribal Water Rights Rule
A group of red states has told a federal court that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has turned the Clean Water Act into what they derisively called the "Tribal Rights Act," through a rule that protects Native American rights to water resources.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Federal MDL Rule Benefits From Public Comments
The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Climate Disclosure Mandates Demand A Big-Picture Approach
As carbon emissions disclosure requirements from the European Union, California and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission take effect, the best practice for companies is not targeted compliance with a given reporting regime, but rather a comprehensive approach to systems assessment and management, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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ESG Challenges In Focus After Sierra Club Opposes SEC Rule
The Sierra Club's recent objection to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosures for investors presents an unusual — pro-disclosure — legal challenge and an opportunity to take a close look at the varying critiques of ESG regulations, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Illinois EV Charging Act Sparks Developer Concerns
A recent state law in Illinois requiring multifamily housing to provide facilities for electric vehicle charging raises significant concerns for developers over existing infrastructure that isn't up to the task, says Max Kanter at Much Shelist.
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5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS
The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.
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Opinion
New Mexico Fire Victims Deserve Justice From Federal Gov't
Two years after the largest fire in New Mexico's history — a disaster caused by the U.S. government's mismanagement of prescribed burns — the Federal Emergency Management Agency must remedy its grossly inadequate relief efforts and flawed legal interpretations that have left victims of the fire still waiting for justice, says former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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Opinion
Streamlined Mine Regulation Is Key For The Energy Transition
Mining is essential for obtaining the critical minerals required for a transition to greener energy and transportation technologies, but inefficient permitting processes are making it harder to mine these essential materials that will enable a more environmentally sound future, says Scot Anderson at Womble Bond.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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How 3 Unfolding Cases Could Affect The Energy Industry
Three judicial decisions now in the pipeline — Texas' challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane regulations, Delaware's climate suit against big energy companies, and a case before the Supreme Court of Texas on royalty lease interpretation — could have important implications for the energy industry, say Michelle Scheffler and Rachael Cox at Skadden.
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How IRA Unlocks Green Energy Investments For Tribes
An Inflation Reduction Act provision going into effect May 10 represents a critical juncture for Native American tribes, offering promising economic opportunity in green energy investment, but requiring a proactive and informed approach when taking advantage of newly available tax incentives, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.
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What Nevada 'Superbasin' Ruling Means For Water Users
The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision in Sullivan v. Lincoln County Water District, affirming that the state can manage multiple predesignated water basins as one "superbasin," significantly broadens the scope of water constraints that project developers in Nevada and throughout the West may need to consider, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.