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Environmental
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October 01, 2024
Ex-Interior Dept. Deputy's Oil Stocks Violated Ethics Laws
The onetime deputy secretary of the Interior, Tommy Beaudreau, who moved into private practice last year and now co-leads WilmerHale's energy practice, violated government ethics laws by failing to recuse himself from drilling-related matters while knowingly holding petroleum stocks, according to an internal watchdog's ethics report released Tuesday.
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October 01, 2024
Battery Companies' Fire Cleanup Fight Trimmed In Ga.
A Georgia federal judge trimmed a battery reseller and its recycling counterpart's lawsuit against their insurer over claims that the carrier failed to fully cover them after a two-week-long fire ravaged their property, finding that the insurer didn't owe additional coverage for the companies' personal property losses.
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October 01, 2024
Treasury Plans Final Direct Pay Partnership Regs By Year-End
The U.S. Treasury Department is eyeing the end of the year to finalize regulations for development projects to elect out of their partnership tax status to qualify for a direct cash payment of their clean energy tax credits, an official said Tuesday.
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September 30, 2024
Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action
The year's spookiest month is looking scary-good for appellate aficionados, as famed oral advocates joust in October over net neutrality and Uber's extraordinary bid to unravel multidistrict litigation — just two of the high-profile arguments previewed in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing. October also begins with former President Jimmy Carter turning 100, and we'll test your knowledge of his profound impact on the judiciary.
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September 30, 2024
Amazon's Soured Solar Deal Suit Misses Mark, PE Firm Says
A California-based private equity firm and firms tied to two solar projects have urged a Washington state judge to toss most of Amazon's claims in a $200 million countersuit over a power purchase deal fallout, accusing the e-commerce giant of making an "end run" around its own contracts to drain them financially.
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September 30, 2024
Arizona Legislature Says State Can't Slip Monument Suits
The Arizona State Legislature fired back at Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' attempt to dismiss its lawsuit seeking to upend the Biden administration's creation of a national monument on an Indigenous site, defending its alleged injuries as "concrete and imminent."
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September 30, 2024
Big Banks Get Brazilian Pollution Suit Booted From NY
A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed an effort by a Brazilian city and residents to hold several big banks liable for allegedly financing environmentally ruinous mining operations in their region, ruling the matter would be more appropriately heard in Brazil.
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September 30, 2024
Apache Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Mining Case
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling by Arizona's high court that sides with a state agency decision letting a copper mining company discharge treated wastewater from potential future operations into a local waterway.
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September 30, 2024
DOE Plutonium Pit Plan Found To Violate Environmental Law
A South Carolina federal judge on Monday backed antinuclear groups' challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy plan to boost production of plutonium cores used in nuclear weapons, saying the DOE hadn't properly considered the potential environmental impact of the plan.
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September 30, 2024
Kids Face 'Very Uphill' Climb To Save Reworked Climate Suit
A California federal judge indicated Monday that he will likely toss amended allegations that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's climate policies run afoul of children's constitutional rights, saying the plaintiffs face a "very uphill" battle to conform the lawsuit with binding Ninth Circuit precedent.
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September 30, 2024
Missouri Drops Appeal Intended To Save ESG Regulations
Missouri has asked the Eighth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of a federal judge's decision finding that the state's anti-environmental, social and governance regulations for brokers and advisers violate the First Amendment and are preempted by federal laws.
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September 30, 2024
Marathon Unit Wants 8th Circ. To Nix Appeal In Pipeline Fight
A Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary is asking the Eighth Circuit to dismiss an appeal by tribal landowners trying to intervene in its lawsuit challenging the Interior Department's reversal of prior decisions related to a pipeline crossing part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
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September 30, 2024
Morgan Stanley Investment Arm Nabs $750M For Climate Fund
Morgan Stanley's investment management arm revealed Monday that its climate private equity fund, which is focused on investing in North American and European companies working to avoid or remove one gigaton of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions from the atmosphere, closed at $750 million of equity capital commitments.
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September 30, 2024
Del. Justices Asked To Revive Malpractice Suit Against Firms
Parents who hired Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico LLC and Schochor Staton Goldberg and Cardea PA to pursue claims that contamination from a Mountaire Corp. chicken plant caused "catastrophic injuries" to their child are urging Delaware's Supreme Court to revive their malpractice suit against the firms, saying they didn't "have an adequate opportunity to litigate."
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September 30, 2024
Climate Analytics Co. Seeks Ch. 11 With Up To $50M In Debt
BAWT Enterprises LLC, the New Hampshire-based parent company of climate data analytics firm Athenium Analytics, filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware in hopes of quickly confirming its prepackaged plan to hand ownership of the reorganized company to its creditors.
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September 30, 2024
Helene-Hit NC Alters Court Deadlines, Flags Price-Gouging
Hurricane Helene's wrath in North Carolina prompted the extension of state court filing deadlines and price-gouging warnings by state and federal enforcers as the legal community grappled with what Chief Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby lamented as "catastrophic conditions" caused by the vicious storm.
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September 27, 2024
Calif. Appeals Court Won't Revive Suit Targeting Zero Emission Reg
A California appeals court has refused to jump-start a natural gas vehicle coalition's lawsuit targeting an Advanced Clean Trucks regulation aimed at boosting the sale of electric zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, ruling state regulators properly considered alternatives and impacts.
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September 27, 2024
NJ Town Urges Court To Keep $1B DuPont Pollution Suit Alive
Carneys Point Township urged a New Jersey state judge Friday to keep alive its billion dollar lawsuit over pollution from the former Dupont Chambers Works facility, arguing its complaint and the Garden State environmental regulator's enforcement action seeking the remediation of the same site have nothing to do with each other.
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September 27, 2024
2nd Circ. Won't Revive Danimer Investors' 'Greenwashing' Suit
The Second Circuit on Friday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing Danimer Scientific Inc. of over-hyping the environmentally friendly nature of a plastics alternative it produced, with the appellate court saying that there was no proof that company executives purposefully misled investors.
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September 27, 2024
Hurricane Helene Losses Could Exceed $5B: Market Analyst
The losses from Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that slammed into Florida's panhandle Thursday evening, could exceed $5 billion and challenge insurers dealing with high reinsurance costs, according to an early estimate from the insurer credit rating company AM Best.
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September 27, 2024
GAO Says DOE Could Save Billions On Hanford Waste Plan
A government watchdog said in a report Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy should heed experts who say the agency could save billions of dollars by distinguishing between high- and lower-level waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington, one of the biggest cleanups in the world.
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September 27, 2024
Energy Cases To Watch In This US Supreme Court Term
The new U.S. Supreme Court term could be just as action-packed as the previous term was for the energy industry, as the justices will weigh in on how federal agencies conduct environmental reviews and field petitions over climate change policies and lawsuits. Here's a list of energy-related cases to watch this term.
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September 27, 2024
NY's Midtown Bus Terminal Clears Enviro Review Hurdle
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Federal Transit Administration said on Friday that the agencies have signed the final environmental impact statement for the replacement of Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal, bringing the $10 billion proposed project closer to becoming reality.
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September 27, 2024
Life Sciences Firms Energize IPO Market As Recovery Builds
Initial public offerings are closing the year's third quarter on an upswing, led mostly by pre-revenue drug developers and select large companies that are seizing opportunities in friendlier capital markets buoyed by interest-rate cuts, generating momentum that experts say could carry over into next year.
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September 27, 2024
GM, LG Get Go-Ahead On $150M EV Battery Settlement
A Michigan federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $150 million settlement to resolve claims that General Motors LLC sold Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with faulty batteries made by LG units, finding the deal to be fair and reasonable in resolving the claims.
Expert Analysis
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New Laws, Regs Mean More Scrutiny Of Airline Carbon Claims
Recent climate disclosure laws and regulations in the U.S. and Europe mean that scrutiny of airlines' green claims will likely continue to intensify — so carriers must make sure their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through use of sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and carbon offsets measure up to their marketing, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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Atmospheric Rivers: Force Majeure Or Just A Rainy Day?
As atmospheric rivers pummel California with intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, agencies and contractors in the state struggling to manage projects may invoke force majeure — but as with all construction risk issues, the terms of the agreement govern, and relief may not always be available, say Kyle Hamilton and Corey Boock at Nossaman.
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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3 Surprising Deposition Dangers Attorneys Must Heed
Attorneys often do not think of discovery as a particularly risky phase of litigation, but counsel must closely heed some surprisingly strict and frequently overlooked requirements before, during and after depositions that can lead to draconian consequences, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.
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Best Practices For Chemical Transparency In Supply Chains
A flurry of new and forthcoming regulations in different jurisdictions that require disclosure of potentially hazardous substances used in companies' products and processes will require businesses to take proactive steps to build chemical transparency into their supply chains, and engage robustly and systematically with vendors, says Jillian Stacy at Enhesa.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.