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Environmental
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July 25, 2025
Real Estate Recap: Private REITs, Farms, Crypto In Escrow?
Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney perspectives on private real estate investment trusts, national security concerns raised by farmland and a recent California listing that could lead to the state's largest real estate deal using digital currency.
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July 25, 2025
Calif. Air Board Faces New Suit Over Carbon Fuel Standard
Environmental and public interest groups hit the California Air Resources Board with another lawsuit in Golden State court Friday, alleging that the state's recent amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard will have the perverse effect of incentivizing large-scale factory farms, which pose significant environmental and public health risks.
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July 25, 2025
Solar Developer Claims NC County's Permit Denial Was Biased
A "needlessly and excessively combative" board of county commissioners in North Carolina unconstitutionally blocked a solar energy developer's project based on personal issues, according to the company's lawsuit.
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July 25, 2025
9th Circ.: Gila River Tribe-Farmer Water Fight Not Over
The Ninth Circuit has ruled a federal judge prematurely sided with the Gila River Indian Community in a water rights dispute, finding future fact-finding is needed before ordering Arizona farmers to shut off wells that allegedly draw water from the river.
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July 25, 2025
Feds Redirect First Phase Of Atomic Bomb Waste To Texas
Radioactive waste from the development of the first atomic bomb will no longer be sent to a landfill in Wayne County, Michigan, after a group of nearby communities sued to block the landfill from accepting 6,000 cubic yards of the material.Â
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July 25, 2025
Fluoride Fans Tell 9th Circ. To Preserve Drinking Water Use
A pro-fluoride group is supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's fight to overturn a California federal judge's ruling that current limits on the chemical in drinking water aren't protective enough.
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July 25, 2025
Michigan, Green Groups Challenge Feds' Coal Plant Order
Michigan's attorney general and a coalition of environmental groups have appealed the Trump administration's decision to order a Consumers Energy coal power plant to operate through summer, delaying the plant's retirement.
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July 25, 2025
GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week
Glass Lewis brought a lawsuit against Texas over a measure it claims requires the proxy advisory firm to "publicly condemn itself" when its advice for clients reflects certain viewpoints the government disfavors. Meanwhile, a new proposed class action alleges Boeing employees on long-term disability leave missed out on a $12,000 bonus distributed after workers ratified a union contract. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.
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July 24, 2025
Trump AI Push Runs Up Against Cost, Enviro Concerns
President Donald Trump's push to rapidly build infrastructure for the booming artificial intelligence industry could drive up energy costs in markets supporting data center growth and even hit roadblocks if state and local governments resist new developments.
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July 24, 2025
Toxic Waste Site Owner Can't Sue After Guilty Plea, Court Told
The estates of two former owners of a Georgia chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste at a disused plant asked a federal judge this week to throw out a suit from the current property owner, arguing its hands are far from clean in the site's contamination after its principal's 2022 guilty plea for illegal dumping.
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July 24, 2025
FERC Chair Bids Goodbye At Last Monthly Meeting
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie presided over his final monthly open meeting on Thursday, after President Donald Trump nominated Vinson & Elkins LLP energy regulatory counsel Laura Swett to fill the Republican commissioner's seat.
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July 24, 2025
Bellwether Plaintiffs Want Redo Of GE Pollution Trial
The plaintiffs in a bellwether pollution suit against General Electric Co. and a former subsidiary are asking for a new trial, arguing the jury should not have been able to find in the subsidiary's favor after it had admitted to responsibility in prior court filings.
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July 24, 2025
Conn. Water Cos. Want Judge To Toss Customer PFAS Cases
The Connecticut Water Co. and Aquarion Water Co. on Thursday asked a Connecticut Superior Court judge to dismiss two consumer proposed class actions seeking cash damages for tap water allegedly contaminated with PFAS "forever chemicals," arguing the case should have been first considered by a state regulatory agency.
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July 24, 2025
Green Groups Cleared To Join EV Funding Freeze Challenge
A Washington federal judge will let the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations enter a multistate lawsuit against the federal government seeking to preserve funding for new electric-vehicle charging infrastructure, concluding the groups have a significant interest in protecting the project funds. Â
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July 24, 2025
Waste Management Unit Sues PE Fund Over Eviction Threat
A Waste Management Inc. subsidiary accused its private equity fund landlord in Colorado state court of wrongfully threatening the company with eviction from its local large waste recycling facility in north Denver.
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July 24, 2025
Insurer Asks 4th Circ. To Nix $1.1M Roof Damage Verdict
An insurer specializing in covering religious organizations asked the Fourth Circuit to set aside a $1.1 million jury verdict it faces over roof damage that a North Carolina church said was caused by snow, arguing the lower court's jury instructions adopted the wrong causation standard.
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July 24, 2025
Equitrans Charged Over 2-Week Gas Leak In Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday on Thursday charged energy company Equitrans LP with failing to properly maintain a facility where natural gas leaked for 14 days into the air, ground and water, contaminating the nearby area and several neighboring states.
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July 24, 2025
Navy Takes Ariz. Border Land For Immigration Enforcement
The U.S. Department of the Interior said it turned over about 285 acres of land along the border with Mexico to the U.S. Navy for three years so the military can set up an enforcement area as part of the Trump administration's efforts to prevent illegal immigration.
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July 24, 2025
CapVest Seeks $11.7B Stake In Stada, Plus More Rumors
British private equity firm CapVest Partners is looking to take a major stake in German drugmaker Stada Arzneimittel in a roughly $11.7 billion deal, Comedy Central's "South Park" creators have nabbed a $1.5 billion five-year streaming rights deal with Paramount, and ExxonMobil wants to explore deepwater blocks in Trinidad and Tobago for oil and gas. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other deal rumors from the past week.
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July 23, 2025
Red Wolf Survival Relies On Redesignation, Judge Told
A conservation lawyer told a North Carolina federal judge in a dueling motions hearing Wednesday the state's experimental population of red wolves is still imperiled, arguing in federal court that the government needs to take another look at a petition to grant the wolves tighter protections.
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July 23, 2025
Enviro Groups Slam FAA For SpaceX Review Shortcuts
The Federal Aviation Administration knew SpaceX's plans to restore migratory birds' coastal habitats in the event of an explosion at its Boca Chica, Texas, launch site were inadequate, but allowed the company to bypass a full environmental impact statement nonetheless, environmental groups said Wednesday in D.C. federal court.
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July 23, 2025
North Carolina AG Defends Power To Pursue PFAS Suit
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson on Wednesday urged a state court judge not to dismiss his long-running lawsuit against DuPont spinoffs over groundwater contamination from forever chemicals, saying lawmakers have not revoked his power to continue pursuing the case.
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July 23, 2025
ICJ Puts Reparations On The Table In Climate Change Case
The International Court of Justice on Wednesday delivered its long-awaited advisory opinion on governments' obligations with respect to climate change, issuing a rare, unanimous decision that opens the door for nations harmed by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions to seek reparations.
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July 23, 2025
Trump Wins 9th Circ. Block On Order Providing Reorg Plans
The Ninth Circuit greenlighted the Trump administration's request to pause a lower court ruling requiring the government to turn over its layoff and reorganization plans in the case disputing whether the president can lawfully reshape federal agencies without congressional approval.
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July 23, 2025
FWS Wrongly Approved Bird-Harming Pesticide, Judge Says
A North Carolina judge on Wednesday revoked the federal government's approval of a pesticide that is toxic to birds for use as an algal bloom control measure at a lake in a wildlife refuge, saying regulators bungled the environmental review.
Expert Analysis
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Clean Energy Tax Changes Cut Timelines, Add Red Tape
With its dramatic changes to energy tax credits, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reshape project financing and investment planning — and wind and solar developers, especially those in the early stages of projects, face stricter timelines and heightened compliance challenges, says Dan Ruth at Balch & Bingham.
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High Court Cert Spotlights Varying Tests For Federal Removal
A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to review Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish, a case involving the federal officer removal statute, highlights three other recent circuit court decisions raising federal removal questions, and serves as a reminder that defendants are the masters of removal actions, says Varun Aery at Hollingsworth.
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Trump Air Emissions Carveouts Cloud The Regulatory Picture
President Donald Trump's new proclamations temporarily exempting key U.S. industries from air toxics standards, issued under a narrow, rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, will likely lead to legal challenges and tighter standards in some states, contributing to further regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at GableGotwals.
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How Property Insurers Serve As Climate Change Harbingers
Thomas Dawson at McDermott discusses the role that U.S. property insurers may play in identifying and assessing climate risk, as well as in financing climate change adaptation projects, in light of global warming and shifting geopolitical realities.
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Series
Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.
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Managing Risks As State AGs Seek To Fill Enforcement Gap
Given an unprecedented surge in state attorney general activity resulting from significant shifts in federal enforcement priorities, companies must consider tailored strategies for navigating the ever-evolving risk landscape, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
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A Deep Dive Into 14 Nixed Gensler-Era SEC Rule Proposals
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month formally withdrew 14 notices of proposed rulemaking, including several significant and widely criticized proposals that had been issued under former Chair Gary Gensler's leadership, signaling a clear and definitive shift away from the previous administration, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion
In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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A Look At Trump 2.0 Antitrust Enforcement So Far
The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration were marked by aggressive antitrust enforcement tempered by traditional structural remedies for mergers, but other unprecedented actions, like the firing of Federal Trade Commission Democrats, will likely stoke heated discussion ahead, says Richard Dagen at Axinn.
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Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss
Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Tips For Cos. From California Climate Reporting FAQ
New guidance from the California Air Resources Board on how businesses must implement the state's sweeping climate reporting requirements should help companies assess their exposure, understand their disclosure obligations and begin documenting good-faith compliance efforts, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.
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What Calif. Insurance Ruling Means For Smoke Damage Limits
As California continues to grapple with an increasing number of wildfire claims, a state court's recent Aliff v. California FAIR Plan decision serves as a clear directive to insurers that policy language that narrows the scope of fire coverage below the California Insurance Code's minimum standards is impermissible, say attorneys at Wood Smith.
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The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine
The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Series
Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator
Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.
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Calif. Air Waivers Fight Fuels Automakers', States' Uncertainty
The unprecedented attempt by Congress and the Trump administration to kill the Clean Air Act waivers supporting California's vehicle emissions standards will eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court — but meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers, and states following California's standards, are left in limbo, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.