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Environmental

  • July 29, 2025

    Judge Says Tug Operator Estate Liable For $14M Cleanup Bill

    A Washington federal judge ruled that the estate of a tugboat master is jointly and severally liable for about $14.4 million of oil cleanup costs the U.S. government incurred after a derelict fishing vessel being towed ran aground on the California coast.

  • July 29, 2025

    Pot Growers Not Forum-Shopping In $17M Suit, Judge Finds

    A Massachusetts state court judge has rejected claims of forum shopping made by a berry farm accused of contaminating nearby cannabis fields with pesticides, denying a motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.

  • July 28, 2025

    Patent Damages Explode As Practice Areas See Wild Swings

    Damages in plaintiff-won federal patent cases have soared in the past decade while those in environmental cases and some other types of civil litigation have plummeted, a new report from Lex Machina shows.

  • July 28, 2025

    Apache Women Look To Block Arizona Site's Destruction

    A group of Apache women are looking to block the federal government from transferring their Arizona worship site to a copper mining company, telling a D.C. federal court they will be unable to practice and pass down their religion if the site is destroyed.

  • July 28, 2025

    Rincon Band Says NEPA Reform Proposal Is Bad Idea

    The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians says projects under the FCC's jurisdiction have historically "failed to adequately identify and assess historic properties of cultural and religious significance to Tribal Nations" and a proposal to loosen National Environmental Policy Act rules will make things only worse.

  • July 28, 2025

    Florida's AG Announces 'Climate Cartel' Investigation

    Florida's attorney general announced Monday that he is investigating whether two greenhouse gas emission reduction groups violated state consumer protection or antitrust laws for allegedly coercing companies into disclosing proprietary information.

  • July 28, 2025

    Hawaii Fights Back Against US Bid To Block Climate Suit

    Hawaii on Friday asked a federal judge to throw out the Trump administration's "extraordinary and unprecedented" effort to block the state's climate change lawsuit against major energy companies.

  • July 28, 2025

    BLM Kills Biden-Era Policy Docs For Oil Drilling In Alaska

    The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Monday rescinded three Biden-era actions that aimed to restrict development activities in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve.

  • July 28, 2025

    Utilities Can Join 4th Circ. FERC Grid Policy Fight

    The Fourth Circuit said Friday that environmental groups, municipal utilities and electricity cooperatives, among many others, can intervene in an appeal challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent overhaul of its regional transmission policy.

  • July 28, 2025

    Fla. Says Tribe Can't Join Detention Center Row, Feds Shrug

    The Florida Division of Emergency Management's chief is objecting to the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians' effort to join green groups' legal fight against an immigration detention center constructed in the Everglades.

  • July 28, 2025

    Midstream Co. Says Contractor Caused $8M Spill In La.

    A Louisiana midstream company has told a Harris County court that a contractor tasked with controlling operations on a frac tank caused an $8 million oil spill, asking the court to order the contractor to reimburse it for the spill.

  • July 28, 2025

    Insurer Must Cover Runoff Settlement, Auto Co. Says

    An automobile auction company told a Texas federal court that a Liberty Mutual unit must indemnify a settlement reached over underlying claims that the company caused storm water runoff in neighboring properties when it cleared several parcels of land for car and machinery storage.

  • July 28, 2025

    Homeowners, Chubb Settle Water Damage Suit Ahead Of Trial

    Illinois homeowners and a Chubb unit agreed to end their dispute over coverage for damage caused by a burst water pipe during an extreme temperature drop, weeks after an Illinois federal court cleared the case for trial, according to a court filing.

  • July 28, 2025

    KKR Plugs AU$500M Into Australian Renewable Energy Biz

    Private equity giant KKR on Monday said that it has agreed to invest AU$500 million ($326.3 million) into Australian renewable energy company CleanPeak Energy to help it grow its distributed energy platform.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Del. Bankruptcy Cases Highlight US Trustee Objections

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    As three recent Delaware bankruptcy cases show, debtors who seek approval of a stalking horse bid protections agreement should be prepared for the U.S. Trustee Office's objections, including if the proposed classification for the bid protections is a superpriority administrative expense claim, says Kyle Arendsen at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From SEC To BigLaw

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    As I adjusted to the multifaceted workflow of a BigLaw firm after leaving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, working side by side with new colleagues on complex matters proved the fastest way to build a deep rapport and demonstrate my value, says Jennifer Lee at Jenner & Block.

  • After CEQ's Rollback, Fate Of NEPA May Be In Justices' Hands

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    The White House Council on Environmental Quality recently announced its intention to rescind its own National Environmental Policy Act regulations, causing additional burdens to existing NEPA challenges, and raising questions for regulated entities and federal agencies that may only be resolved by a pending U.S. Supreme Court case, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Making The Case For Rest In The Legal Profession

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    For too long, a culture of overwork has plagued the legal profession, but research shows that attorneys need rest to perform optimally and sustainably, so legal organizations and individuals must implement strategies that allow for restoration, says Marissa Alert at MDA Wellness, Carol Ross-Burnett at CRB Global, and Denise Robinson at The Still Center.

  • 4 Ways Women Attorneys Can Build A Legal Legacy

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    This Women’s History Month, women attorneys should consider what small, day-to-day actions they can take to help leave a lasting impact for future generations, even if it means mentoring one person or taking 10 minutes to make a plan, says Jackie Prester, a former shareholder at Baker Donelson.

  • Cleanup Claim Characterization Key For Timeliness Inquiry

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    The Tenth Circuit's recent ruling in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. NL Industries, determining that ARCO's contribution claim was timely, highlights the importance of accurately characterizing a claim for recoupment of environmental cleanup costs as a cost-recovery action or contribution to avoid dismissal or recharacterization of the claim, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • A Judge's Pointers For Adding Spice To Dry Legal Writing

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    U.S. District Judge Fred Biery shares a few key lessons about how to go against the grain of the legal writing tradition by adding color to bland judicial opinions, such as by telling a human story and injecting literary devices where possible.

  • How To Create A Unique Jury Profile For Every Case

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    Instead of striking potential jurors based on broad stereotypes or gut feelings, trial attorneys should create case-specific risk profiles that address the political climate, the specific facts of the case and the venue in order to more precisely identify higher-risk jurors, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Paves Path Out Of Loper Bright 'Twilight Zone'

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright ruling created a twilight zone between express statutory delegations that trigger agency deference and implicit ones that do not, but the Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Moctezuma-Reyes v. Garland crafted a two-part test for resolving cases within this gray area, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • CO2 Oil Recovery Vs. Carbon Capture: Key Legal Differences

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    As more states seek primacy over carbon capture and storage wells, it is increasingly important for companies to understand the regulations surrounding CCS, and how they differ from the arguably less complex legal framework for the closely related technology of carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery, says Sarah Milocco at Husch Blackwell.

  • Recent Cases Suggest ESG Means 'Ever-Shifting Guidelines'

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    U.S. courts have recently handed down a number of contradictory decisions on important environmental, social and governance issues, adding to an already complex mix of conflicting political priorities, new laws and changing regulatory guidance — but there are steps that companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Navigating The Uncertain Future Of The Superfund PFAS Rule

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent grant of a pause in litigation while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviews the Biden-era designation of two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous" under the Superfund law creates new uncertainty for companies — but more lawsuits are likely as long as the rule remains in effect, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing

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    As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • 7 Tips For Associates To Thrive In Hybrid Work Environments

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    As the vast majority of law firms have embraced some type of hybrid work policy, associates should consider a few strategies to get the most out of both their in-person and remote workdays, says James Argionis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Series

    Playing Beach Volleyball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My commitment to beach volleyball has become integral to my performance as an attorney, with the sport continually reminding me that teamwork, perseverance, professionalism and stress management are essential to both undertakings, says Amy Drushal at Trenam.

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