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Environmental
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May 07, 2025
Shell Says Conn. Draft Shows Climate Review Wasn't Needed
Two Shell Oil subsidiaries have asked a Connecticut federal judge to pause expert discovery in an environmental group's challenge to pollution prevention efforts at a New Haven petroleum terminal along Long Island Sound, claiming state regulators have clarified that their current permit does not squarely require a climate change review.
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May 07, 2025
16 States Sue DOT Over EV Charging Infrastructure Funds
The Trump administration has illegally cut off congressionally approved funding for electric-vehicle charging infrastructure projects, a group of states alleged in a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday.
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May 07, 2025
NY Eyes Injunction Against Feds In Congestion Price Fight
New York transportation agencies have asked a federal judge to block the U.S. Department of Transportation from following through on its threat to withhold federal funding for Manhattan roadway projects if the Empire State doesn't halt congestion pricing.
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May 07, 2025
AI-Focused SPAC Raises $125M As Blank-Check Filings Surge
Dune Acquisition Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company targeting artificial intelligence and various technologies, began trading Wednesday after raising $125 million, the latest SPAC to join the market as three more such vehicles filed IPOs in recent days.
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May 07, 2025
Geely Lobs Offer To Take Chinese EV Maker Zeekr Private
Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. on Wednesday announced it has submitted a non-binding proposal to take Chinese electric-vehicle maker Zeekr private by acquiring the remaining shares it does not already own.
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May 06, 2025
CO2 Conversion Co. Sues Wash. Neighbor Over Toxic Fumes
A carbon conversion technology firm has launched a lawsuit in Washington federal court over noxious gases that have allegedly drifted onto its state project site from a neighboring chemical storage facility, making conditions "unbearable" for workers building a new sustainable aviation fuel plant.
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May 06, 2025
Colo. Judge Wary Pausing Dam Construction Can't Be Done
A Colorado federal judge said at the end of a daylong hearing Tuesday that she still had not heard what she needed to decide if further construction is necessary to ensure a partially constructed dam won't create public safety risks, after she had previously halted the project for further environmental review.
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May 06, 2025
Ruling Doesn't Bind FERC Auction Approval, DC Circ. Told
A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determination that a court ruling required it to let a grid operator proceed with a flawed electricity capacity auction cannot be squared with its duty to modify unjust or unreasonable rates, consumer advocates and public utilities told the D.C. Circuit.
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May 06, 2025
Group Says $1.6M Funding Cut Derails Native History Efforts
The National Congress of American Indians says a recent $1.6 million funding cut to Native American boarding school research by the Trump administration will derail efforts to document the history of Indigenous communities, survivors and those who never made it home.
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May 06, 2025
Benton Harbor Must Face Lead Contamination Mass Tort
A Michigan city's officials must face claims that they failed to protect children from drinking lead-contaminated tap water, a split Sixth Circuit said Tuesday, finding the city's conduct plausibly violated the children's constitutional rights.
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May 06, 2025
Texas Jury Clears Marathon Oil In $123M Force Majeure Case
A Texas federal jury has freed Marathon Oil Co. from a $123.7 million contract dispute stemming from a natural gas delivery impeded in 2021 by Winter Storm Uri.
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May 06, 2025
Fuel Refiners Say EPA Shirked Duty To Grant Biofuel Waiver
A refining industry trade group has urged a D.C. federal judge to order the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to scale back its cellulosic biofuel blending requirements for 2023, saying the agency shirked an obligation to do so after production fell short of projections.
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May 06, 2025
Oil Cos. Bet On Trump Order To Try Dodging Climate Tort Suit
Energy companies told a South Carolina state judge that President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at curtailing certain state climate actions is all the more reason to dismiss Charleston's climate tort suit seeking monetary damages for alleged greenhouse gas pollution.
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May 06, 2025
DOD Says It Has Standing To Halt Labor Contracts
The U.S. Department of Defense asked a court not to end its lawsuit over President Donald Trump's move to end collective bargaining with its workers, saying it cannot manage its workforce "without facing substantial legal uncertainty."
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May 06, 2025
Mistrial Declared On Punitive Damages In Bard Cancer Case
A Georgia state judge declared a mistrial as to punitive damages Tuesday in a suit alleging C.R. Bard's ethylene oxide emissions caused a man's cancer, leaving a $20 million compensatory damages verdict in place but inviting a round of briefing on the unusual situation.
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May 06, 2025
Marshall Fire Suit Must Stay In Colo., Plaintiffs' Attys Say
Local governments and individuals accusing Xcel Energy Inc. in a lawsuit of failing to mitigate risks leading up to the devastating 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado said the company must stand trial in the state, rebuffing the notion that the state's court had no jurisdiction.
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May 06, 2025
EPA Urges DC Circ. To Block Climate Change NGO Grants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked the D.C. Circuit to allow it to restart its effort to reclaim billions of dollars in congressionally approved funding for nonprofits the Biden administration picked to carry out climate change projects.
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May 06, 2025
Firms Beat Malpractice Suit Over Chicken Plant Pollution
Delaware's Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a trial court's dismissal of a malpractice suit against Brockstedt Mandalas Federico LLC and Schochor Staton Goldberg & Cardea PA for their alleged mishandling of claims associated with a child's "catastrophic injuries" purportedly caused by contamination from a chicken plant.
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May 06, 2025
Nuclear Plant Renewal Rules Are Sound, Backers Tell DC Circ.
New U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license renewal rules adequately account for environmental risks from accidents, aging equipment and climate change, industry players told the D.C. Circuit, urging it to reject a challenge brought by anti-nuclear power groups.
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May 05, 2025
DC Circ. Judge Doubts Fla. Plan To Permit Clean Water
At least one D.C. Circuit judge came to the table Monday morning extremely skeptical about the government's argument to restore the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of Florida's plan to assume control of a Clean Water Act permitting program, and she wasn't pulling any punches.
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May 05, 2025
Judge Poised To Decide If Mich. Will Face Dam Collapse Trial
A state judge will decide next week whether thousands of flood victims can proceed to trial on their claims that the state of Michigan is to blame for a hydroelectric dam collapse that caused widespread flooding.
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May 05, 2025
5th Circ. Says Biden Climate Officials' Info Not Protected
The Fifth Circuit on Monday ordered the U.S. Department of State to give the names of Biden administration officials who helped set the nation's greenhouse gas emissions targets to a conservative Texas-based legal group that's seeking climate change policy information.
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May 05, 2025
California Sues Feds Over Koi Nation Land Trust Approval
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking a federal court to vacate a Department of the Interior decision to take 70 acres into trust for the construction of a proposed hotel and casino by the Koi Nation, arguing that without reversal, the state may forfeit any regulatory control over gaming on the site.
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May 05, 2025
Calif. Chamber Gets Acrylamide Cancer Warnings Deleted
A California federal judge has sided with the state's Chamber of Commerce in a suit challenging Proposition 65's requirement that companies warn buyers about dietary acrylamide in their products, finding that it violates the First Amendment's protections against compelled speech.
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May 05, 2025
Sunoco Expands Into Canada With $9.1B Parkland Acquisition
Sunoco LP on Monday said it has agreed to buy Canadian gas station and refinery operator Parkland Corp. in a cash and equity deal worth approximately $9.1 billion, including assumed debt, a deal that greatly expands Sunoco's North American fuel distribution business.
Expert Analysis
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How Courts Can Filter Nonmeritorious Claims In Mass Torts
Nonmeritorious claims have been a key obstacle to settlement in many recent high-profile mass torts, but courts may be able to use tools they already have to solve this problem, says Samir Parikh at Wake Forest University.
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Series
Racing Corvettes Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The skills I use when racing Corvettes have enhanced my legal practice in several ways, because driving, like practicing law, requires precision, awareness and a good set of brakes — complete with the wisdom to know how and when to use them, says Kat Mateo at Olshan Frome.
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Opinion
Attorneys Must Act Now To Protect Judicial Independence
Given the Trump administration's recent moves threatening the independence of the judiciary, including efforts to impeach judges who ruled against executive actions, lawyers must protect the rule of law and resist attempts to dilute the judicial branch’s authority, says attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal.
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The Math Of Cross-Examination: Less Is More, More Is Less
When conducting cross-examination at trial, attorneys should remember that “less is more, and more is less” — limiting both the scope of questioning and the length of each query in order to control the witness’s testimony and keep the factfinders’ attention, says Thomas Innes at the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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Fund Names Rule FAQs Leave Some Interpretative Uncertainty
Although recently released FAQs clarify many specific points of the 2023 expansion to the Investment Company Act's fund names rule, important questions remain about how U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff will interpret other key terms when the end-of-year compliance date arrives, say attorneys at Dechert.
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How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work
Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.
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Tools For Witness Control That Go Beyond Leading Questions
Though leading questions can be efficient and effective for constraining a witness’s testimony, this strategy isn’t appropriate for every trial and pretrial scenario, so techniques like headlining and looping can be deployed during direct examination, depositions and even witness interviews, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.
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Opinion
US Steel-Nippon Merger Should Not Have Been Blocked
The Biden administration's block of the U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel merger on national security grounds was unconstitutional overreach and needs to be overturned, with the harms remedied in federal court, says attorney Chuck Meyer.Â
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10 Issues To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting
This year, in addition to evergreen developments driven by national security priorities, disruptive new technologies and competition with rival powers, federal contractors will see significant disruptions driven by the new administration’s efforts to reduce government spending, regulation and the size of the federal workforce, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.
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Navigating The Trump Enviro Rollback And Its Consequences
The Trump administration's rapid push for environmental deregulation will lead to both opportunities and challenges, requiring companies to adopt strategic approaches to a complex, unpredictable legal environment in which federal rollbacks are countered by increased enforcement by states, and risks of citizen litigation may be heightened, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Series
Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.
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8 Ways Cos. Can Prep For Termination Of Their Enviro Grants
The federal government appears to be reviewing energy- and infrastructure-related grants and potentially terminating grants inconsistent with the Trump administration's stated policy goals, and attorneys at DLA Piper provide eight steps that recipients of grants should consider taking in the interim.
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Opinion
Undoing An American Ideal Of Fairness
President Donald Trump’s orders attacking birthright citizenship, civil rights education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs threaten hard-won constitutional civil rights protections and decades of efforts to undo bias in the law — undermining what Chief Justice Earl Warren called "our American ideal of fairness," says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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How Trump EPA Could Fix Carbon Combustion Residuals Rule
The Trump administration is likely targeting the recently adopted carbon combustion residual rule, especially since it imposes very stringent, detailed and expedited requirements on coal power plants — but even if the rule is not vacated entirely, there are measures that could greatly reduce its regulatory burden, says Stephen Jones at Post & Schell.