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Environmental

  • September 24, 2025

    DC Judge Won't Reinstate IGs Over 'Obvious' Trump Violation

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Wednesday declined to reinstate eight inspectors general whom President Donald Trump fired without warning or rationale, finding that while it is "obvious" the president violated federal law governing the removal of inspectors general, the plaintiffs have not shown irreparable harm.

  • September 24, 2025

    Xcel Energy To Pay $640M To Settle Marshall Fire Lawsuit

    Xcel Energy, Colorado's largest utility company, said Wednesday that it plans to pay roughly $640 million to settle litigation that accused it of causing or contributing to the state's devastating 2021 Marshall Fire.

  • September 24, 2025

    Tower Developer Linked To Menendez Ally Wants Suit Tossed

    The developer behind a disputed high-rise project — once led by a businessman convicted in the bribery scheme involving former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez — is asking a New Jersey judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a neighboring municipality, arguing the case is incurably flawed.

  • September 24, 2025

    GAO Says Energy Dept. Must Review PFAS At Dozens Of Sites

    The U.S. Department of Energy needs to speed up its review of how forever chemicals are and have been used at its sites across the nation, the congressional watchdog agency said Wednesday.

  • September 24, 2025

    Philly Alleges Companies Misled About Products' Recyclability

    S.C. Johnson & Son and snack cake maker Bimbo Bakeries USA have been sued by the city of Philadelphia for allegedly misleading consumers about the recyclability of plastics they use in their products.

  • September 24, 2025

    Kirkland, Davis Polk Lead Mirion's $585M Paragon Buy

    Radiation detection company Mirion, advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, on Wednedsay announced that it has agreed to buy Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led nuclear power company Paragon Energy Solutions from private equity shop Windjammer Capital in a $585 million cash deal.

  • September 24, 2025

    Tribal Groups Back 9th Circ. Bid To Block Ariz. Land Transfer

    Two tribal advocacy groups are backing a Ninth Circuit bid to block a 2,400-acre federal land exchange in Arizona to make way for a billion-dollar copper mining project they say will destroy an ancient worship site, arguing that federal policies are systematically stripping Indigenous nations of their homelands.

  • September 24, 2025

    Md. County Backs Landowners In 4th Circ. Power Line Dispute

    A county board of commissioners in Maryland told the Fourth Circuit that a Public Service Energy Group unit trying to build a 67-mile transmission line has no right to conduct testing on private landowners' properties, saying a lower court erred in granting the company access.

  • September 23, 2025

    UC Researchers Win Expanded Injunction Against Grant Cuts

    A California federal judge Monday issued another preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate grants awarded to University of California researchers, this time resurrecting grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Institutes of Health.

  • September 23, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Disturb EPA's Denial Of Texas Ozone Plan

    The Fifth Circuit on Monday refused to upend a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision denying Texas' Clean Air Act implementation plans, finding that the EPA's procedure complied with the law and its reasoning for denying the plans "was sound."

  • September 23, 2025

    New Illinois Law Opens The Door To More Toxic Tort Litigation

    A new Illinois law expanding the state's jurisdictional reach in toxic tort cases has drawn mixed reactions from attorneys, with some praising the law as an added accountability measure for toxic exposure and others decrying it as an open invitation for forum shopping that could clog the state's dockets.

  • September 23, 2025

    Enviro Orgs. Ask 5th Circ. To Review Delfin LNG Project License

    Environmental groups on Monday asked the Fifth Circuit to find that the U.S. Department of Transportation violated federal law when it issued a license for the construction and operation of the Delfin LNG LLC deepwater liquefied natural gas project.

  • September 23, 2025

    Tax Court Slashes $38M In Easement Donation Deductions

    The U.S. Tax Court on Tuesday slashed $38 million in deductions for donations of two conservation easements across hundreds of acres in Georgia, finding one lacked the required conservation purpose and neither was potentially headed for mining development as the donors had claimed.

  • September 23, 2025

    Ship's Owner Can't Shift Blame For Bridge Collapse, Court Told

    The Singaporean owner and manager of the container ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and triggered its collapse cannot try to shift blame for its own failings, the South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. has told a Pennsylvania federal court.

  • September 23, 2025

    4 Firms Pave Way For $1B All-Cash Drainage Systems Deal

    Advanced Drainage Systems said Tuesday it will acquire National Diversified Sales, the water management business of Germany's Norma Group SE, in an all-cash deal valued at about $1 billion.

  • September 23, 2025

    Foes Slam Feds' GHG Plan As Trump Decries Green 'Scam'

    Green groups and democrats are strongly opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to abandon a key greenhouse gas policy, as President Donald Trump on Tuesday called climate change "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world."

  • September 23, 2025

    EPA Still Can't Escape Tort Claims Over Flint Water Crisis

    A Michigan federal judge has again denied a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency request to dismiss Federal Tort Claims Act litigation seeking to hold the government liable for allegedly lax oversight of the water system in Flint, Michigan.

  • September 23, 2025

    Law Firms Sued Over La. Hurricane Claim Fee Scheme

    Two law firms and certain attorneys engaged in a scheme to "grossly and blatantly" inflate damages estimates for hurricane-related property insurance claims in order to "collect an exorbitant fee which they would all share," a group of seven Louisiana residents told a Louisiana federal court.

  • September 23, 2025

    Chemours Asks 4th Circ. To Toss Ohio River Pollution Order

    Chemours told the Fourth Circuit a West Virginia federal judge botched the law and the science about the risks a forever chemical poses when he ordered its Washington Works facility to stop discharging permit-exceeding amounts of the substance into the Ohio River.

  • September 23, 2025

    Sullivan & Cromwell Guides Sempra On $10B Subsidiary Sale

    Sempra said Tuesday it has agreed to sell a 45% stake in its infrastructure subsidiary to a consortium led by KKR and Canada's CPP Investments for $10 billion, while separately securing $7 billion of equity financing led by Blackstone to advance a major liquefied natural gas project in Texas.

  • September 22, 2025

    Energy Investor Can Enforce €61M Award Against Bulgaria

    A D.C. federal judge Monday sided with Maltese investor ACF Renewable Energy Ltd. in a suit seeking to enforce a €61 million ($71.86 million) arbitral award against Bulgaria in a dispute over the country's changes to a fixed 20-year rate plan.

  • September 22, 2025

    Trump Admin Says Calif. Emissions Waiver Fight Is DOA

    The Trump administration has told a federal judge that California can't use the courts to override the will of Congress and undo the revocation of Clean Air Act waivers allowing the Golden State to establish its own vehicle emissions standards.

  • September 22, 2025

    EPA Proposes Rolling Back TSCA Risk Evaluation Regs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed loosening regulations for chemical health risk evaluations, saying the existing set can unnecessarily prolong reviews and stifle new products, but green groups are criticizing the move as a giveaway to industry.

  • September 22, 2025

    NextEra Dodges Antitrust Claims In $1B Power Line Fight

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday dismissed claims that NextEra Energy violated antitrust law in efforts to delay construction of a $1 billion transmission line, saying developer Avangrid Inc. failed to show how NextEra's actions limited competition in New England electricity markets.

  • September 22, 2025

    8th Circ. To Hear Tribal Tesoro Pipeline Row In October

    The Eighth Circuit has set arguments for Oct. 21 in North Dakota tribal members' challenge to a lower court's decision that denied them intervention in a lawsuit against the federal government's right-of-way trespassing claims against Tesoro High Plains Pipeline.

Expert Analysis

  • Reports Of Chemical Safety Board's Demise Are Premature

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    Despite the Trump administration's proposal to close down the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, companies should note that the agency recently enforced its accidental release reporting rule for the first time, is conducting ongoing investigations and expects more funding from Congress, say attorneys at Conn Maciel.

  • How Trump's Space Order May Ease Industry's Growth

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order aimed at removing environmental hurdles for spaceport authorization and streamlining the space industry's regulatory framework may open opportunities not only for established launch providers, but also smaller companies and spaceport authorities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Avoiding Unforced Evidentiary Errors At Trial

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    To avoid self-inflicted missteps at trial, lawyers must plan their evidentiary strategy as early as their claims and defenses, with an eye toward some of the more common pitfalls, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

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    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Resilience Planning Is New Key To Corporate Sustainability

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    While the current wave of deregulation may reduce government enforcement related to climate issues, businesses still need to evaluate how climate volatility may affect their operations and create new legal risks — making the apolitical concept of resilience increasingly important for companies, says J. Michael Showalter at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

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    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

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    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • Restored Charging Project Funds Revive Hope For EV Market

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    While 2025 began with a host of government actions that prompted some to predict the demise of the U.S. electric vehicle market, the Trump administration's recent restoration of federal funding for EV charging infrastructure under new terms presents market participants with reason for optimism, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • Demystifying The Civil Procedure Rules Amendment Process

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    Every year, an advisory committee receives dozens of proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, most of which are never adopted — but a few pointers can help maximize the likelihood that an amendment will be adopted, says Josh Gardner at DLA Piper.

  • Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

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    As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Teaching Trial Advocacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Teaching trial advocacy skills to other lawyers makes us better litigators because it makes us question our default methods, connect to young attorneys with new perspectives and focus on the needs of the real people at the heart of every trial, say Reuben Guttman, Veronica Finkelstein and Joleen Youngers.

  • Navigating Brazil's Regulations, Incentives For Green Projects

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    Brazil's evolving environmental regulatory framework and ongoing moves to attract international capital for climate-focused projects may appeal to U.S.-based companies and investors interested in sustainable development — but taking advantage of these opportunities requires careful planning and meaningful stakeholder engagement, says Milena Angulo at Guimarães.

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