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Environmental

  • April 23, 2025

    Justices Hint That Fuel Groups Can Fight Emissions Waiver

    U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared to back a contention from fuel industry groups that they have standing to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act waiver allowing California to set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles.

  • April 23, 2025

    Judge Says Calif. Tribes Can't Intervene In $700M Casino Row

    A District of Columbia federal judge refused on Wednesday to allow three California tribes and a company to intervene in another California tribe's suit accusing the federal government of wrongfully rescinding gambling eligibility for the tribe's $700 million casino project.

  • April 23, 2025

    Plastic Co. Asks 1st Circ. To Undo Class Cert In PFOA Suit

    Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Co. told the First Circuit that a New Hampshire federal judge's overly broad class certification for plaintiffs claiming it contaminated thousands of properties with a toxic forever chemical must be reversed, arguing that it opened courthouse doors to uninjured class members.

  • April 23, 2025

    New Mexico Wildfire Sparks Suit Against Federal Government

    The federal government is being hit with a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service's alleged failure to follow its own prescribed burn plan, saying the lapse eventually led to the destruction of nearly 46,000 acres in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico.

  • April 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Asked To Modify Ruling In LA Port Co. Coverage Row

    A Los Angeles port operator's insurer asked a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit to rethink part of its decision ordering a jury trial on the amount of defense costs the operator incurred while litigating pollution claims brought by the city, arguing they improperly relied on a depublished decision.

  • April 23, 2025

    6th Circ. Preserves Enbridge's Pipeline Suit Against Mich.

    The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday said Enbridge Energy LP can pursue its lawsuit challenging Michigan's decision to revoke an easement for a natural gas and oil pipeline, rejecting the state's argument that it was protected by sovereign immunity.

  • April 23, 2025

    Railcar Co. Owes Nothing In $600M Ohio Derailment Deal

    A federal jury on Wednesday freed a railcar company from Norfolk Southern Corp.'s suit seeking a contribution to a $600 million settlement with individuals and businesses impacted by a train derailment and chemical spill in a small Ohio village two years ago.   

  • April 23, 2025

    Insurer Says No Coverage For $7.8M Tornado Damage Suit

    The insurer for a construction inspection company claimed it owed no coverage for a suit alleging the company overlooked deficiencies that contributed to a $7.8 million tornado loss, telling a New Jersey federal court the policyholder had no coverage for professional services gone wrong.

  • April 23, 2025

    Judge Slams TCPA Atty Over Filing With 'No Legitimate Basis'

    A North Carolina magistrate judge on Wednesday chastised a Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigant and his attorney for filing a reply to a discovery motion after the court had already ruled on it, striking the reply from the docket and warning that further filings without "a legitimate basis" could lead to sanctions.

  • April 23, 2025

    Sierra Metals, Alpayana Reach $176M Deal After 'Hostile' Bid

    Toronto-based mining company Sierra Metals Inc. said Wednesday it has reached a preliminary agreement to sell the business to Alpayana Canada in a deal worth approximately $176 million, in a U-turn for the company after characterizing an earlier Alpayana offer as a "hostile" takeover bid.

  • April 23, 2025

    Akerman Adds Womble Bond Renewable Energy Pro In NC

    Akerman LLP has added a former Womble Bond Dickinson LLP partner to the firm's Charlotte, North Carolina, office for its corporate practice group, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • April 23, 2025

    Apollo Plugs $220M Into Energy-Focused Joint Venture

    Private equity giant Apollo, advised by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, on Wednesday announced plans to commit up to $220 million into a new joint venture partnership with Brown Rudnick LLP-led Bullrock Energy Ventures.

  • April 23, 2025

    Judge Likely To Block Trump Collective-Bargaining Ban

    A D.C. federal judge appeared ready on Wednesday to block President Donald Trump's executive order threatening to strip as many as 100,000 federal employees of their collective bargaining power, saying the order seems to target unions because they've challenged his actions, not because of any purported national security justification.

  • April 23, 2025

    M&A 'Pause' Requires Nimble, Creative Dealmaking

    With deals stalling in a market defined by uncertainty, attorneys and the dealmakers they counsel are leaning on creative structures — from earnouts to partial stake sales — to keep transactions alive, according to corporate lawyers advising on major mergers and acquisitions.

  • April 22, 2025

    PacifiCorp Should Pay For 39 Years Of Fire Trauma, Jury Told

    A group of nine displaced property owners started the latest trial Tuesday over 2020 wildfires during which PacifiCorp chose not to de-energize its power lines, telling an Oregon state jury that more than 39 years' worth of harm has been done when all the plaintiffs' sagas are considered together.

  • April 22, 2025

    Audit Finds Calif. Universities' Repatriation Efforts Still Slow

    The University of California system, despite years of demands for compliance to a federal law designed to protect Indigenous burial sites, still lacks accountability and urgency to return to tribes the thousands of Indigenous remains and artifacts in its collections, according to a state audit on the process.

  • April 22, 2025

    Wind Farm Work Stoppage Raises Energy Project Risks

    The Trump administration's recent move to freeze construction of a federally approved offshore wind farm has energy infrastructure developers concerned that their permits may not protect them from the government pulling the plug on their projects.

  • April 22, 2025

    US Intends To Proceed With Ariz. Copper Mine, Justices Told

    The U.S. government says there has been no doubt that it intends to proceed with a land exchange in Arizona for a planned multibillion-dollar copper mine, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that its recent notice of publication of a final environmental impact statement for the project does not constitute urgent review.

  • April 22, 2025

    Ohio Derailment Not Caused By Texas Hurricane, Rail Co. Says

    Railcar company GATX Corp. told a federal jury Tuesday that after three weeks of testimony, only a single witness had advanced Norfolk Southern's theory that a 2017 hurricane in Texas caused the hidden damage to a GATX-owned car that would eventually set off the 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

  • April 22, 2025

    Phillips Steps Down As FERC Commissioner

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Commissioner Willie Phillips stepped down from his role on Tuesday, paving the way for President Donald Trump to install a Republican majority at the five-member agency.

  • April 22, 2025

    GAO Report Looks At Gen AI's Environmental, Human Effects

    Generative AI's promises to boost productivity and transform industries could benefit people, but it also comes with risks of social harm, and its effects on the environment remain unclear, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday.

  • April 22, 2025

    Nuclear Startup To Go Public Through $475M SPAC Deal

    Nuclear startup Terra Innovatum said Tuesday it plans to go public at a valuation of $475 million by merging with special purpose acquisition company GSR III Acquisition Corp., joining several industry peers to go public through a SPAC deal.

  • April 22, 2025

    At Least 10 Firms Assist On $1B Barrick Gold Alaska Deal

    Barrick Gold Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its 50% interest in the Donlin Gold Project in Alaska to Paulson & Co. and Novagold Resources Inc. for $1 billion in cash, in a deal steered by at least 10 law firms.

  • April 21, 2025

    EPA Tells Enviro Justice Employees Reductions Are Coming

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday issued reduction in force notices to employees in the recently shuttered environmental justice and civil rights office, as part of the agency's plan to carry out President Donald Trump's order to get rid of all diversity, equity and inclusion positions.

  • April 21, 2025

    Calif. Judges Who Lost Homes Sue LA Over Palisades Fire

    A California federal judge and a retired federal magistrate judge whose homes were destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire have sued the city of Los Angeles over the deadly inferno, saying two water reservoirs drained by the city's water department for repairs prior to the blaze substantially caused their losses.

Expert Analysis

  • Managing Litigation Side-Switching During 2nd Trump Admin

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    Now that the new presidential administration is in place, the government will likely switch positions in a number of pending cases, and stakeholders should employ strategies to protect their interests, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

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    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Nixing NRC Oversight Of Small Reactors Could Cut Both Ways

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    A lawsuit in a Texas federal court aims to abolish the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's authority over small modular reactors, which the plaintiffs contend will unleash new and innovative technology — but the resulting patchwork of state regulations could increase costs for the nuclear industry, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

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    All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • New York Climate Superfund Law May Face Preemption Fight

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    New York state's new climate superfund law highlights a growing trend of states supplementing their climate litigation efforts with legislative initiatives — but it will likely encounter the same federal preemption questions raised about state and local lawsuits seeking redress for climate harms, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Looking Back At 2024's Noteworthy State AG Litigation

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    State attorneys general across the U.S. took bold steps in 2024 to address unlawful activities by corporations in several areas, including privacy and data security, financial transparency, children's internet safety, and other overall consumer protection claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Updated FWS Regs Will Streamline Right-Of-Way Permitting

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    Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's final rule covering rights-of-way across lands administered by the service will bring increased up-front fees and stricter permit terms and conditions, it also provides a clearer application process and should reduce permitting delays and total costs, say attorneys at Holland & Hart.

  • Nippon, US Steel Face Long Odds On Merger Challenge

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    Following the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' review of Japan's Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel, the companies face a formidable uphill battle in challenging the president's exercise of authority to block the deal on national security grounds, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • The Compliance Trends And Imperatives On Tap In 2025

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    The corporate ethics and compliance landscape is rapidly evolving, posing challenges from conflicting stakeholder expectations to technological disruptions, and businesses will need to explore human-centered, data-driven and evidence-based practices, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.

  • Hydrogen Regs Will Provide More Certainty — If They Survive

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    Newly finalized regulations implementing the Section 45V clean hydrogen tax credit allow producers more flexibility, and should therefore help put the industry on more solid footing — but the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress will have multiple options for overturning or altering the regulations, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

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    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

  • NY Plastic Pollution Verdict May Not Bode Well For Other Suits

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    The dismissal of New York state's public nuisance complaint against PepsiCo over pollution of the Buffalo River with the company's single use plastic bottles may not augur well for similar lawsuits filed by Baltimore and Los Angeles County, although tort law varies from state to state, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Climate Disclosure Spotlight Shifts To 2 Calif. Laws

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    With Donald Trump's election spelling the all-but-certain demise of the proposed federal climate disclosure rules, new laws in California currently stand as the nation's only broadly applicable climate disclosure requirements — and their brevity is both a blessing and a curse, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

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