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Environmental
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May 02, 2025
DC Circ. To Decide If 14 Miles Of Trains Is Too Many
The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether federal regulators used bad data to approve a $31 billion merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern that will see 14 miles of trains running through a set of Chicagoland communities each day.
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May 02, 2025
Feds Expand Hunting, Fishing Access In 16 Wildlife Refuges
The federal government is proposing to expand hunting and fishing access on more than 87,000 acres within the 11 states in national wildlife and fish hatchery systems, saying on Friday the move would more than triple the number of opportunities for outdoor recreation.
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May 02, 2025
Plaintiffs Seek Redo Over Sterilization Co.'s Trial Tactics
Four women who claimed a Colorado sterilization company caused their cancers asked a state court to order a new trial, arguing the business won a favorable verdict with prejudicial evidence about law firm ads and by suggesting the women are not "real victims but pawns in a scheme orchestrated by their lawyers."
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May 02, 2025
NY Officials Say Feds' Memo In Filing Mishap Is Fair Game
New York officials told a federal judge on Friday that a mistakenly filed memo from the federal government detailing its weak rationale for trying to cancel Manhattan's congestion pricing program is fair game and cannot be shielded after media outlets widely reported on it.
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May 02, 2025
Texas-Led AGs Defend BlackRock Coal Investments Suit
A coalition of Republican states led by Texas are arguing that BlackRock Inc.'s public commitments to reducing its carbon footprint are evidence that it and two other leading asset managers teamed up to suppress the production of coal in the United States, asking a federal judge not to dismiss their case against the firms.
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May 02, 2025
Trump Proposes Billions In Cuts To EPA State Grant Programs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would lose more than half of its funding compared with 2025 under the 2026 budget request released Friday by the Trump administration, with proposed cuts to drinking water infrastructure grants for states amounting to $2.4 billion.Â
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May 02, 2025
Texas City Backs Exxon In Recycling Defamation Suit
The city of Beaumont, Texas, sided with Exxon in its defamation lawsuit against California's attorney general and a coalition of conservation groups, telling a court the company's advanced recycling program provided needed innovation for coastal communities.
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May 02, 2025
NJ Panel Affirms $2.6M Coverage Payout In Cleanup Case
A New Jersey appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court's decision finding that under Massachusetts law an insurer owed a BASF entity only $2.6 million in coverage for underlying environmental remediation costs after the lower court found a prior, larger coverage calculation it had adopted was "palpably incorrect."
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May 02, 2025
Debevoise Guides Ara Partners On $800M Low-Carbon Fund
Ara Partners has raised more than $800 million for its first infrastructure fund, aimed at cutting carbon emissions from the industrial economy, with legal guidance from Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
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May 02, 2025
CR Bard Owes $20M In Ga. Ethylene Oxide Cancer Trial
A Georgia jury awarded $20 million in compensatory damages on Friday to a man who said his cancer was caused by exposure to ethylene oxide from C.R. Bard's medical sterilization plant, sending the case to a second phase for punitive damages.
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May 02, 2025
Contractors Settle Mass. AG's YMCA Asbestos Claims
The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office said Friday that two contractors will pay $150,000 each to settle claims that their faulty asbestos removal at a YMCA might have exposed schoolchildren, building residents and staff to carcinogenic particles.
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May 02, 2025
Groups Seek Order Halting Trump's Restructuring Of Gov't
A California district court must stop federal agencies from moving ahead with President Donald Trump's directive to reorganize and terminate government workers, unions and other groups argued, calling for a temporary restraining order based on alleged harms from the administration's "radical restructuring."
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May 02, 2025
Miner, Recreationists Look To Dissolve Chuckwalla Monument
A miner and an advocacy group have asked a Michigan federal court to revoke the protected status of the Chuckwalla National Monument in a suit that takes aim at presidential power to protect vast areas of federal land.
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May 01, 2025
VW, Audi Say Recall Fixes Nullify EV Fire-Risk Lawsuit
Drivers who claimed Audi of America LLC and Volkswagen Group of America Inc. sold them electric vehicles with defective batteries that could short circuit and catch fire while driving have never actually suffered this alleged issue, the automakers said in their bid seeking to dismiss the proposed class action.
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May 01, 2025
States, Green Groups Look To Vacate NEPA Ruling
States that had asked the Eighth Circuit to revive vacated National Environmental Policy Act regulations are now abandoning their appeal because the White House has eliminated the standards — but they're still asking that a lower court's decision striking down the regulations be overturned.
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May 01, 2025
CR Bard Owes For Plant Neighbor's Illness, Jury Told
A Georgia jury heard in closing arguments on Thursday that C.R. Bard's medical sterilization plant wantonly polluted the air with ethylene oxide and caused a man's cancer, while the company said the man's exposure was nowhere near danger levels.
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May 01, 2025
Insurance Pros Stress Disaster Mitigation In Senate Hearing
A panel of insurance experts stressed in front of a U.S. Senate committee Thursday the importance of mitigation efforts, such as strengthening building codes and hardening homes, as the experts discussed how prices in the property insurance market have soared because of recent natural disasters across the country.
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May 01, 2025
Senate Votes To Strike EPA 'Once In, Always In' Rule Update
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to eliminate a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at restricting industrial facilities' harmful air emissions after being reclassified as a less severe pollution source.
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May 01, 2025
Hawaii Tenant's Tainted Water Eviction Claims Survive Ruling
A Hawaii federal judge preserved a tenant's claims that he was effectively evicted from his home when a landlord failed to identify or warn of water contamination caused by leaks in 2021 at a U.S. Navy fuel storage facility on Pearl Harbor.
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May 01, 2025
Calif. AG Can't Dodge ACC Recycling Subpoena Suit
The American Chemistry Council can move forward with its challenge to a since-withdrawn subpoena from the California attorney general tied to a plastics pollution probe, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.
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May 01, 2025
9th Circ. Asked To Revisit Ruling On Guam Munitions Suit
A Ninth Circuit decision allowing a Guam group to challenge an Air Force permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions conflicts with precedent and threatens to burden permit applicants, agencies and courts, the U.S. government said in a rehearing petition filed Wednesday.
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May 01, 2025
Feds Sue To Block State Climate Suits, Superfund Laws
The federal government sued to block two states' climate change Superfund laws and stop two other states from launching threatened lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, saying the states' actions jeopardize national energy security.
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May 01, 2025
House Votes To Axe Another EPA Emissions Waiver For Calif.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the third of three Congressional Review Act resolutions that would undo Clean Air Act waivers that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued for California's vehicle emissions programs.
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May 01, 2025
Sony Eyes $49B Semiconductor Unit Sale, Plus More Rumors
Sony could sell its semiconductor unit for $49 billion, while proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis is considering ending its practice of advising shareholder votes on politically charged topics, and AI startup Nscale plans to raise $2.7 billion in private capital to support the construction of data centers around the world.
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April 30, 2025
Oil Group Drops Suit After DOI Says Leasing Redo Coming
The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday granted the American Petroleum Institute's request to dismiss a suit challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior's 2024–29 offshore oil and gas leasing program after the government promised to develop a more industry-friendly plan.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Nippon Order Tests Gov't Control Over Foreign Investments
The U.S. government is primarily interested in restraining foreign transactions involving countries of concern, but former President Joe Biden’s January order blocking the merger of Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel shows that all foreign direct investments are under the federal government’s microscope, say attorneys at Blank Rome.
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Opinion
Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice
A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.
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How Trump Orders Roll Back Energy Efficiency Mandates
President Donald Trump's first-day executive orders — including a freeze on administrative rules, an order to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, and a directive to broaden consumers' appliance choices — have shifted federal policy on energy efficiency, and bring new considerations for companies engaging with the U.S. Department of Energy, say attorneys at HWG.
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Expect Continued Antitrust Enforcement In Procurement
The scope of federal antitrust enforcement under the second Trump administration remains uncertain, but the Procurement Collusion Strike Force, which collaborates with federal and state agencies to enforce antitrust laws in the government procurement space, is likely to remain active — so contractors must stay vigilant, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege
Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.
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Emerging Energy Trends Reflect Shifting Political Landscape
As the Trump administration settles in, some emerging energy industry trends, like expanded support for fossil fuel production, are right off of its wish list — while others, like the popularity of Inflation Reduction Act energy tax credits, and bipartisan support for carbon capture, reflect more complex political realities, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.
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Tax-Free Ways To Help Employees After The LA Wildfires
Following the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, there are various tax-free ways to give employees the resources and flexibility they need, including simpler methods like disaster relief payments under Internal Revenue Code Section 139 and leave-sharing programs, and others that require more planning, says Ligeia Donis at Baker McKenzie.