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Environmental

  • May 16, 2025

    NJ, DuPont To Face Off In Landmark PFAS Trial Series

    New Jersey and chemical manufacturing giant E.I. DuPont de Nemours will square off Monday over the contamination at a former Salem County manufacturing facility in a first-of-a-kind series of trials that environmental attorneys expect will impact "forever chemicals" litigation across the country.

  • May 16, 2025

    Holland & Hart Hires DOJ Environmental Appellate Chief In DC

    Holland & Hart LLP has added the former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, who joins the firm's Washington, D.C., office alongside her longtime DOJ colleague.

  • May 16, 2025

    DC Circ. Says Vt. Didn't Waive Hydro Dam Review Authority

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday nixed a Vermont village's lawsuit claiming the state waived its role in the federal relicensing of the village's hydroelectric project, saying it was the village's own actions that caused the state to miss a statutory deadline to act.

  • May 16, 2025

    5th Circ. Reverses Intervention Denial For Border Wall Cos.

    A Texas federal judge erred when he refused to let several government contractors and the Sierra Club intervene in a lawsuit that blocked the use of border wall funding for anything other than new barrier construction, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday.

  • May 16, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Blakes, Davies, Goodmans

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Charter Communications Inc. merges with Cox Communications, Hub International Ltd. boosts its valuation after securing an investment, Pan American Silver Corp. acquires Mag Silver Corp. and Robinhood buys WonderFi.

  • May 15, 2025

    $666M Pipeline Verdict 'Poster Child' For Reduction, Judge Told

    Lawyers for Greenpeace urged a North Dakota state judge Thursday to significantly reduce a $666 million verdict over claims that it falsely disparaged the Dakota Access pipeline amid environmental protests, with the jury having awarded ten times more on certain claims than even the pipeline's builder wanted.

  • May 15, 2025

    Wis. Tribe Urges Army Corps To Reject Enbridge Line 5 Permit

    Members of a Wisconsin tribe are urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny Enbridge Energy Inc. a permit that will allow it to reroute its Line 5 pipeline around and upstream its reservation, arguing that, if allowed, hundreds of downstream wetlands and streams would be polluted by the project.

  • May 15, 2025

    Ore. Tribe Looks To Redefine Columbia Basin Fishing Rights

    An Oregon tribe is asking a federal court to open up a decades-old case that reserved fishing rights for the state's Indigenous nations, arguing that it must redefine the nature and scope of its off-reservation rights in order to obtain a fair share of the Columbia Basin's resources.

  • May 15, 2025

    Unions, Groups Seek Injunction To Block Gov't Restructuring

    A California federal judge must greenlight a nationwide injunction to stop multiple federal agencies from moving ahead with implementing reorganization and mass termination plans linked to an executive order, a coalition of unions and groups argued, making their request on the heels of a temporary restraining order.

  • May 15, 2025

    Regulatory Rollback Orders Legally Risky, FERC Chair Says

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is attempting to comply with executive orders that aim to roll back federal regulations, but Chairman Mark Christie said Thursday that implementing the orders could open FERC up to lawsuits and potentially courtroom defeats.

  • May 15, 2025

    Toshiba Unit Can't Get Bench Trial In Hydro Plant Dispute

    A Toshiba subsidiary lost a bid to have a breach-of-contract case related to an upgrade of a Michigan hydroelectric power plant tried by a judge instead of a jury, the court rejecting an attempt to invoke a parent company's waiver of its right to a jury trial.

  • May 15, 2025

    Energy Dept. Expands Review Of $15B Worth Of Grants

    The U.S. Department of Energy said on Thursday that it's scrutinizing 179 grant awards worth $15 billion that it said were issued under the Biden administration.

  • May 15, 2025

    House Tax Bill's Foreign Rules May Finish Off Energy Perks

    House Republicans' mammoth tax bill proposes phasing out two popular clean electricity business tax credits, but additional restrictions on eligible development projects' foreign business ties could have the same effect as immediately repealing them.

  • May 15, 2025

    Battery Recycler Cites 'Green' Funding Uncertainties In Ch. 15

    Lithium battery recycler Li-Cycle asked a New York bankruptcy judge to recognize its Canadian insolvency, saying the current political climate has made investors wary of infusing money needed to tap a $475 million U.S. federal loan.

  • May 15, 2025

    NJ Toxic Spill Rule May Hamper Property Sales, Panelists Say

    A New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulation expected to take effect this summer could slow property sales and lead to increased litigation as attorneys and real estate investors grapple with stricter requirements for reporting toxic spills, experts speaking Thursday at the State Bar Association's annual meeting in Atlantic City said.

  • May 15, 2025

    Feds' Memo In Filing Mishap Is Privileged, NY Judge Says

    A New York federal judge has determined that the federal government's mistakenly filed memo in litigation over Manhattan's congestion pricing program is privileged and cannot be cited in the parties' arguments, but the memo won't be sealed because it's already been widely reported on.

  • May 15, 2025

    Insurer Wants Smokestack Demo Cos. To Pay For Damage

    Erie Insurance is seeking to make the companies that demolished two smokestacks at a former Western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant pay $375,000 for damage that flying dust, debris and shock waves did to a neighboring property, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.

  • May 15, 2025

    AI Startup Perplexity Seeks $14B Valuation, And More Rumors

    Perplexity is in talks for a new funding round that would value the artificial intelligence startup at $14 billion, OpenAI is reworking a multibillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft Corp. in order to free up its plans for an initial public offering, and Dutch power grid operator TenneT is considering selling a stake in its German division for up to $13 billion.

  • May 15, 2025

    Senate Confirms Trump's Pick For EPA General Counsel

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Sean Donahue as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's general counsel.

  • May 15, 2025

    NC Furniture Maker Gets Pretrial Win On Helene Coverage

    A federal judge gave a North Carolina furniture manufacturer a pretrial win in its suit seeking Hurricane Helene coverage from Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., ruling that the policy at issue had an exclusion for flood damages but that the exclusion had a carve-out for "named storms."

  • May 14, 2025

    Tree Removal Is Major Cost Of PacifiCorp Damage, Jury Told

    Jurors in the latest wildfire damages trial against PacifiCorp heard Wednesday from an expert forester who testified that one of the affected properties needs over $1.5 million in tree removal and replacement services, but admitted he did not actually visit the property.

  • May 14, 2025

    Labor Groups Sue HHS Over Workplace Safety Agency Cuts

    Unions representing employees in the nursing, education, mining and manufacturing industries on Wednesday sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington, D.C., federal court over efforts to gut an agency tasked with protecting workers' health and safety.

  • May 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Declines To Rehear SEC's Kroger Proxy Decision

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday declined to rehear conservative shareholders' case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a shareholder proposal from Kroger Co.'s 2023 ballot, following a November opinion that rejected the shareholders' challenge.

  • May 14, 2025

    Interior Policy Aims To Shorten Oil And Gas Leasing Reviews

    The U.S. Department of the Interior has unveiled a new policy that attempts to speed up oil and gas leasing on public lands by cutting the amount of time spent reviewing the suitability of potential leasing areas.

  • May 14, 2025

    House Panel To Fold $3.8T Tax Overhaul Into Budget Package

    The House Budget Committee has scheduled a vote Friday on legislation that would combine the House Ways and Means Committee's $3.8 trillion tax bill with the work of other House committees as part of the fiscal 2025 budget reconciliation bill. 

Expert Analysis

  • How Latin American Finance Markets May Shift Under Trump

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    Changes in the federal government are bringing profound implications for Latin American financial institutions and cross-border financing, including increased competition from U.S. banks, volatility in equity markets and stable green investor demand despite deregulation in the U.S., says David Contreiras Tyler at Womble Bond.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Key Takeaways From The 2025 Spring Antitrust Meeting

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    Leadership changes, shifting priorities and evolving enforcement tools dominated the conversation at the recent American Bar Association Spring Antitrust Meeting, as panelists explored competition policy under a second Trump administration, agency discretion under the 2023 merger guidelines and new frontiers in conduct enforcement, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • What PFAS-Treated Clothing Tariff Bill Would Mean For Cos.

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    In keeping with a nationwide trend of greater restrictions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would remove tariff advantages for PFAS-treated clothing — so businesses would be wise to proactively adapt their supply chains and review contracts to mitigate liability, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Be An Indispensable Associate

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    While law school teaches you to research, write and think critically, it often overlooks the professional skills you will need to make yourself an essential team player when transitioning from a summer to full-time associate, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • What 2nd Trump Admin Means For Ship Pollution Compliance

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    As the second Trump administration's civil and criminal enforcement policies take shape, the maritime industry must ensure it complies with both national and international obligations to prevent oil pollution from seagoing vessels — with preventive efforts and voluntary disclosures being some of the best options for mitigating risk, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Mass. AG Emerges As Key Player In Consumer Protection

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    Through enforcement actions and collaborations with other states — including joining a recent amicus brief decrying the defunding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has established herself as a thought leader for consumer protection and corporate accountability, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Series

    Birding Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Observing and documenting birds in their natural habitats fosters patience, sharpens observational skills and provides moments of pure wonder — qualities that foster personal growth and enrich my legal career, says Allison Raley at Arnall Golden.

  • What Cos. Should Know About U.S. Minerals Executive Order

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    President Donald Trump's new executive order aimed at boosting U.S. mineral production faces challenges including land use and environmental regulations, a lack of new funding, and the need for coordination among federal agencies, but it provides industry stakeholders with multiple opportunities to influence policy and funding, say advisers at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    Among the most notable developments in California banking in the first quarter of the year, regulators and legislators issued regulations interpreting debt collection laws, stepped up enforcement actions, and expanded consumer protections for those affected by wildfires, says Stephen Britt at Severson & Werson.

  • How The ESG Investing Rule Survived Loper Bright, For Now

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision in Utah v. Micone upholding the U.S. Department of Labor's 2022 ESG investing rule highlights how regulations can withstand the post-Loper Bright landscape when an agency's interpretation of its statutorily determined boundaries is not granted deference, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Leadership To BigLaw

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    The move from government service to private practice can feel like changing one’s identity, but as someone who has left the U.S. Department of Justice twice, I’ve learned that a successful transition requires patience, effort and the realization that the rewards of practicing law don’t come from one particular position, says Richard Donoghue at Pillsbury.

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