Environmental

  • March 19, 2024

    States Converge On Texas' Challenge To EPA Methane Rule

    A California-led coalition of Democratic attorneys general wants to defend new federal limits on oil and gas industry methane emissions challenged by Texas, Oklahoma and other conservative states, with supporters of the new rules claiming a sovereign interest in protecting their citizens from harmful greenhouse gas pollution.

  • March 19, 2024

    Nippon Steel Tries To Ease Worries Over $14.9B US Steel Deal

    Nippon Steel Corp. pledged to move its North American headquarters to Pennsylvania in an attempt to assure the public that its proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel will ultimately be good for the domestic steel industry.

  • March 19, 2024

    Faegre Drinker Adds Ex-DLA Piper Commodities Pro In Dallas

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has strengthened its finance and restructuring practice in Dallas with partner Deanna Reitman, an experienced commodities lawyer who previously worked at DLA Piper.

  • March 18, 2024

    SEC Fines Supervisor $47K Over Revenue Inflation Claims

    A former finance director of water treatment company Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $47,000 to resolve claims that he was part of a scheme to inflate the company's revenue by $36 million.

  • March 18, 2024

    GOP Rep. Calls For Crackdown On EV Threats From China

    Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a member of the House select committee on China's Communist Party and a U.S. Senate candidate, has asked the Commerce Department to investigate the imports of electronic vehicles and their components and the possible security threats to the United States from electronics from China.

  • March 18, 2024

    Feds Try To Shake Off Youths' Constitutional Climate Suit

    The government has asked a California federal judge to dismiss a group of children's lawsuit alleging the Constitution guarantees "a life-sustaining climate system" and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows unsafe levels of climate pollution.

  • March 18, 2024

    BNSF, Ports Lose Bid To Narrow Wash. Stormwater Regs

    Washington state appellate judges sided with a water quality watchdog Monday in a dispute over the scope of state-issued industrial stormwater permit terms, agreeing with the environmental group's broader reading of how the rules cover "transportation facilities" run by operators such as ports and railroads.

  • March 18, 2024

    Feds Call $45B Nuclear Deal Appeal Moot After New Award

    The federal government pressed the Federal Circuit to dismiss a contractor's appeal over registration issues with a $45 billion nuclear waste cleanup contract, arguing Monday the appeal was moot following the U.S. Department of Energy's reissuance of the deal.

  • March 18, 2024

    Energy Co. Exec Cops To $5.5M Commodity Kickback Scheme

    A former president of a Texas energy company has pled guilty to fraudulently trading natural gas futures contracts and receiving $5.5 million in illegal kickbacks for the associated trades, the U.S. Department of Justice has said.

  • March 18, 2024

    Food Industry Group Urges 9th Circ. To Keep GMO Labeling Rule

    A trade group representing corporate giants including Coca-Cola and General Mills has urged the Ninth Circuit to keep a federal labeling rule allowing disclosure of genetic modifications to foods to be done digitally, claiming that upsetting the rule would present "significant disruption for industry and consumers alike."

  • March 18, 2024

    Ex-SF Utilities Head Gets 4 Years For Bribery Conviction

    A California federal judge sentenced the former head of San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission on Monday to four years in prison for his multicount bribery conviction, saying he deserves time in custody for betraying the public trust and making a "mockery" of public office.

  • March 18, 2024

    Judge Pauses Fla. Tribe's Suit Over Clean Water Act Program

    A Florida federal judge on Monday paused a lawsuit brought by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency improperly granted the state permitting authority under a Clean Water Act program, saying the case could be moot if an order in similar litigation is allowed to stand.

  • March 18, 2024

    SunZia Argues Suit Over Power Line Project Filed Far Too Late

    The developer of the proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Project is asking an Arizona federal court to dismiss claims that the U.S. Department of the Interior failed to take a proper look at historic properties and cultural resources that the 550-mile power line might affect, arguing that the allegations are time-barred.

  • March 18, 2024

    Latham-Led Talos Sells Carbon Capture Co. In $148M Deal

    Talos Energy, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP, announced Monday it sold its entire carbon capture and sequestration business to a U.S.-based subsidiary of French multinational TotalEnergies for $148 million, citing plans to use the proceeds for loan repayment and general corporate purposes.

  • March 18, 2024

    Plaintiffs Call For Sanctions Over PFAS MDL Deal Threat

    A proposed class in multidistrict litigation against DuPont and others alleging they contaminated drinking water with PFAS chemicals is urging a South Carolina federal court to sanction attorneys for a California water service, saying they violated court rules in their latest objections to a settlement.

  • March 18, 2024

    Can EPA Shut Down State Air Plans? The Battle Isn't Over

    The D.C. Circuit reversed some U.S. Environmental Protection Agency vetoes of state air quality plans that gave power plants and other facilities a break when they exceed air emissions limits when they're starting up, shutting down or malfunctioning, but the court's decision wasn't a complete loss for the EPA and opened avenues for new litigation.

  • March 18, 2024

    NYSE Moves To Boot Wilbur Ross-Backed SPAC

    Ross Acquisition Corp. II, a special-purpose acquisition company founded by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, disclosed Monday the New York Stock Exchange has suspended trading of its shares and began the delisting process after the SPAC failed to complete a merger within the required three-year time frame.

  • March 18, 2024

    EPA Bans Most Common Asbestos In 'Cancer Moonshot' Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday finalized a ban on the most prevalent variety of asbestos, the first asbestos risk management rule issued since the Toxic Substances Control Act was amended in 2016.

  • March 18, 2024

    4th Circ. Preview: Airport Mishap, Inmate Pay Launch March

    The Fourth Circuit's spring session will task the court with refereeing a power struggle between Virginia regulators and the authority that runs Washington, D.C.'s airports — stemming from a workplace amputation — and delving into the "honest belief" doctrine's role in a Family Medical Leave Act case.

  • March 18, 2024

    Energy Dept. Says Alaska LNG Review Passes Legal Muster

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday defended its reapproval of a $43 billion liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, telling the D.C. Circuit that its additional environmental review sufficiently considered the climate change impacts of the controversial project.

  • March 16, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Gov't Jawboning & Retaliatory Arrests

    The U.S. Supreme Court has a packed oral arguments calendar this week that includes disputes over the Biden administration's work with social media companies to combat misinformation, the appropriate evidence standard for bringing retaliatory arrest claims and whether the federal government can object to a consent decree entered into by three states.

  • March 15, 2024

    5th Circ. Blocks SEC Climate Reporting Regulations, For Now

    The Fifth Circuit on Friday temporarily blocked the implementation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new emissions reporting requirements, issuing an administrative stay in a challenge brought by oil and gas company Liberty Energy Inc.

  • March 15, 2024

    Alaska, Cos. Hit Feds With $700B Pebble Mine Takings Suits

    The state of Alaska and a company behind the controversial Pebble Mine construction project filed separate takings lawsuits against the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Thursday, seeking more than $700 billion in damages for blocking development of the area that's home to important fisheries.

  • March 15, 2024

    Conservationists Seek Block Of Refuge Power Line Deal

    Conservation groups are asking a Wisconsin federal judge to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from executing a land swap that would let power companies run the Cardinal-Hickory Creek high-voltage transmission line across the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

  • March 15, 2024

    DC Circ. Presses FERC On Justification For Pipeline Expansion

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday questioned whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had demonstrated that a Northeast pipeline expansion project was necessary to ensure that the region would have enough natural gas during extremely cold weather.

Expert Analysis

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand

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    Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE

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    As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.

  • The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues

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    The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • 3 Administrative Law Lessons From 5th Circ. Appliance Ruling

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    Showing that mundane details can be outcome-determinative, the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Louisiana v. U.S. Department of Energy — that the government's repeal of rules affecting dishwashers and laundry machines is invalid — highlights the relationship between regulatory actions and statutory language, say Michael Showalter and Vyasa Babu at ArentFox Schiff.

  • A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards

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    In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.

  • Aviation Back On Course, But Keep Seat Belts Fastened

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    While the airline industry finally returned to profitability last year for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, and is poised for historic levels of traffic in 2024, supply chain problems and economic and geopolitical uncertainty persist — so more turbulence may lie ahead, say Kevin Lewis and Bart Biggers at Sidley.

  • Preparing For A New Wave Of Litigation Under Silicosis Rules

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    After the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued an emergency temporary standard to combat noncompliance with assessments of workers' exposure to particles of crystalline silica, companies that manufacture, distribute or sell silica-containing products will need aggressive case-specific discovery to navigate a new wave of litigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation

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    There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Brazil

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    Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.

  • Understanding And Working With The Millennials On Your Jury

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    Every trial attorney will be facing a greater proportion of millennials on their jury, as they now comprise the largest generation in the U.S., and winning them over requires an understanding of their views on politics, corporations and damages, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.

  • Vagueness In Calif. Climate Law Makes Compliance Tricky

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    California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act requires companies making claims of carbon neutrality, or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to disclose information supporting those claims — but vague and conflicting language in the statute poses multiple problems for businesses, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • Harmonizing Agricultural And Clean Energy Goals

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    Congress' extension of the Farm Bill offers a chance to more thoroughly consider innovation and investments that could transform the competition between farmers and solar developers into synergistic agrivoltaic systems, which use land for both agriculture and solar energy generation, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

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