Expert Analysis

• ECHR Ruling May Pave Path For A UK Climate Damage Tort

  

  In light of case law on the interaction between human rights law and common law, the European Court of Human Rights' recent ruling in KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, finding the country at fault for failures to tackle global warming, could tip the scales toward extending English tort law to cover climate change-related losses, say lawyers at Cleary.

• Opinion

  Climate Change Shouldn't Be Litigated Under State Laws

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the Hawaii Supreme Court's October decision in Honolulu v. Sunoco that Hawaii could apply state law to emissions generated outside the state, because it would lead to a barrage of cases seeking to resolve a worldwide problem according to 50 different variations of state law, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

• Regulating Resurrected Species Under The ESA

  

  As the prospect of extinct species being resurrected from DNA and reintroduced into the wild grows closer, an analysis of the Endangered Species Act suggests that it could provide a thoughtful, flexible governance framework for such scenarios, say Caroline Meadows and Shelby Bobosky at the SMU Dedman School of Law.

• E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

  

  Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

• What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

  

  With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

• IP Considerations For Companies In Carbon Capture Sector

  

  As companies collaborate to commercialize carbon capture technologies amid massive government investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a coherent intellectual property strategy is more important than ever, including proactively addressing and resolving questions about ownership of the technology, say Ashley Kennedy and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

• Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

  

  Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

• 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

  

  The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

• What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

  

  A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

• Series

  Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

• Opinion

  SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

  

  Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

• What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

  

  With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

• Opinion

  SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

• Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation

  

  Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.

• How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.