Edison Equip. Sparked Eaton Fire, LA County Report Finds

By Rae Ann Varona

Los Angeles County fire authorities on Tuesday released an investigation report on the origins of the January 2025 Eaton Fire, finding that the devastating fire ignited after a "glowing material" fell from an electrical event on Southern California Edison transmission towers into a dry fuel bed.

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5th Circ. Confronts Intervention Row In Prairie-Chicken Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Fifth Circuit panel appeared skeptical of a U.S. government attorney's assertion that an environmental advocacy group waited too long to enter a lawsuit to contest the Trump administration's decision to scrap an endangered species listing for the lesser prairie-chicken.

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DC Circ. Upholds Injunction Forcing EPA To Fund Clean Energy

By Jared Foretek

A split D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court decision blocking the Trump administration from freezing $20 billion in clean-energy grant money Tuesday, overturning a divided circuit panel decision from September that vacated the injunction and would have allowed the administration to claw back the funding.

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11th Circ. Lets Honeywell Move Pollution Case To Fed. Court

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit said a Georgia city's case against Honeywell International Inc. and The Georgia Power Co. over the alleged pollution of waterways and property does not belong in state court, siding with the companies in their effort to undo a lower court's decision to remand the dispute.

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Climate Crisis Costs Top $8B In Indian Country, Justices Told

By Crystal Owens

More than a dozen Indigenous nations, federal Indian law professors and tribal organizations are backing Boulder County, Colorado, in the Supreme Court, telling the justices that climate change has already caused roughly $8 billion in disruptions across Indian Country, yet the federal government provides only $400 million to mitigate them.

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Cement Group Challenges Hazardous Waste Combustor Rule

By Jared Foretek

An organization representing the cement industry has asked the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new technology review rule for hazardous waste combustors, alleging the regulation may run afoul of the Clean Air Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

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States Warn SEC Against 'Unlawful' Climate Rule Withdrawal

By Jessica Corso

A coalition of Democratic attorneys general are warning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that its plan to discard a corporate climate disclosure regulation is "unlawful," adding their voices to a chorus of state and local pension funds urging the agency to abandon the planned regulatory withdrawal.

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Food Safety Group Says Tribe Needn't Join Fish Farm Suit

By Corey Rothauser

The Center for Food Safety and Wild Fish Conservancy have urged a Washington federal judge to reject Pacific Seafood's argument that the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation must be joined in their Clean Water Act suit over three Columbia River fish farms.

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AT&T Wants End To Investors' Lead-Covered Cables Fight

By Nadia Dreid

AT&T is hoping the third time's the charm when it comes to convincing a Texas federal court to toss for good an investor suit that accuses the mobile behemoth of misleading investors about the removal of lead-covered copper cables from its network.

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Corps, Enbridge Seek Win In Tribe's Line 5 Reroute Permit Suit

By Crystal Owens

The federal government and Enbridge Energy are looking to dismiss a challenge to a permit that allows 41 miles of pipeline to be rerouted around a Wisconsin tribe's lands, arguing that any attempts to find flaws in an environmental analysis for the plan are hasty and lack merit.

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Dominican Republic Looks To Nix $44M Award

By Corey Rothauser

The Dominican Republic has urged the D.C. Circuit to overturn a Washington federal court's confirmation of a nearly $44 million arbitral award in favor of billionaire businessman Michael Lee-Chin, arguing the lower court improperly deferred to the arbitral tribunal on threshold questions of arbitrability and allowed enforcement of an award issued without a valid agreement to arbitrate.

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Tech Co. 401(k) Faces Bias Suit Over Worker's Eco Beliefs

By Patrick Hoff

Thermo Fisher unlawfully refused a Christian employee's request to add a fossil fuel-free investment option to its 401(k) plan because of his religious and moral beliefs in stewardship of the Earth, according to a suit filed Tuesday in a New York federal court.

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Developer Sunk $10.5M Into Contaminated Land, NC Suit Says

By Hayley Fowler

An environmental consulting company allegedly failed to warn a real estate developer that property in North Carolina was contaminated with dry-cleaning chemicals until after the developer sunk $10.5 million into trying to develop the land, according to a state Business Court lawsuit.

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US Beekeepers Say USDA Mislabels 'Organic' Foreign Honey

By Ben Adlin

Federal regulations wrongly allow foreign honey producers to describe their products as "organic" while at the same time barring large-scale production of organic honey domestically, a group of commercial beekeepers claimed Monday in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Construction Co. Insurers Denied NYU Settlement Clawback

By Danielle Ferguson

A construction company's insurers cannot recoup $50 million they paid to resolve a lawsuit from New York University over project damage, the Delaware Superior Court has ruled, finding New York law would not allow insurers to recover payments made under a reservation of rights when the policy didn't expressly allow it.

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3 Firms Guide $5.5B Momentum Midstream Deal

By Al Barbarino

The Williams Cos. Inc. has agreed to acquire Momentum Midstream from private equity-backed EnCap Flatrock Midstream in a transaction valued at up to $5.5 billion, with three firms advising.

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Key Compliance Insights From Calif.'s Volvo Diesel Deal

While the future of California's vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act is uncertain, the state's recent settlement with Volvo over diesel emissions hinges on the truthfulness of manufacturer representations to state regulators, and offers important lessons for companies on compliance and recordkeeping, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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Exclusive

Tyson & Mendes In Talks For Possible PE-Backed MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP confirmed to Law360 Pulse Tuesday that it is in "preliminary discussions" about taking private equity investment via a managed service organization.

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Fla. AG Requests Impeachment Probe Into 11th Circ. Judge

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's Attorney General said Monday he is asking Congress to open an impeachment inquiry into U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu because of work she did before ascending to the Eleventh Circuit bench for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most Patent Litigation Work

By Dani Kass

Rabicoff Law and Ramey LLP have maintained their roles as top patent suit filers, while Fish & Richardson PC and Gillam & Smith LP have remained leaders on defense teams, according to Lex Machina's annual patent litigation report.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rakoff Doesn't Hide His Views

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

During his decades on the bench, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has witnessed a slew of changes, particularly as technology has brought a rise in cybercrimes, as well as novel questions like whether AI-generated legal advice is privileged. But perhaps the biggest shift was in Rakoff's own views.

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ABA Gives Symbolic Support For Law School DEI Standards

By Emily Sawicki

In a split vote, American Bar Association House of Delegates members on Tuesday elected to uphold a rule requiring law schools to demonstrate DEI standards, but then followed up with a vote allowing another path to removing the standards, in an effort to avoid the Trump administration's threat to strip the ABA of accreditation authority.

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Simpson Thacher Highlights PIPE Client's Financial Troubles

By Madison Arnold

The founder of Patriot National Inc. was likely short millions of dollars when it finalized a private investment in public equity transaction at the center of his malpractice case against Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, according to defense testimony on Tuesday at a Florida state trial.

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ABA Seeks Bar Exam Reform Following Tech Failures

By Emily Sawicki

Over the course of its two-day annual meeting, the American Bar Association's policymaking body, the House of Delegates, approved measures to urge further bar exam oversight and backed measures to support law schools at accredited historically Black colleges and universities.

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Blanche Advances After GOP Sens. Win Written Assurances

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination for the permanent position Tuesday, after Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they would support him.

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Ford Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Lemon Law Fake-Billing Suit

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. has asked the Ninth Circuit to revive its racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent billing scheme, saying First Amendment protections don't immunize the attorneys' underlying conduct in California lemon law litigation against the automaker.

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Day Pitney Dropped From Suit Over Ex-Justice's Involvement

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state court judge allowed Day Pitney LLP to withdraw from a $1.3 million corporate windup feud after the involvement of one of its partners, a former chief justice on the state Supreme Court, came to light, negating the defendants' call for an evidentiary hearing on a motion to disqualify the firm.

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Fried Frank Data Breach Class Action Voluntarily Dismissed

By Matt Perez

A proposed class action data security suit against Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP was voluntarily dismissed on Thursday following a joint motion to stay the case in April to undergo mediation.

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Ashurst Perkins, Nail Co. Lose Doc Bids In Malpractice Suit

By Rachel Riley

Ashurst Perkins Coie won't have to turn over documents related to its predecessor firm's work for an Omani screw and nail manufacturer in international trade proceedings that are now the subject of a legal malpractice case, a Washington court has ruled, while also denying a discovery request from the firm. 

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Analysis

New Patent Suits Surge As PTAB Challenges Get Tougher

By Ryan Davis

More patent suits were filed in 2025 than in any year in the past decade, according to a new report, an increase attorneys said is likely tied to new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policies that have made it harder to challenge patents.

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NC Judge Who Upheld Voter ID Law To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Thomas Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina has informed the president he will take semi-retired status at a date later in the future.

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Bronx Union Says Striking Atty Faced 'Impossible' Choice

By Andrea Keckley

An attorney with the Bronx Defenders felt she had no other choice but to cross the picket line on Tuesday after an immigration judge ordered her to appear in court and the organization's managers did not commit to covering the proceedings without her, a union representative has told Law360.

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Neighborhood Defender Service Of Harlem Union Ends Strike

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem union announced it was returning to work with a tentative deal after more than a week on the picket line.

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