Environmental

  • July 01, 2026

    EV Battery Workers Say Ford Is Joint Employer

    Battery plant workers have told a Michigan federal court that Ford Motor Co. is their joint employer and bears responsibility for unpaid wage claims at an electric vehicle battery plant, pushing back against the automaker's bid to escape the lawsuit.

  • June 30, 2026

    ConocoPhillips Again Seeks To Exit Wash. Tribal Climate Torts

    ConocoPhillips is urging a Washington state judge to free it from a pair of Native American tribes' lawsuits accusing major oil companies of a decades-long campaign to downplay the climate risks of fossil fuels, contending Monday that the tribes have still failed to satisfy jurisdictional requirements in their revised complaints.

  • June 30, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs NY Gas Appliance Ban In Split With 9th Circ.

    New York City and the Empire State can enforce their laws effectively banning fossil-fuel appliances in new buildings, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday, splitting from the Ninth Circuit in rejecting trade groups and unions' arguments that the statutes run afoul of federal law.

  • June 30, 2026

    Gibson Dunn, White & Case Lead KKR's $4.2B EDF Biz Deal

    Private equity firm KKR & Co., represented by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, announced Tuesday a $4.2 billion agreement to acquire the North America renewable power business operated by EDF Group, advised by White & Case LLP.

  • June 30, 2026

    Texas Court Sends 4 Asbestos Suits Out Of MDL Court

    A Texas appeals court on Tuesday found that multiple families of people who died following diagnoses of asbestos-related malignancies can remand their cases back to the courts they initially filed in, saying the multidistrict litigation rules do not apply to their cases.

  • June 30, 2026

    DOJ's $450M PFAS Deal Win For Chemours

    The $450 million settlement between the federal government and Chemours Co. over its "forever chemicals" is a major win for the manufacturer, but the relatively small payout means that two of the three impacted states are now being watched for any objections, especially the one that was caught by surprise by last week's announcement.

  • June 30, 2026

    Rail Group Says DC Train Car 'Border Fee' Rule Preempted

    The nation's largest railroad trade group told a federal judge on Monday that Washington, D.C.'s 60-cent fee for every railcar entering the district violates the dormant commerce clause, federal law and the city's own Administrative Procedure Act.

  • June 30, 2026

    Eversource, Avangrid Say Conn. Grid Law Is Unconstitutional

    Eversource Energy and Avangrid have accused Connecticut officials of violating the U.S. Constitution's supremacy, takings and contracts clauses by enacting a 2025 state law that forces utilities to participate in a regional power grid, arguing the state cannot meddle with their two-decade-old, federally approved voluntary memberships.

  • June 30, 2026

    FERC Future Fuzzy After High Court's Agency Firings Ruling

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission faces an uncertain future following the U.S. Supreme Court's blockbuster ruling that presidents have unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, which creates new risks for an energy industry that's used to regulatory continuity at FERC.

  • June 30, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Rejects Canal Contractor's $4M Adjustment Claim

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday declined to grant a construction company's bid for a nearly $4 million adjustment under a U.S. Army flood control contract at a Louisiana canal after encountering construction issues, finding the solicitation did not mislead the company.

  • June 30, 2026

    Catholic Group's Land Use Case Headed Back To 6th Circ.

    A Michigan federal judge on Monday refused to reconsider her denial of partial summary judgment for Catholic Healthcare International in its land use suit over Genoa Township's denial of a permit for a religious campus but certified the denial for immediate interlocutory appeal to the Sixth Circuit in an effort to accelerate resolution of the long-running litigation.

  • June 30, 2026

    DOJ Says Mich. Climate Antitrust Claims Are Barred

    The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's antitrust lawsuit against some of the world's largest oil companies, arguing much of the state's case is legally barred because Michigan is improperly attempting to regulate climate change through state antitrust law. 

  • June 30, 2026

    Ga. Justices Take Up $1.5M Blue Ridge Runoff Dispute

    Georgia's Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether an appeals court was right to dismiss a case involving a property owner claiming a water runoff issue from the city of Blue Ridge resulted in $1.5 million in property damage.

  • June 30, 2026

    SpaceX, Feds Say Texas Is Proper Venue For Land Swap Suit

    A D.C. federal court on Tuesday ordered expedited briefing over motions by SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking to transfer to the Southern District of Texas a lawsuit from environmental groups challenging their land-exchange deal there.

  • June 30, 2026

    Tax Court Withheld Evidence In Easement Row, 10th Circ. Told

    The U.S. Tax Court's improper withholding of an appraiser report as evidence resulted in a flawed opinion last year that substantially slashed the value of a North Carolina conservation easement donation by 94%, the partnership donor told the Tenth Circuit.

  • June 30, 2026

    Gordon Rees Adds 8 Partners In Northern California

    Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has expanded its offices in Northern California with eight new partners who have expertise in multiple practice areas, a firm spokesperson told Law360 Pulse on Tuesday.

  • June 30, 2026

    ICE Scraps Plan For NJ Immigrant Detention Center

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have decided to cancel plans to convert a New Jersey warehouse into a 1,500-bed immigrant detention center, according to a joint status report filed in federal court, saying the property will instead be sold.

  • June 30, 2026

    High Court Sends 3 Roundup Cases Back After Monsanto Win

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sent back several cases over claims that Bayer unit Monsanto Co.'s Roundup weed killer causes cancer, after the court last week delivered its ruling that state-based claims about a failure to warn on the weedkiller's labeling are barred by federal law.

  • June 29, 2026

    Volatility May Follow As Justices Make Agency Firings Easier​​​​​​​

    The policies and enforcement priorities of federal agencies may fluctuate more rapidly based on who is president, as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's Monday decision finding that presidents have unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, experts told Law360.

  • June 29, 2026

    Ore. Top Court Takes PacifiCorp Case As Judge Won't Recuse

    The Oregon Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of a decision overturning PacifiCorp's classwide liability for wildfire damages affecting about 2,000 property owners, days after an appeals judge who did work for the utility in private practice declined to recuse herself.

  • June 29, 2026

    3rd Circ. Preview: DuPont Pensions, Detainees' Court Access

    An appeal testing the limits of ERISA fiduciary liability goes before the Third Circuit in July when DuPont and Corteva seek to overturn a district court ruling that a corporate spinoff damaged employees' retirement benefits. The court will also hear argument on whether heavy equipment giant Caterpillar forced a competitor out of business by pressuring a vendor. Here are some highlights from the court's July calendar.

  • June 29, 2026

    Judge Voids DOT Freeze On NY-NJ Gateway Tunnel Funds

    A Manhattan federal judge on Monday barred the Trump administration from freezing funds for New York and New Jersey's $16 billion rehabilitation of aging commuter train tunnels under the Hudson River, saying the administration's unilateral cancellation of federally obligated grant funds was unlawful.

  • June 29, 2026

    Nokia Sues US Over $3 Billion Superfund Cleanup Bill

    Nokia on Monday claimed the federal government wrongly left it on the hook for a disproportionate share of the massive Superfund cleanup of the New Jersey's lower Passaic River in a new lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  • June 29, 2026

    Calif. Federal Judge Speeds Up Review Of FEMA Staffing Cuts

    A California federal judge won't block staffing cuts at FEMA now, but she will quickly resolve allegations that the cuts violate the Administrative Procedure Act, she said, denying a union-led coalition's request for an injunction but granting its request for expedited resolution of the claims.

  • June 29, 2026

    California Asks Court To Halt 'Catastrophic' ICE Facility

    The state of California and Santa Clara County told a California federal court to block the federal government and a real estate investment firm from going forward with an immigrant detention facility allegedly planned for a 24.5-acre site, saying it would cause "significant and potentially catastrophic environmental and public health harms."

Expert Analysis

  • AI-Proofing Class Action Notices From Pro Se Objection Surge

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    Class action practitioners should prepare for a likely surge in artificial intelligence-enabled pro se objections by implementing several practical strategies to navigate this shift, says Britany Wessan at Almeida Law Group.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • What Jury Holdouts Can Teach Trial Lawyers About Strategy

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    Though a hung jury can be a disappointment, a psychological understanding of jury holdouts can help trial lawyers shape their damages arguments and understand leadership and group composition as a function of jury selection, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation.

  • 'Mobile' Sources For On-Site Generation May Be A Risky Bet

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering treating large on-site generators used at data centers as mobile rather than stationary sources under the Clean Air Act, a significant policy change that would leave developers that adopt this solution at risk of regulatory reversals, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • EPA Listing Signals New Scrutiny Of Drugs In Drinking Water

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    The recent publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest draft drinking water contaminant list highlights pharmaceuticals as a category of concern, marking the start of a process that could shape future research priorities, monitoring requirements, and federal and state actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • Md. Justices' State Climate Tort Ban May Shape National Path

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    The Maryland Supreme Court’s recent ruling that federal law preempted state-level deceptive marketing tort claims brought by several municipalities could offer the U.S. Supreme Court a road map to use in the pending Suncor Energy v. Boulder County case to exclude states from the business of regulating global emissions, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

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    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

  • The Growing Importance Of Nature-Related Disclosures

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    The International Sustainability Standards Board's recent vote to develop nonmandatory nature‑related disclosure guidance reduces immediate compliance pressure, but it does not eliminate the practical relevance of such risks for companies that already prepare sustainability reports or operate across jurisdictions with differing expectations, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Rightsizing Regulation To Usher In Next-Generation Nuclear

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    Next-generation nuclear seems to be having its moment as a recent flurry of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking aims to fast-track the licensing and deployment of such technologies, says Hilary Jacobs at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

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    With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year included reminders about the statute of limitations as a key defense for claims relating to allegedly deficient forms, the importance of focus on the specific contract at issue and further guidance on the contours of Rule 23, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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