Environmental

Expert Analysis

• A Plaintiff’s Guide To Discovery Proportionality: Part 2

  

  Proportionality is often a question of whether discovery production has reached a point of diminishing returns, and about the marginal utility of additional discovery once the core discovery in the case has been completed. In other words, proportionality is a method to avoid going in circles or getting sidetracked, not an excuse for cutting corners, says Max Kennerly of Kennerly Loutey LLC.

• Roundup

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer

  

  As more law firms become the targets of major cyberattacks, more firms may consider appointing a chief privacy officer. In this series, CPOs at four firms discuss various aspects of this new role.

• Zero Emissions Credit Litigation: The Road Ahead

  

  Last month, federal courts dismissed challenges to zero emissions credit programs in Illinois and New York. But as the plaintiffs appeal, an issue with broad consequences for the energy industry looms: whether anyone other than the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can ask a federal court to declare that state programs affecting wholesale energy markets are preempted, say Gordon Coffee and Tyson Smith of Winston & Strawn LLP.

• A Plaintiff’s Guide To Discovery Proportionality: Part 1

  

  In December 2015, the parts of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure concerning proportionality in discovery were amended. The amendments changed the language defining the scope of relevance, but substantively, this remains the same as it has been for nearly 40 years, says Max Kennerly of Kennerly Loutey LLC.

• Series

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer: New Demands

  

  For outside counsel, oftentimes efficiency and responsiveness collide with security measures as clients are increasingly requiring their law firms to comply with third-party risk management programs. To meet these challenges, law firms are focusing more on the roles of chief privacy officer and chief information security officer, says Phyllis Sumner, chief privacy officer for King & Spalding LLP.

• EPA Report Offers Glimpse Into Future Of Superfund

  

  Some of the recommendations in a report recently released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency represent a significant change of direction from the way the EPA has traditionally handled the Superfund program. These changes will be helpful for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s goal of moving sites to completion faster than they have in the past, say Darrin Munoz and Delmar Ehrich of Faegre Baker Daniels.

• Opinion

  It's Time To Improve Voir Dire In Federal Court

  

  During the jury selection process, many times parties submit proposed voir dire questions, but the court ultimately chooses the questions to be asked and does all of the questioning of the jury panel. While this approach is judicially efficient, rarely do we learn anything meaningful from the panel members, say Lisa Blue of Baron and Blue and Robert Hirschhorn of Cathy E. Bennett & Associates.

• When Federal And State Railroad Regulation Collide

  

  A recent California Supreme Court decision held that the California Environmental Quality Act is not categorically preempted by federal law with regard to rail projects in the state. But this ruling directly conflicts with the federal Surface Transportation Board's own determination about its jurisdiction, say Elizabeth Lake and Daniel Golub of Holland & Knight LLP.

• Series

  Notes From A Law Firm Chief Privacy Officer: Insider Risks

  

  As law firms hold sensitive information not only related to the firm but to the firm’s clients, an insider threat — whether it's a "bad actor employee" or inadvertent activity — poses a particular concern. There are steps that privacy officers can initiate to help minimize these threats, says Patricia Wagner, chief privacy officer for Epstein Becker Green.

• DC Circ. And 4th Circ. Strengthen FCA First-To-File Bar

  

  Last month, the D.C. Circuit in Cellco and the Fourth Circuit in Halliburton ruled that the first-to-file bar requires dismissal of False Claims Act actions brought while an earlier-filed action was pending, even if that earlier-filed action was later dismissed. It just became much harder for relators to bring qui tam cases related to earlier FCA actions, say John Elwood and Ralph Mayrell of Vinson & Elkins LLP.