Environmental

  • August 21, 2024

    EPA Urges 8th Circ. Not To Delay Power Plant Effluent Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and green groups on Tuesday asked the Eighth Circuit not to block the implementation of a rule that set new wastewater standards for coal-fired power plants, as utility companies, trade groups and nearly two dozen states that oppose the rule have urged.

  • August 21, 2024

    Arch Resources, Consol Energy To Form $5.2B Energy Giant

    Latham & Watkins LLP attorneys guided Arch Resources Inc. in its all-stock merger with Consol Energy Inc. on Wednesday to create a new natural resources company dubbed Core Natural Resources with a market capitalization of approximately $5.2 billion.

  • August 21, 2024

    3 Firms Guide $950M Delaware Basin Gas Treatment Deal

    Houston-based energy providerEnterprise  Partners LP has agreed to purchase Pinon Midstream, a natural gas treatment company focused on the Delaware Basin, for $950 million in cash, the companies said Wednesday.

  • August 21, 2024

    Oregon Judge Grants EPA Partial Win In Water Pollution Suit

    An Oregon federal judge rejected a conservation group's contention that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must step in and act because Oregon has effectively submitted no total maximum daily load plans to set appropriate pollution limits for hundreds of impaired waterways, some of which have been considered impaired for decades.

  • August 21, 2024

    Alaska Seeks Pause In Mining Row Suit With EPA

    The state of Alaska is calling on a district court judge to pause litigation accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of unlawfully prohibiting development of the Pebble mineral deposit in the southwestern region of the state, while the agency attempts to withhold documents from the public.

  • August 21, 2024

    La. Plaintiffs Ask 5th Circ. To Revive BP Spill Malpractice Deal

    Louisiana residents who sued their attorneys, alleging they botched damage claims tied to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, have asked the Fifth Circuit to reconsider a panel's ruling that overturned enforcement of a global settlement.

  • August 20, 2024

    Billionaire To Seek High Court Review In Peru Pollution Case

    U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review a published Eighth Circuit decision greenlighting a long-running case over environmental damage at a Peruvian metallurgical complex in order to resolve a circuit split on the international comity doctrine, according to documents filed Monday.

  • August 20, 2024

    Gulf Spill Review 'Underestimated' Enviro Risks, Court Says

    A National Marine Fisheries Service review of the effects of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico violates federal law, a Maryland federal judge ruled, agreeing with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups that the agency underestimated the risks to endangered and threatened marine species.

  • August 20, 2024

    Feds Say Chevron Doesn't Change Auto Standards Litigation

    The federal government told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion axing federal agency deference doesn't aid Republican-led states' and industry's attempt to undermine tighter greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles.

  • August 20, 2024

    Ariz. Tribe Wins Pause Of Lithium Project Construction

    An Arizona federal judge has granted the Hualapai Indian Tribe's bid for a temporary restraining order in its lawsuit seeking to halt U.S. government approval of a lithium exploration project that it says threatens the life of a sacred medical spring used for cultural and religious purposes.

  • August 20, 2024

    New Fed Rule Will Help Tribes Sponsor Watershed Projects

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service said it has decided to amend its regulations for watershed projects, so Native American tribes and tribal groups can better carry out improvements for flood prevention and conservation.

  • August 20, 2024

    SF Police Can't Sue Navy Over Toxic Shipyard, 9th Circ. Says

    A group of San Francisco police officers cannot pursue their suit alleging the U.S. Navy misled the city into leasing a former naval shipyard that was not properly decontaminated following its use during the Cold War, which led to the officers suffering health problems, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

  • August 20, 2024

    Utah Tells Justices Feds Must Relinquish Land In State

    The federal government is unconstitutionally hoarding and profiting from public lands in Utah, and the state is missing out on economic and development opportunities that are rightfully its own, it told the U.S. Supreme Court in a proposed lawsuit filed Tuesday.

  • August 20, 2024

    EPA Urges DC Circ. To Uphold Particulate Matter Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is defending its decision to ratchet down a fine particulate matter air pollution standard, telling the D.C. Circuit that states and industry groups challenging it aren't seriously questioning the scientific support for the change and misread the Clean Air Act to argue that the agency overstepped.

  • August 20, 2024

    DOI Issues 1st Floating Offshore Wind Energy Lease

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday announced its first-ever floating offshore wind energy research lease, which will allow for up to 12 floating wind turbines off the coast of Maine.

  • August 20, 2024

    US Forest Service Sued Over Ariz. Canyon Road Approval

    Environmental groups have slapped the U.S. Forest Service with a complaint in Arizona federal court, accusing the agency of violating the National Environmental Policy Act by allowing the construction of three roads into remote canyons in the Coronado National Forest that could destroy one of the last natural jaguar habitats in the United States.

  • August 20, 2024

    Mondelez Customer Calls Cocoa Sourcing Label Deceptive

    Oreo cookies maker Mondelez International Inc. has been hit with proposed class claims in Illinois federal court that its snack packaging misleads customers into thinking the company sources its cocoa ethically when its supply chain really contributes to "grievous and unsustainable labor abuses."

  • August 20, 2024

    Power Plant Rule Stay Is Unwarranted, EPA Tells Justices

    U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar called on the U.S. Supreme Court to reject industry groups' and Republican-led states' attempts to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying the agency did not exceed its statutory authority.

  • August 20, 2024

    Feds Fight Ex-Pa. Town Official's Appeal Of CWA Conviction

    The federal government on Tuesday urged the Third Circuit to reject a former Pennsylvania township official's bid to undo his conviction for environmental and financial crimes committed during his time as director of the municipality's sewage authority.

  • August 20, 2024

    EPA Finalizes Herbicide Strategy To Protect Listed Species

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released a final strategy to protect nearly 1,000 threatened and endangered species and crucial habitat from herbicides, outlining measures to reduce their exposures to the chemicals.

  • August 20, 2024

    States, Coal Cos. Seek High Court Block Of EPA Mercury Rule

    A group of red states and coal companies have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the D.C. Circuit's decision allowing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement a mercury air pollution rule while their legal challenges play out.

  • August 20, 2024

    A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report

    The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.

  • August 20, 2024

    These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships

    The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.

  • August 19, 2024

    Arden Trust Co. Sued In Del. Over Bikini Atoll Fund Depletion

    Representatives of Pacific Islanders displaced by early nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll sued Arden Trust Co. in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday, accusing the company of mismanaging and quickly dissipating tens of millions of dollars in congressionally authorized aid funds after years of careful management.

  • August 19, 2024

    FERC Can't OK Calif. Hydropower Permit Delays, DC Circ. Told

    A Northern California water district has told the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wrongly concluded that the state water board did not waive its Clean Water Act permitting authority with regard to two hydroelectric dam projects, adding that it is not blocked from arguing so. 

Expert Analysis

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits

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    The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation

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    Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility

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    A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet

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    A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception

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    Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • State Procurement Could Be Key For Calif. Offshore Wind

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    A recent ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how the state's centralized electricity procurement mechanism could play a critical role in the development of long lead-time resources — in particular, offshore wind — by providing market assurance to developers and reducing utilities' procurement risks, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • A Deep Dive Into The Evolving World Of ESG Ratings

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    Attorneys at Mintz discuss the salience of environmental, social and governance ratings in corporate circles in recent years, and consider certain methodologies underlying their calculation for professionals, as well as issues concerning the ESG ratings and products themselves.

  • Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs

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    The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • Adopting 7 Principles May Improve Voluntary Carbon Markets

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    The Biden administration's recently issued joint policy statement on improving the integrity of voluntary carbon markets may help companies using carbon credits to offset their emissions withstand scrutiny by government agencies, the public and investors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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