Environmental

Expert Analysis

• Congress’ Overlooked Environmental Legislation

  

  The House recently passed — and now the Senate is considering — the most important piece of energy and environmental legislation it will consider all year. It isn’t a revision to the Endangered Species Act or the Clean Water Act. It's the National Defense Authorization Act, say attorneys with WilmerHale.

• Impediments To Legal Industry's 'Inevitable' Future: Part 2

  

  I agree with the legal pundits speculating that NewLaw’s present and future disruptors will radically change the legal services industry, but that change may not come quite as rapidly as predicted. Regardless, now is the time for both the incumbents and the challengers to best position themselves for the eventual shakeup, says Craig Levinson, founder of Levity Partners.

• Legal Risks For Consumer Products Cos. In 2018: Part 2

  

  A recent survey of companies in the consumer products space reveals caseloads and issues of concern, the growing influence of the Federal Trade Commission, and trends in corporate legal departments’ budgeting, say Erin Bosman and Julie Park of Morrison & Foerster LLP.

• Will Your Business Be Ready For The New Calif. Prop 65?

  

  The revised California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, better known as Proposition 65, will require companies to use new product warnings by September. The new warning scheme is considerably more complicated, but provides more clarity as to what will be considered a clear and reasonable warning, says Jodi Smith of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP.

• Legal Risks For Consumer Products Cos. In 2018: Part 1

  

  Running a successful consumer products company has never been easy. Rapidly evolving technologies, an uncertain economy and changing government regulations appear primed to complicate the already challenging task of navigating legal issues, say Erin Bosman and Julie Park of Morrison & Foerster LLP.

• Impediments To Legal Industry's 'Inevitable' Future: Part 1

  

  Legal pundits continue to make predictions that newer entrants into the industry — NewLaw firms, the Big Four and alternative legal service providers — will progressively seize greater amounts of market share from traditional law firms. But the BigLaw response has been underwhelming at best, and a glimpse at the market forces puts its lack of urgency into perspective, says Craig Levinson, founder of Levity Partners.

• 7 Common Mistakes In Company Witness Prep

  

  Too often as attorneys, we focus on the facts of the case and assume the witnesses will be ready for the scrutiny of our adversaries. Based on my 30 years defending companies in national product liability cases, here are seven mistakes often made in witness preparation, says Matthew Keenan of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.

• Opinion

  We Need A Federal Plan To Combat Sea Level Rise

  

  Climate resiliency measures to abate future disasters in coastal cities like Boston need to be taken now to avoid disasters and save hundreds of billions of dollars in the future. But climate change needs a master plan; it cannot be left to thousands of cities to coordinate efforts — that is what our federal system is for, says Michael Parker of Rackemann Sawyer & Brewster.

• Opinion

  Why Widespread Use Of Live Video Testimony Is Not Justified

  

  Despite the partiality some courts have shown to live video testimony, it provides no advantages — and several disadvantages — over the tried-and-true method of videotaped depositions, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

• Tips For Solar Power Operators Facing Reliability Audits

  

  As solar power developments spread across the country, more of them are triggering mandatory reliability standards and related reliability audits. These audits are intense, lengthy and often a foreign concept to solar and other renewable developers who own or operate generating facilities, says Ashley Cooper of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP.