Environmental

Expert Analysis

• Roundup Verdict Points To Jury Realities In Product Cases

  

  A California jury was recently asked to determine whether the popular herbicide Roundup causes cancer. The case demonstrates how jurors often must draw conclusions on unresolved scientific issues, and how manufacturers that ignore complaints about product risks will struggle to overcome the image of corporate irresponsibility at trial, say attorneys with Eversheds Sutherland LLP.

• Next Steps For Oil And Gas Owners If Colo. Passes Prop 112

  

  On Tuesday, Colorado voters will decide whether to enact a ballot initiative that significantly restricts oil and gas development. If Proposition 112 passes, owners of oil and gas mineral interests will likely seek redress for the loss of their valuable property rights, says Brent Owen of Squire Patton Boggs LLP.

• Protecting Law Firm Talent At Both Ends

  

  By 2030, it is possible that 75 percent of lawyers practicing in the U.S. will be millennials. A broadened focus on retention and advancement of all young lawyers is therefore a logical step forward but it fails to address another major retention issue that law firms should explore, says Susan Smith Blakely of LegalPerspectives LLC.

• Q&A

  Wendy Olson Talks Twin Falls, Tribes, Private Practice

  

  Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho Wendy Olson discusses her decades of experience prosecuting white collar crimes and civil rights violations, her work and challenges as U.S. attorney, and her move to private practice.

• Series

  Judging A Book: Brown Reviews 'Dangerous Leaders'

  

  Anthony Thompson’s "Dangerous Leaders: How and Why Lawyers Must Be Taught to Lead" explores the conflict many lawyers face when charged with the responsibility of leadership. The book is an excellent read for all lawyers, says U.S. District Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

• Breaking The Rules: 3 Ways To 'Lead' A Direct Examination

  

  Trial lawyers are frequently taught that they should appear invisible during direct examination — that their job is merely to prompt the witness to start speaking. But the most powerful direct examinations are the ones in which the examiner, not the witness, is controlling the pace, say attorneys with Kobre & Kim LLP.

• 4 Years Of WIFIA: What Works, What Doesn’t And P3 Potential

  

  Enacted in 2014 to promote financing and development of water projects, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act was initially intended as a five-year pilot program. Four years later, it is now a promising vehicle for water project development, says Roger Rosendahl of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.

• Utilities' Build-Transfer Deals Spur Renewable Projects

  

  Build-transfer agreements — where an electric utility hires a third party to develop and construct a renewable energy project, then transfer ownership to the utility — can create opportunities and challenges for developers and utilities. Some common themes have emerged from recent transactions, say Sean Shimamoto and Frank Shaw of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

• Why Enviros, Agencies Disagree On Safe Glyphosate Levels

  

  An environmental group is criticizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for their actions and policies regarding levels of glyphosate in oat-based products. Advocacy groups will likely continue to press the issue, with individual companies being pulled into the debate, say attorneys at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

• Need Litigation Finance? Don't Skip These 5 Steps

  

  The process of applying for litigation financing isn’t difficult, but few do it right the first time. Following five steps in your application process will help make sure litigation funders are convinced of the value of your company's legal claims, says Molly Pease of Curiam Capital LLC.