Environmental

  • April 02, 2024

    Ohio Regulator Urges Justices To Review FERC Deadlock Rule

    The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's decision upholding a rule change from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that took effect despite a commissioner deadlock, arguing that the appellate court didn't apply a fitting standard.

  • April 02, 2024

    Former Trump EPA Leader Joins Holland & Hart In DC

    Holland & Hart LLP has added the leader of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration to its Washington, D.C., office as part of the firm's strategic growth in the country's capital.

  • April 02, 2024

    Another Judge Says Feds Overstepped With GHG Rule

    A Kentucky federal judge has sided with Kentucky and 20 other Republican-led states, ruling that the Federal Highway Administration overstepped its authority with a rule directing states to set targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from federally funded highway projects.

  • April 02, 2024

    20 Republican-Led States Urge Justices To Ax Climate Suits

    A coalition of 20 Republican-led states and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with eight others, have thrown their support behind fossil fuel companies in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to climate change torts lodged by state and local governments.

  • April 02, 2024

    La. Property Owners, Insurers To Arbitrate Hurricane Claims

    A Hurricane Ida damage coverage dispute between seven New Orleans-area property owners and their insurers will be stayed pending arbitration, a Louisiana federal judge ruled, agreeing with the insurers that the policy's arbitration agreement is enforceable under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

  • April 02, 2024

    Latham-Led SLB To Buy ChampionX In $7.8B All-Stock Deal

    Energy-focused global technology company SLB and chemistry solutions provider ChampionX Corp. said Tuesday they have agreed for SLB to purchase ChampionX in an all-stock transaction worth nearly $7.8 billion.

  • April 01, 2024

    EPA Asks 4th Circ. To Review Panel's Split Ozone Decision

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told the Fourth Circuit that a panel of judges incorrectly rejected its attempt to move West Virginia's lawsuit over an ozone regulation program to a different court.

  • April 01, 2024

    Forest Service Must Revisit Changes To Timber Standards

    An Oregon federal judge has agreed to set aside an environmental analysis for timber standard changes the U.S. Forest Service approved for millions of acres of federal land across eastern Oregon and Washington, finding no errors in a magistrate judge's conclusion that the agency violated multiple federal statutes.

  • April 01, 2024

    Feds Catch Win In Alaska Subsistence Fishing Dispute

    A federal judge has granted the U.S. government's bid for an early win in its challenge against Alaska over subsistence fishing rules in the Kuskokwim River, which runs through the state's southwest region, ruling that the United States is entitled to a permanent injunction.

  • April 01, 2024

    States Want Justices To Send Ozone Fight Back To 10th Circ.

    Oklahoma, Utah and a coalition of industry groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that their fight over compliance with federal ozone standards belongs in the Tenth Circuit, not the D.C. Circuit.

  • April 01, 2024

    Nike Defeats Greenwashing Suit Over 'Sustainability' Line

    Nike has defeated a proposed class action alleging it greenwashes its clothing by claiming they're made sustainably while using methods that harm the environment, after a Missouri federal judge concluded the plaintiff doesn't explain how she knows the products aren't made with recycled or organic materials and only provides conclusory statements.

  • April 01, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week, Delaware's Court of Chancery saw a $42.5 million settlement, dismissal of two big suits with two more remanded back, and new cases from shareholders of Walt Disney, Donald Trump's Truth Social, Rivian Automotive and BarkBox.

  • April 01, 2024

    Shell Ordered To Hand Over Docs In Conn. Climate Dispute

    Shell Oil Co. must hand over several documents by the end of April in litigation concerning the company's alleged failure to take into account climate change risks at a fuel storage facility in New Haven, Connecticut, a federal magistrate judge has ruled in an attempt to end the parties' long-running discovery dispute.

  • April 01, 2024

    Tribe, Allies Defend Standing To Fight Corps' Fish Farm Permit

    The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to "muddy the water" to fend off a challenge to a nationwide permit opening ocean waters to aquaculture operations, failing to justify why the permit shouldn't be scrapped, the Quinault Indian Nation and nonprofit allies have told a Washington federal judge.

  • April 01, 2024

    3M Gets Final OK On PFAS Deal Worth Up To $12.5B

    A South Carolina federal judge on Friday gave a final nod on a settlement between 3M and about 12,000 public water systems worth up to $12.5 billion to end claims over so-called forever chemicals in firefighting foam, saying that otherwise it would take years to try the cases.

  • April 01, 2024

    Gas Cos. Must Face State Law Claims In Contamination Row

    Electricity and natural gas company WEC Energy Group Inc. can't dodge all claims by Illinois residents accusing the company and its subsidiary of conspiring with a public relations firm to hide the extent of natural gas contamination in an aquifer that provides drinking water, an Illinois federal judge ruled Sunday.

  • April 01, 2024

    Reduced Dolphin Threat Revives US-New Zealand Fish Trade

    New Zealand's fisheries can begin shipping seafood to the U.S. again, after the U.S. Court of International Trade accepted a finding on Monday that the New Zealand government had taken steps to protect the endangered Maui dolphin from harmful fishing techniques.

  • April 01, 2024

    SunZia Power Line Challenge Is Ripe, Arizona Tribes Say

    A coalition of Arizona tribes and conservation groups challenging the federal government's green light for SunZia Transmission LLC to start building a stretch of its 550-mile, high-voltage power line are defending the timeliness of their bid to halt work and compel the Bureau of Land Management to identify and safeguard cultural sites and sacred areas in the San Pedro Valley.

  • April 01, 2024

    Insurer Defends Gas Station Cleanup Exclusion To 11th Circ.

    An insurer has asked the Eleventh Circuit to reject a Florida gas station owner's bid to make it pay for contamination caused by a leaking underground fuel tank, telling the appeals court the station's policy doesn't cover an incident discovered well before the policy went into effect.

  • April 01, 2024

    GE Vernova Spinoff Approved, Valued At $35.7B

    General Electric Co. said its board has approved the previously announced spinoff of its electric power business GE Vernova, setting the new company up to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 2.

  • March 29, 2024

    High Bar To Meet For Novel Protest Over $45B DOE Deal

    The U.S. Department of Energy's deviation from typical federal acquisition rules to award a $45 billion contract to a company previously deemed ineligible is raising eyebrows among government contracting attorneys, but may nonetheless find support in court.

  • March 29, 2024

    Liberty Sues SEC Again Over Climate Disclosure Regs

    Liberty Energy Inc. filed a complaint against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Texas federal court, marking the company's second attempt at challenging the agency's corporate climate disclosure regulations after its previous Fifth Circuit petition was transferred to the Eighth Circuit.

  • March 29, 2024

    Tribes Lose Challenge To Minnesota Water Quality Regs

    A Minnesota federal judge on Friday shot down a suit by two Native American tribes accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of allowing the state to adopt less protective water quality standards that could harm their reservations' wildlife and crops.

  • March 29, 2024

    DC Circ. Nixes Challenges To Gas Industry Projects

    Federal energy regulators had broad discretion to approve "good cause" construction deadline extensions for a gas pipeline across New York state and a Texas Gulf Coast gas terminal expansion, according to a D.C. Circuit panel opinion on Friday that rejected conservation groups' challenges to the projects.

  • March 29, 2024

    Nikola Says Convicted Ex-CEO Plotting Illegal Board Takeover

    Electric truck manufacturer Nikola Corp. sued its former CEO and convicted felon Trevor Milton in Arizona federal court Friday, accusing him of scheming with unqualified loyalists to regain control of the company by flouting securities laws, infringing Nikola's trademarks and breaching agreements.

Expert Analysis

  • Energy Sector Takeaways From Biden's AI Executive Order

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    While the U.S. Department of Energy begins to establish rules in accordance with President Joe Biden's recent executive order on artificial intelligence, in-house counsel can work with business lines and executive teams to consider implementing their own AI governance process, say Joel Meister and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

  • Lessons From This Year's Landmark Green Energy IP Clash

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    In this year's Siemens v. General Electric wind turbine patent dispute, a Massachusetts federal court offers a cautionary tale against willful infringement, and highlights the balance between innovation, law and ethics, as legal battles like this become more frequent in the renewable energy sector, say John Powell and Andrew Siuta at Sunstein.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Singapore

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    Singapore is keen to establish itself as a leading international financial center and a key player in the sustainable finance ecosystem, and key initiatives led by its government and other regulatory bodies have helped the Asian nation progress from its initially guarded attitude toward ESG investment and reporting, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape

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    The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.

  • Series

    Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.

  • Green Tech And IP From Obama Through Biden: What's Next?

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    J. Douglas Miller and Matthew Dills at Shumaker consider how positions on the environment have shifted along with the last three U.S. presidential administrations, how these shifts have affected investment in sustainable green technologies and intellectual property strategies, and how the future might look.

  • What US-Canada Critical Minerals Collab Means For Cos.

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    Recent announcements from U.S. and Canadian officials indicate closer collaboration between the two governments on procurement of critical minerals for electric vehicles and other advanced technology — and companies on both sides of the border may have access to new opportunities as a result, say John Lushetsky, Matthew Simpson and Paul Dickerson at Mintz Levin.

  • Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.

  • High Court's Chevron Review May Be A Crypto Game-Changer

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    The outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the Chevron doctrine in its pending Loper v. Raimondo case will potentially usher in a paradigm shift in cryptocurrency regulation, challenging agency authority and raising hopes for a recalibrated approach that favors judicial interpretation, says Sylvia Favretto at Mysten Labs.

  • How New Expert Rules Are Already Changing Court Decisions

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    Though not formally effective until last week, some courts have been relying for several years on amended federal rules clarifying judges’ gatekeeping role, so counsel should be prepared to justify their expert witnesses’ methodologies and expect additional motion practice on expert testimony admissibility, say Colleen Kenney and Daniel Kelly at Sidley.

  • IRA Monetization Energizes Clean Power Tax Credit Market

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    Recent large sales of clean energy production tax credits reflect an environment in which the Inflation Reduction Act's provisions for monetizing such credits via direct transfer — bypassing slow, costly tax equity transactions — offer opportunities for both developers and investors, says Andrew Eastman at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave

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    To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.

  • Business Takeaways From Biden's Global Labor Rights Memo

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    President Joe Biden's recent memorandum on protecting worker rights is one of the most expansive statements the administration has made regarding international labor rights policy, and reflects several points of which businesses should take note, including the government’s interest in working with the private sector on these issues and a notable focus on the transition to clean energy, say Tom Plotkin and Pegah Nabili at Covington.

  • Superfund Site Reopenings Carry Insured Risk, Opportunity

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's reported plans to reopen certain Superfund sites citing the presence of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances raise notable liability concerns, but may also present unique opportunities for policyholders under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.

  • Legal Lessons From Past World Cups To Keep In Mind For '26

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    The 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand set new standards for sustainability, human rights and sponsorship — and with those new standards come new challenges for those involved in the planning of the 2026 World Cup in North America, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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