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Environmental
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May 21, 2024
DOJ, VW Ask 9th Circ. To Void Jones Day Docs Release Order
The U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen have told the Ninth Circuit that forcing them to release confidential Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal would have far-reaching, chilling implications for federal criminal prosecutions.
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May 21, 2024
US Steel And Cleveland-Cliffs Spar Over Merits Of Nippon Deal
U.S. Steel sought to "correct the record" regarding its planned $14.9 billion sale to Nippon Steel on Tuesday, highlighting its continued faith in the deal while blasting what it called a "misinformation campaign" from rival Cleveland-Cliffs.
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May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
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May 21, 2024
The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.
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May 21, 2024
Texas Oil Co. Sues To Challenge Colo. Regulators' $23M Fine
A Texas oil and gas company accused Colorado regulators of failing to properly serve violation notices and imposing an "excessive" $23.2 million fine contrary to the rights set forth in the state and U.S. constitutions, in a complaint filed in Colorado state court.
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May 20, 2024
HOA Pecks At Chickens-As-Pets Theory In NC Appeal
A North Carolina couple's 60-plus chickens aren't household pets, a local homeowners association has told the state's top court in seeking to reinstate a $31,500 judgment in its favor that was upended last month by a three-judge panel in the lower appeals court.
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May 20, 2024
10th Circ. Oral Args. Poised To Shape NM Pollution Coverage
The Tenth Circuit said there were "good arguments on both sides" of an appeal at oral arguments Monday over whether absolute pollution exclusions doomed a New Mexico property owner's quest for defense coverage of underlying contamination litigation, in a case that could set the tone for insurance battles in the state.
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May 20, 2024
Biofuel Groups Urge High Court To Undo 5th Circ. Ruling
Two biofuel trade associations called on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to review a Fifth Circuit decision vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's denial of small refiners' requests for exemptions from their renewable-fuel program obligations, highlighting a split with five other circuit courts.
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May 20, 2024
Nonprofits Renew Bid To Enter Red States' Border Wall Suit
Two nonprofits urged a Texas federal court to add them to a challenge to the Biden administration's plans to use border wall appropriations for remediation projects, saying they were shocked by the administration's acceptance of an order suspending the plan.
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May 20, 2024
EPA Touts Brownfield Grants In Visit To Polluted Philly Site
Biden administration officials visited a riverfront site in Philadelphia where the city is using federal support to clean up contamination and add amenities, as they promoted $3 million in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency support to four New Jersey communities.
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May 20, 2024
Oil & Gas Groups Press DC Circ. To Block EPA Methane Rule
Oil and gas industry groups have urged the D.C. Circuit to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's expanded methane emissions control requirements while they're being challenged in court, saying the agency failed to reckon with the requirements' outsized impacts on owners of low-producing oil and gas wells.
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May 20, 2024
Calif. Atty Denies Role In Flint Water PR Stunt
A California attorney representing a public relations firm told a Michigan federal judge on Monday that she had nothing to do with the firm's campaign attacking a lawyer suing one of its clients connected to the Flint water crisis.
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May 20, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.
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May 20, 2024
Wyo. Tribe Secures $9.2M For Wastewater Infrastructure
The Northern Arapaho Business Council has been awarded a nearly $9.2 million federal grant aimed at improving a wastewater system known as the Beaver Creek Lagoon that serves the Beaver Creek housing development and Wind River Hotel & Casino.
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May 20, 2024
Settlement Ends Insurer's Stormwater Coverage Suit
An H.W. Kaufman Group insurer settled a lawsuit seeking a declaration that it owed no coverage to a home construction company or its owner in an underlying suit accusing the company of performing defective work that led to pooling stormwater, according to a notice filed in Georgia federal court.
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May 20, 2024
Justices Stay Out Of Pipeline Land Fight With FERC
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the D.C. Circuit decision dismissing a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's eminent domain authority brought by Virginia landowners along the route of the Mountain Valley pipeline.
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May 17, 2024
Utah, Farm Groups Ask To Reopen Bears Ears Monument Suit
The state of Utah and two farming associations have asked a D.C. federal court to lift a more than three-year stay in a tribal case over the Bears Ears National Monument, saying the case is now moot and another monument case is pending before the Tenth Circuit.
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May 17, 2024
Group Sues Feds Over Logging In NH National Forest
A forest protection group has sued the U.S. Forest Service in New Hampshire federal court, challenging commercial logging projects it recently approved in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
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May 17, 2024
DC Circ. Probes Carbon Capture In LNG Approval Challenge
The D.C. Circuit on Friday questioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to reapprove a Texas liquefied natural gas terminal without considering the terminal developer's proposal to add environmentally friendly modifications, amid renewed challenges to the agency's authorization of LNG facilities in the Lone Star State.
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May 17, 2024
Chicago Wants Climate Deception Claims Back In State Court
The city of Chicago says it should be in state court hashing out climate change deception claims against several of the nation's largest oil producers because the companies lodged "objectively baseless" arguments to remove its case to federal court.
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May 17, 2024
Fla. Investor Says Mining Co. Froze His Shares In Costly Error
An investor and former employee of a Canadian mining company alleged breach of fiduciary duty and negligence against the business, saying in a lawsuit in Florida federal court that he was wrongfully prevented from selling his shares and lost money when the stock price dropped following an unfavorable arbitration ruling.
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May 17, 2024
New Domestic Content Guidance May Boost Energy Credits
The U.S. Treasury Department's new guidance on bonus tax credits for clean energy projects that source domestic-made materials and components aims to simplify the process for determining eligibility and spur more development to get those extra incentives.
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May 17, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Immediately Block EPA Power Plant GHG Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is clear to implement its new greenhouse gas emissions rule for power plants — at least for now — after the D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected an effort to temporarily block it.
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May 17, 2024
Industry Emboldened After Justices Galvanize Agency Attacks
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court said "extraordinary" and "far-reaching" attacks on administrative enforcers can skip agency tribunals and go straight to federal district court, ambitious challenges to regulatory powers are rapidly gaining traction, and the high court is poised to put them on an even firmer footing.
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May 17, 2024
4 Firms Build $2.55B Sale Of Avangrid To Spain's Iberdrola
Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola SA and its portfolio company, sustainable energy business Avangrid, on Friday announced that they have reached an agreement for Iberdrola to take Avangrid private by purchasing the remaining issued and outstanding shares it does not already own in a $2.55 billion deal built by four firms.
Expert Analysis
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Del. Supreme Court Insurance Ruling Aids In Defining 'Claim'
The recent Delaware Supreme Court decision in Zurich v. Syngenta, finding that a presuit letter did not constitute a claim for insurance purposes, sets out a three-factor test to help policyholders distinguish when a demand rises to the level of a claim, says Lara Langeneckert at Barnes & Thornburg.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Securing A Common Understanding Of Language Used At Trial
Witness examinations in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump illustrate the importance of building a common understanding of words and phrases and examples as a fact-finding tool at trial, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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How Fieldwood Ch. 11 Ruling Bolsters Section 363 Confidence
The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Fieldwood Energy’s Chapter 11 cases, which clarified that challenges to integral aspects of a bankruptcy sale are statutorily moot under Section 363(m) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, should bolster the confidence of prospective purchasers in these sales, say attorneys at V&E.
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Opinion
Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining
Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
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New Eagle Take Permit Rule Should Help Wind Projects Soar
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recently issued final rule revising the eagle take permit process should help wind energy developers obtain incidental take permits through a more transparent and expedited process, and mitigate the risk of improper take penalties faced by wind projects, says Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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2 Issues For Venture-Backed Climate Tech Startups To Avoid
As climate tech startups become more common, poor equity dilution management and stacked seed financing are two common pitfalls that apply more acutely to climate tech startups than to the broader venture-backed startup space, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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Takeaways From EPA's New Methane Emission Rules
Attorneys at V&E examine two new Clean Air Act rules for the oil and gas industry, explaining how they expand methane and volatile organic compound emission reduction requirements and amplify U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement risks.
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3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.
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Risks Of Nonmutual Offensive Collateral Estoppel In MDLs
After the Supreme Court declined to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. personal injury litigation, nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel could show up in more MDLs, and transform the loss of a single MDL bellwether trial into a de facto classwide decision that binds thousands of other MDL cases, say Chantale Fiebig and Luke Sullivan at Weil Gotshal.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.