Environmental

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Revisit Kids' Suit Over Trump's Energy EOs

    The full Ninth Circuit on Monday declined to rehear a group of youths' legal challenge of President Donald Trump's executive orders spurring the use of fossil fuels to meet the country's energy needs.

  • August 10, 2026

    Neighbors Say School Project Flooded Farm, Native Graves

    The renovation of a high school campus outside Pittsburgh has diverted natural springs and stormwater runoff and caused flooding on a neighboring farm, and may have disturbed Native American burial grounds, the farm's owners claim in a lawsuit.

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Wash. In PacifiCorp Carbon Law Regs Fight

    A divided Ninth Circuit panel declined on Friday to reinstate PacifiCorp's claims that Washington's carbon emissions cap-and-invest program unconstitutionally increases electricity prices for its out-of-state customers, concluding that the power company has not plausibly alleged the targeted regulations discriminate against interstate commerce.

  • August 10, 2026

    DHS Says Big Bend Border Wall Enviro Waivers Are Legal

    Immigration officials told a Texas federal judge that construction of a barrier along the Mexico border near Big Bend National Park is a national priority and the need for quick construction outweighs compliance with numerous environmental laws.

  • August 10, 2026

    Lack Of Fiduciary Duty Frees Chemours From NC PFAS Suit

    Chemours Inc., its affiliates and DuPont Industrial Biosciences USA LLC on Monday got the dismissal of a proposed class action by a North Carolina resident over contamination of Brunswick County's water.

  • August 10, 2026

    Crypto, Data Center Noise Has 'Shattered' NC Town, Suit Says

    A cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence data center in rural North Carolina is emitting a cacophony that is destroying local residents' quality of life, according to neighbors who allege the operators have refused to take steps to mitigate the alleged nuisance.

  • August 10, 2026

    Gates Manager Fired After His Bias, Safety Reports, Suit Says

    Power transmission belts manufacturer Gates Corp. unlawfully fired a regional health and safety manager after he escalated concerns about regulatory violations, environmental compliance and the disparate treatment of minority employees, according to a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court over the weekend.

  • August 10, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives Sewage Damage Suits Over Service Fight

    Minor procedural variations in service do not warrant dismissal of a case as long as defendants are adequately informed of the pending litigation, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel said in a published opinion Thursday.

  • August 10, 2026

    NJ Justices Rule No Purpose Needed In Takings Ordinances

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday held that municipalities do not need to state the public purpose for which private property is being taken within the measure authorizing condemnation, backing a lower court's finding that a borough properly used eminent domain to take over a 50-room motel where it plans to provide parking and electric vehicle charging.

  • August 10, 2026

    Alaska Looks To Defend Road Permit In Suit By Tribal Groups

    The state of Alaska and a remote peninsula community want to join the federal government in defending a construction permit for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge against a challenge brought by three Indigenous villages and an environmental group.

  • August 10, 2026

    Denver Says Tobacco Cos. Should Pay For Cigarette Litter

    Major tobacco companies including Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. knowingly shifted the cost of cleaning up cigarette litter onto Denver, the city alleged in a Colorado state court suit seeking to recover those expenses.

  • August 07, 2026

    1st Circ. Agrees Feds Can't Block Climate, Infrastructure Funds

    The First Circuit on Friday endorsed a Rhode Island federal court's decision requiring the Trump administration to unfreeze congressionally approved funding for infrastructure, agriculture, climate and other initiatives, saying conservation nonprofits are likely to succeed on their claim that the funding cuts were unlawful.

  • August 07, 2026

    Trump Needs Congress' OK To Build Ballroom, DC Circ. Says

    A split D.C. Circuit on Friday backed a district judge's block on President Donald Trump's construction of a new White House ballroom, saying Congress had not "ceded unfettered authority to the executive branch to dramatically redesign, reshape and reconstruct the White House — the People's House — to fit a particular president's desires."

  • August 07, 2026

    Dow, Huntsman Cut $20M Deal To End Price-Fixing Suit

    Dow Chemical Co. and Huntsman have agreed to pay a combined $20 million to settle claims they colluded with other businesses to manipulate the prices of chemicals used to make polyurethane, according to recent court filings.

  • August 07, 2026

    Oklahoma Tribe Wins Bid To Void Federal Drilling Approvals

    A district court judge has vacated approvals for oil and gas drilling permits on land belonging to the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, saying that, despite the U.S. Department of the Interior's claims that the licenses are moot, a live controversy still exists and the federal agency doesn't address any environmental analysis for the authorizations.

  • August 07, 2026

    Judge Says Park Signage Suit Will Continue During Appeal

    A Massachusetts judge won't pause a district court's deadlines pending the outcome of a First Circuit appeal in a dispute over a decision to remove information about climate change, slavery and Indigenous history from National Park Service sites, saying the harm to the plaintiffs outweighs any harm to the defendants.

  • August 07, 2026

    Judge Approves NJ's $3B PFAS Deals With 3M, DuPont

    A New Jersey federal judge on Friday gave her final approval to deals worth a combined $3 billion between the Garden State, 3M Co. and various DuPont entities to resolve the state's claims over contamination caused by the manufacture and discharge of forever chemicals.

  • August 07, 2026

    Nat'l Science Org. To Review Judiciary's Nixed Climate Chapter

    The National Academy of Sciences will review the process used to develop a controversial chapter on climate science that has been removed from the federal judiciary's guide to scientific evidence, according to a Friday announcement.

  • August 07, 2026

    Hanford Site Caused Delivery Driver's Cancer, Son Claims

    The son of a delivery driver who died of cancer hit the U.S. government with a $10 million suit claiming it negligently failed to protect his father from radiation and toxic substance exposures at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington.

  • August 07, 2026

    Faegre Drinker Hires Ex-USDA Assistant General Counsel

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has hired the U.S. Department of Agriculture's former assistant general counsel of the natural resources and environment division, who is joining the firm's litigation group as counsel in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced Thursday.

  • August 06, 2026

    Trump Admin Pays RWE $1.2B To Drop Offshore Wind Leases

    Germany-based RWE has agreed to give up its offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York, California and Louisiana in exchange for a $1.2 billion payment from President Donald Trump's administration, the latest in a string of payments from the government targeting wind energy.

  • August 06, 2026

    Ore. Judge Says DOD Wind Project Blockage Was Unlawful

    An Oregon federal judge on Thursday halted the U.S. Department of Defense's freeze of wind projects, finding renewable energy groups and environmental nonprofits are likely to succeed in showing the agency violated deadlines for reviewing the projects' impact on military readiness.

  • August 06, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Corona Clay Pollution Suit Over Creek Status

    A Ninth Circuit panel reversed a lower court's order denying a clay recycling manufacturer's request for a new trial after being found to have violated the Clean Water Act, saying significant changes to the law require another look at the case.

  • August 06, 2026

    Brenntag Agrees To Curb Chemical Leaks At NC Storage Site

    German chemical distributor Brenntag has consented to a remediation plan to stop contaminants leaking into public waterways from its storage facility in North Carolina, according to an agreement filed in state court.

  • August 06, 2026

    9th Circ. Says EPA Air Quality Exception Pulled From 'Thin Air'

    The Ninth Circuit held Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority when it approved a California air quality plan that allowed weaker backup pollution controls for the state's San Joaquin Valley, with a dissent calling it a "Kafkaesque" and "alarming" ruling.

Expert Analysis

  • AI-Proofing Class Action Notices From Pro Se Objection Surge

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    Class action practitioners should prepare for a likely surge in artificial intelligence-enabled pro se objections by implementing several practical strategies to navigate this shift, says Britany Wessan at Almeida Law Group.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • What Jury Holdouts Can Teach Trial Lawyers About Strategy

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    Though a hung jury can be a disappointment, a psychological understanding of jury holdouts can help trial lawyers shape their damages arguments and understand leadership and group composition as a function of jury selection, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation.

  • 'Mobile' Sources For On-Site Generation May Be A Risky Bet

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering treating large on-site generators used at data centers as mobile rather than stationary sources under the Clean Air Act, a significant policy change that would leave developers that adopt this solution at risk of regulatory reversals, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • EPA Listing Signals New Scrutiny Of Drugs In Drinking Water

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    The recent publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest draft drinking water contaminant list highlights pharmaceuticals as a category of concern, marking the start of a process that could shape future research priorities, monitoring requirements, and federal and state actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • Md. Justices' State Climate Tort Ban May Shape National Path

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    The Maryland Supreme Court’s recent ruling that federal law preempted state-level deceptive marketing tort claims brought by several municipalities could offer the U.S. Supreme Court a road map to use in the pending Suncor Energy v. Boulder County case to exclude states from the business of regulating global emissions, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

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    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

  • The Growing Importance Of Nature-Related Disclosures

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    The International Sustainability Standards Board's recent vote to develop nonmandatory nature‑related disclosure guidance reduces immediate compliance pressure, but it does not eliminate the practical relevance of such risks for companies that already prepare sustainability reports or operate across jurisdictions with differing expectations, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Rightsizing Regulation To Usher In Next-Generation Nuclear

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    Next-generation nuclear seems to be having its moment as a recent flurry of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking aims to fast-track the licensing and deployment of such technologies, says Hilary Jacobs at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

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    With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year included reminders about the statute of limitations as a key defense for claims relating to allegedly deficient forms, the importance of focus on the specific contract at issue and further guidance on the contours of Rule 23, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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