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Environmental
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May 16, 2025
5th Circ. Reverses Intervention Denial For Border Wall Cos.
A Texas federal judge erred when he refused to let several government contractors and the Sierra Club intervene in a lawsuit that blocked the use of border wall funding for anything other than new barrier construction, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday.
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May 16, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Blakes, Davies, Goodmans
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Charter Communications Inc. merges with Cox Communications, Hub International Ltd. boosts its valuation after securing an investment, Pan American Silver Corp. acquires Mag Silver Corp. and Robinhood buys WonderFi.
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May 15, 2025
$666M Pipeline Verdict 'Poster Child' For Reduction, Judge Told
Lawyers for Greenpeace urged a North Dakota state judge Thursday to significantly reduce a $666 million verdict over claims that it falsely disparaged the Dakota Access pipeline amid environmental protests, with the jury having awarded ten times more on certain claims than even the pipeline's builder wanted.
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May 15, 2025
Wis. Tribe Urges Army Corps To Reject Enbridge Line 5 Permit
Members of a Wisconsin tribe are urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny Enbridge Energy Inc. a permit that will allow it to reroute its Line 5 pipeline around and upstream its reservation, arguing that, if allowed, hundreds of downstream wetlands and streams would be polluted by the project.
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May 15, 2025
Ore. Tribe Looks To Redefine Columbia Basin Fishing Rights
An Oregon tribe is asking a federal court to open up a decades-old case that reserved fishing rights for the state's Indigenous nations, arguing that it must redefine the nature and scope of its off-reservation rights in order to obtain a fair share of the Columbia Basin's resources.
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May 15, 2025
Unions, Groups Seek Injunction To Block Gov't Restructuring
A California federal judge must greenlight a nationwide injunction to stop multiple federal agencies from moving ahead with implementing reorganization and mass termination plans linked to an executive order, a coalition of unions and groups argued, making their request on the heels of a temporary restraining order.
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May 15, 2025
Regulatory Rollback Orders Legally Risky, FERC Chair Says
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is attempting to comply with executive orders that aim to roll back federal regulations, but Chairman Mark Christie said Thursday that implementing the orders could open FERC up to lawsuits and potentially courtroom defeats.
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May 15, 2025
Toshiba Unit Can't Get Bench Trial In Hydro Plant Dispute
A Toshiba subsidiary lost a bid to have a breach-of-contract case related to an upgrade of a Michigan hydroelectric power plant tried by a judge instead of a jury, the court rejecting an attempt to invoke a parent company's waiver of its right to a jury trial.
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May 15, 2025
Energy Dept. Expands Review Of $15B Worth Of Grants
The U.S. Department of Energy said on Thursday that it's scrutinizing 179 grant awards worth $15 billion that it said were issued under the Biden administration.
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May 15, 2025
House Tax Bill's Foreign Rules May Finish Off Energy Perks
House Republicans' mammoth tax bill proposes phasing out two popular clean electricity business tax credits, but additional restrictions on eligible development projects' foreign business ties could have the same effect as immediately repealing them.
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May 15, 2025
Battery Recycler Cites 'Green' Funding Uncertainties In Ch. 15
Lithium battery recycler Li-Cycle asked a New York bankruptcy judge to recognize its Canadian insolvency, saying the current political climate has made investors wary of infusing money needed to tap a $475 million U.S. federal loan.
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May 15, 2025
NJ Toxic Spill Rule May Hamper Property Sales, Panelists Say
A New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection regulation expected to take effect this summer could slow property sales and lead to increased litigation as attorneys and real estate investors grapple with stricter requirements for reporting toxic spills, experts speaking Thursday at the State Bar Association's annual meeting in Atlantic City said.
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May 15, 2025
Feds' Memo In Filing Mishap Is Privileged, NY Judge Says
A New York federal judge has determined that the federal government's mistakenly filed memo in litigation over Manhattan's congestion pricing program is privileged and cannot be cited in the parties' arguments, but the memo won't be sealed because it's already been widely reported on.
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May 15, 2025
Insurer Wants Smokestack Demo Cos. To Pay For Damage
Erie Insurance is seeking to make the companies that demolished two smokestacks at a former Western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant pay $375,000 for damage that flying dust, debris and shock waves did to a neighboring property, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.
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May 15, 2025
AI Startup Perplexity Seeks $14B Valuation, And More Rumors
Perplexity is in talks for a new funding round that would value the artificial intelligence startup at $14 billion, OpenAI is reworking a multibillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft Corp. in order to free up its plans for an initial public offering, and Dutch power grid operator TenneT is considering selling a stake in its German division for up to $13 billion.
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May 15, 2025
Senate Confirms Trump's Pick For EPA General Counsel
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Sean Donahue as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's general counsel.
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May 15, 2025
NC Furniture Maker Gets Pretrial Win On Helene Coverage
A federal judge gave a North Carolina furniture manufacturer a pretrial win in its suit seeking Hurricane Helene coverage from Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., ruling that the policy at issue had an exclusion for flood damages but that the exclusion had a carve-out for "named storms."
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May 14, 2025
Tree Removal Is Major Cost Of PacifiCorp Damage, Jury Told
Jurors in the latest wildfire damages trial against PacifiCorp heard Wednesday from an expert forester who testified that one of the affected properties needs over $1.5 million in tree removal and replacement services, but admitted he did not actually visit the property.
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May 14, 2025
Labor Groups Sue HHS Over Workplace Safety Agency Cuts
Unions representing employees in the nursing, education, mining and manufacturing industries on Wednesday sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington, D.C., federal court over efforts to gut an agency tasked with protecting workers' health and safety.
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May 14, 2025
5th Circ. Declines To Rehear SEC's Kroger Proxy Decision
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday declined to rehear conservative shareholders' case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a shareholder proposal from Kroger Co.'s 2023 ballot, following a November opinion that rejected the shareholders' challenge.
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May 14, 2025
Interior Policy Aims To Shorten Oil And Gas Leasing Reviews
The U.S. Department of the Interior has unveiled a new policy that attempts to speed up oil and gas leasing on public lands by cutting the amount of time spent reviewing the suitability of potential leasing areas.
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May 14, 2025
House Panel To Fold $3.8T Tax Overhaul Into Budget Package
The House Budget Committee has scheduled a vote Friday on legislation that would combine the House Ways and Means Committee's $3.8 trillion tax bill with the work of other House committees as part of the fiscal 2025 budget reconciliation bill.
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May 14, 2025
Abbott Signs Bill Codifying Immunity For Corporate Execs
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed into state law a corporate reform bill that codifies the "business judgment rule," which provides immunity for corporate directors from personal liability for company decisions.
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May 14, 2025
Fla. Court Won't Let State High Court Weigh Taking Query
An en banc Florida appellate court on Wednesday refused to certify the city of Marathon's question about a factor for determining whether a taking happened to the state's high court.
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May 14, 2025
Ohio Water Utility Sues Chem Cos. Over PFAS Cleanup
An Ohio water utility has said some makers of fire fighting foam that contain so-called forever chemicals have known since the 1960s that the chemicals would contaminate soil and water but continued to sell the foam regardless, according to a suit filed against a dozen companies.
Expert Analysis
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Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.
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Expect Continued Momentum For Nuclear Power In 2025
With increasing electricity demand, growing interest in carbon-free energy and recent policy initiatives favoring atomic power, the future is looking bright for the U.S. nuclear energy industry — and the imminent switch of administrations in Washington is unlikely to change that, say attorneys at Venable.
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An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025
As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.
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The Securities Litigation Trends That Will Matter Most In 2025
2025 is shaping up to be a significant year for securities litigation, as plaintiffs and defendants alike navigate shifting standards for omission theories of liability, class certification, risk disclosure claims and more, say attorneys at Willkie.
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What To Watch For In The 2025 Benefits Landscape
While planning for 2025, retirement plan sponsors and service providers should set their focus on phased implementation deadlines under both Secure 1.0 and 2.0, an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and the fate of several U.S. Department of Labor regulations, says Allie Itami at Lathrop GPM.
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How White Collar Enforcement May Shift In Trump's 2nd Term
After President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next month, the administration’s emphasis on immigration laws, drug offenses and violent crime will likely reduce the focus on white collar crime overall, but certain areas within the white collar world may see increased activity, say attorneys at Keker Van Nest.
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COP29 Offers Pathway To A Global Carbon Market
COP29, the recently concluded United Nations climate conference, represented a breakthrough in the establishment of standards for a global carbon market — and voluntary carbon market participants in the U.S. and elsewhere can enhance the value of their projects by aligning them with these standards, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer
From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.
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2024 Has Been A Momentous Year For ESG
Significant developments in the environmental, social and governance landscape this year include new legislation, evolving global frameworks, continued litigation and enforcement actions, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has already affected how lower courts have viewed some ESG challenges, say attorneys at Katten.
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Advancing Storage-Integrated Power Generation In Turkey
Recent proposals by energy regulators in Turkey have laid the groundwork for further development of electricity generation plants with integrated energy storage facilities — offering opportunities for project developers and investors, and a possible model for U.S. regulators, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team
In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.
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The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025
U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.
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Opinion
1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress
In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.
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An Underutilized Tool To Dismiss Meritless Claims In Texas
In Texas, special appearances provide a useful but often overlooked tool for out-of-state defendants to escape meritless claims early in litigation, thus limiting discovery and creating a pathway for immediate appellate review, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US
As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.