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Environmental
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June 21, 2024
DOL Says Union's Farm Wage Challenge Too Late
The U.S. Department of Labor has pushed back against a challenge to rules introduced in 2022 that a Washington union said are depressing farmworkers' wages, telling a federal judge Friday that the union should have objected during the rule-making period.
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June 21, 2024
SEC Bypassed Congress On Climate Regs, Suing States Say
A coalition of Republican-led states suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over recently adopted climate disclosure regulations presented their opening pitch for vacating those regulations to the Eighth Circuit on Friday, arguing that Congress has passed on the opportunity to demand climate risk reporting from publicly traded companies.
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June 21, 2024
Fed Circ. Revives Gov't Defenses In Land Underpayment Case
The Federal Circuit on Friday revived a dispute alleging that the U.S. Forest Service underpaid for a property, saying the U.S. Court of Federal Claims wrongly rejected the agency's arguments that the seller shouldn't have relied on a disputed appraisal when selling.
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June 21, 2024
Feds, Enviros Spar Over Power Line Crossing Through Refuge
The federal government and sparring environmental groups both called on a Wisconsin federal court to grant them judgment in litigation seeking to upend a land exchange that would allow a high-voltage transmission line to cross part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
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June 21, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Subsidy Duties For Canadian Wind Towers
A Canadian wind tower manufacturer can't get a break on countervailing duties despite being upfront about errors in its sales data, with the Federal Circuit ruling Friday that the errors raise the possibility of additional mistakes.
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June 21, 2024
NY Judge Says Feds, MTA Fully Vetted Congestion Pricing
A Manhattan federal judge has said federal and New York transportation agencies meticulously analyzed congestion pricing's potential impacts on traffic, air quality and other factors, rejecting local residents and community groups' claims that the Big Apple's now-paused congestion pricing was improperly approved.
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June 21, 2024
Costco Sued Over PFAS In Kirkland Brand Baby Wipes
Costco is facing a proposed class action over its fragrance-free "natural" baby wipes, which consumers claim are made with toxic levels of forever chemicals, rendering them unsafe for use on children.
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June 21, 2024
Calif. Gov. Backs Return Of 2,800 Acres To Shasta Nation
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has thrown his support behind the return of more than 2,800 acres of ancestral land seized through eminent domain more than a century ago to the Shasta Indian Nation, marking the largest tribal land effort in the state's history.
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June 21, 2024
Hawaii DOT Settles Kids' Suit Over Fossil Fuel Use
The Hawaii Department of Transportation has agreed to implement "transformative changes" to the state's transportation system to achieve zero emissions in all ground transportation and interisland sea and air transportation by 2045, as part of a settlement reached with a group of young people.
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June 21, 2024
8 Firms To Lead 4 IPOs Totaling $806M As Action Heats Up
Eight law firms are slated to guide four initial public offerings estimated to raise a combined $806 million during the week of June 24, potentially closing a slow month for new listings with a bang.
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June 21, 2024
Wolverine Inks Deal To End PFAS Coverage Fight
Footwear company Wolverine and one of its insurers have told a Michigan federal judge that they have reached a settlement in a coverage dispute over underlying chemical exposure actions, saying they "have agreed to a signed, confidential term sheet to resolve this action."
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June 21, 2024
6th Circ. Says Counties Not On Hook For Mich. Dam Collapse
A Sixth Circuit panel agreed that two Michigan counties can't be forced to compensate homeowners for destructive flooding caused by a dam's collapse, finding Thursday that the counties did not cause the damage to the homeowners' properties.
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June 21, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Travers Smith, Potamitis Vekris
In this week's Taxation With Representation, RSK Group Ltd. gets a £500 million ($632 million) investment, Boston Scientific Corp. acquires Silk Road Medical Inc., Masdar takes a part of Terna Energy SA, and Tate & Lyle PLC buys CP Kelco from JM Huber Corp.
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June 21, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen JD Wetherspoon sue a Welsh pub over its name in the Intellectual Property Court, ex-professional boxer Amir Khan and his wife file libel action against an influencer, the Performing Right Society hit with a competition claim over music licensing, and Manolete Partners bring action against the directors of a bust investment firm. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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June 21, 2024
Feds Offer $850M To Slash Methane From Oil And Gas
The Biden administration on Friday unveiled the latest prong of its multifaceted plan to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector: $850 million worth of federal funding for projects that monitor, measure and reduce emissions from oil and gas infrastructure.
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June 21, 2024
Justices Say No Feds, No Dice In Texas-NM Water Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Texas, New Mexico and Colorado improperly excluded the federal government from an agreement that resolved a Rio Grande water sharing dispute, rejecting the states' argument that the conflict was theirs alone to settle.
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June 20, 2024
Sunnova Execs Committed Insider Trading, Shareholder Says
A shareholder says solar energy company Sunnova Energy International Inc.'s executives lied about the company's predatory sales practices and opened the company up to securities litigation and heat from regulators, telling a Texas federal court Thursday that the executives breached their fiduciary duties.
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June 20, 2024
6 Firms Build Hydrogen Developer's $1.6B SPAC Merger
Chinese hydrogen solutions company United Hydrogen Group Inc. on Thursday announced plans to go public through a merger with special-purpose acquisition company Aimei Health Technology Co. Ltd. in a deal that values the combined business at roughly $1.6 billion on a pro forma basis and was built by six law firms.
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June 20, 2024
Carbon Capture Struggles Doom EPA Rule, DC Circ. Told
Challengers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants reiterated to the D.C. Circuit that the impossibility of rapidly installing carbon capture and sequestration at power plants is reason enough to block the rule's implementation.
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June 20, 2024
Ore. Water Treatment Plant Not On Farmland, Tax Court Says
Portions of farmland used for a wastewater treatment facility were correctly denied a special farm-use assessment rate, the Oregon Tax Court said, allowing the special rate for other contested areas of the property.
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June 20, 2024
EPA Water Rule Withstands Landowner's Attempt To Block It
A North Carolina federal judge declined to block the federal government's rule defining the scope of the Clean Water Act in a lawsuit filed by a landowner seeking to develop property in wetlands areas.
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June 20, 2024
Federal Agencies Release Updated Climate Adaptation Plans
More than 20 federal agencies on Thursday published updated climate adaptation plans that are intended to serve as guides for facing problems like extreme heat and precipitation, sea level rise, flooding and wildfire that could put facilities, supply chains and employees at risk.
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June 20, 2024
5 Firms Build Masdar's $3.4B Buy Of Greek Energy Biz
United Arab Emirates renewable energy company Masdar on Thursday unveiled plans to acquire two-thirds of Greek clean energy platform Terna Energy SA in a deal that boasts a €3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) enterprise value and was built by five law firms.
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June 20, 2024
Parties Reach Resolution Ending Ga. Shipwreck Suit
An agreement has been reached ending a lawsuit brought against the companies that owned, chartered, operated and salvaged the MV Golden Ray, a cargo ship that capsized off Georgia's coast, according to a joint stipulation filed Tuesday in Georgia federal court.
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June 18, 2024
'Reckless' Behavior Centered In Climate Coverage Suit Args
Attorneys for a Sunoco subsidiary and AIG offered sharply differing views to Hawaii's top court Tuesday in oral arguments over whether reckless behavior would trigger the oil company's liability coverage in a novel suit over coverage for underlying climate change claims.
Expert Analysis
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Atmospheric Rivers: Force Majeure Or Just A Rainy Day?
As atmospheric rivers pummel California with intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, agencies and contractors in the state struggling to manage projects may invoke force majeure — but as with all construction risk issues, the terms of the agreement govern, and relief may not always be available, say Kyle Hamilton and Corey Boock at Nossaman.
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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3 Surprising Deposition Dangers Attorneys Must Heed
Attorneys often do not think of discovery as a particularly risky phase of litigation, but counsel must closely heed some surprisingly strict and frequently overlooked requirements before, during and after depositions that can lead to draconian consequences, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.
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Best Practices For Chemical Transparency In Supply Chains
A flurry of new and forthcoming regulations in different jurisdictions that require disclosure of potentially hazardous substances used in companies' products and processes will require businesses to take proactive steps to build chemical transparency into their supply chains, and engage robustly and systematically with vendors, says Jillian Stacy at Enhesa.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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State Procurement Could Be Key For Calif. Offshore Wind
A recent ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how the state's centralized electricity procurement mechanism could play a critical role in the development of long lead-time resources — in particular, offshore wind — by providing market assurance to developers and reducing utilities' procurement risks, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.