Oil Giants Sued Over Climate-Linked Rise In Insurance Costs

By Ben Adlin

The fossil fuel industry spent decades pushing a coordinated disinformation campaign to conceal its central role in climate change, saddling homeowners with a multibillion-dollar increase in insurance costs as disasters grew more frequent and severe, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in Washington federal court.

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Lowe's To Pay $12.5M To Settle Lead Safety Allegations

By Rae Ann Varona

Lowe's will pay $12.5 million as part of a proposed settlement resolving the federal government's claims that its contractors failed to follow certain requirements to minimize lead exposure when renovating older homes, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday.

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EPA Tells DC Circ. Biden-Era Soot Rule Is Fatally Flawed

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told the D.C. Circuit that its 2024 rule tightening soot pollution standards, which the EPA has been defending in litigation, is legally and scientifically flawed and must be vacated.

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NRDC Tells 9th Circ. EPA Would 'Neuter' Public TSCA Rights

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Natural Resources Defense Council has asked the Ninth Circuit to reject the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's narrow reading of citizen enforcement rights under the Toxic Substances Control Act, saying it would unfairly restrict challenges to agency inaction.

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Ex-Admin Of Norfolk Southern Deal Denies Disobeying Court

By Matthew Santoni

The former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said it had been following a federal court's plan of distribution, not defying it, when it paid personal injury claimants based on a starting amount of $25,000 each.

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6th Circ. Largely Shoots Down Ohio Derailment Atty Fee Fight

By Rae Ann Varona

The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday largely refused to revive Morgan & Morgan's bid to halt the allocation of attorney fees from a $600 million class settlement between Norfolk Southern and residents affected by the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment disaster, but remanded it for a look into the firm's individual allocation amount.

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Brief

US, Mexico And Canada Environmental Panel To Meet

By Dylan Moroses

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that the environmental committee organized under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement will meet in December, according to a notice published Tuesday. 

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Veralto Nabs In-Situ Water Quality Biz In $435M Deal

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Water industry company Veralto on Tuesday announced plans to acquire water quality company In-Situ in a $435 million deal, subject to customary closing adjustments.

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Feds Argue No Urgent Harm In Wash. Lake Cleanup Project

By Joyce Hanson

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asked a D.C. federal court to pause an open government advocate's bid for a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against a lake and estuary restoration project near his residence in Washington state.

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Solar Energy Co. PosiGen Hits Ch. 11 After Loan Breach Suit

By Emlyn Cameron

Solar energy company PosiGen has entered into bankruptcy in Texas lugging at least $100 million in debt roughly a month after it was sued in a case alleging a breach of loan agreements.

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Sustainability-Focused SPAC Invest Green Raises $150M

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Special purpose acquisition company Invest Green Acquisition began trading publicly on Tuesday after raising $150 million in its initial public offering built by Greenberg Traurig LLP, Mourant Ozannes (Cayman) LLP and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

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Chem Group Rips Colo. Planned Recycling Accounting Ban

By Zach Dupont

A chemistry trade association told a Colorado state court that state health officials' plan to ban certain accounting practices related to chemistry recycling is unlawful and not backed by science.

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Ex-Nikola CEO Milton Can't Decertify Investor Suit

By Sydney Price

An Arizona federal judge Tuesday rejected former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton's objections to certifying a class of shareholders accusing him and the electric vehicle startup of exaggerating the viability of its prospects, finding the investors have made reasonable progress toward contacting class members.

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What Developers Must Know About PJM Grid Connection Plan

As PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest grid operator, reforms its interconnection process in an effort to accelerate capacity expansion amid surging demand, developers interested in PJM's new expedited track should anticipate significant up-front costs, and plan carefully to minimize delays that could jeopardize project completion, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million dollars and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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