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Environmental
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May 03, 2024
EU OKs Nippon-US Steel Deal As DOJ Causes Delayed Close
The European Commission on Friday indicated via an annotation on its merger review page that it has given Nippon Steel's controversial $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel its unconditional approval, a move that comes just a day after the parties announced the deal would be delayed due to further scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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May 03, 2024
DC Circ. Backs Feds' Puerto Rico Port Expansion Project
The D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld the federal government's plans to broaden shipping lanes at Puerto Rico's largest port, rejecting arguments from a trio of environmental groups who accused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of failing to take the requisite hard look at the dredging project's environmental risks.
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May 03, 2024
Mass. Quarry Resolves AG's River Pollution Claims
A lime quarry in western Massachusetts on Friday struck a $299,000 settlement with the state attorney general over wastewater discharges that allegedly turned the Hoosic River an eerie, cloudy white from bank to bank for 13 miles.
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May 03, 2024
Chancery OKs Record-Breaking $100M Pattern Energy Deal
A $100 million settlement ending state and federal court litigation over Pattern Energy Group Inc.'s $6.1 billion go-private sale in 2020 got the nod from Delaware's Court of Chancery on Friday, along with a requested $26 million fee award and two $25,000 incentive awards for the lead shareholder plaintiffs.
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May 03, 2024
4th Circ. Preview: Hemp, Wells And A Withdrawal
The Fourth Circuit's second session of 2024 will have the court pondering the tension between Virginia's recent hemp restrictions and federal regulations, and how the Truth in Lending Act impacts a case accusing PNC Bank of an unauthorized account withdrawal.
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May 03, 2024
Akerman Hires Miami-Dade Atty As Chair Of Land Use Team
Akerman LLP hired Dennis A. Kerbel, a veteran Miami-Dade County, Florida, government attorney, as the new chair of its land use and entitlements team in its Miami office, the firm announced.
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May 03, 2024
Exxon Closes $60B Pioneer Purchase After FTC Agreement
Exxon Mobil Corp. said Friday that it has closed its $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, one day after the Federal Trade Commission gave the oil giant a conditional green light to move ahead with the deal.
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May 03, 2024
Final EV Tax Credit Regs Add New Battery Tracing Test
The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled final regulations Friday for the up to $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit that include a more detailed process for automakers to trace the battery supply chain to qualify for the credit's domestic content requirements.
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May 02, 2024
DOJ Wants More Info On Controversial US Steel-Nippon Deal
U.S. Steel revealed Thursday it has received a second request for information from the U.S. Department of Justice about its controversial plan to be sold to Japan's Nippon Steel Corp., but it said the deal is on track to be completed in the second half of this year.
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May 02, 2024
EPA, Calif. AG Sue San Fran For Clean Water Act Breaches
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sued San Francisco for "repeated and widespread" violations of the Clean Water Act, including allegedly discharging billions of gallons of untreated sewage into the ocean and other bodies of water popular for swimming, surfing and fishing.
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May 02, 2024
Biden Expands Protections For 2 National Monuments In Calif.
President Joe Biden on Thursday expanded protections on nearly 120,000 acres of land for two California national monuments considered sacred to Native Americans, while permanently returning one to its original Indigenous name.
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May 02, 2024
Latham, Skadden Grab Spotlight As Large IPOs Surge In April
Latham & Watkins LLP guided five initial public offerings in April, while Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP advised the company bringing to market the largest IPO of 2024, concluding the busiest month for new listings year to date.
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May 02, 2024
Email Exchanges Doom Honeywell Bid To Nix $20M GSA Claim
A contract appeals board wouldn't free Honeywell International Inc. from the General Services Administration's efforts to recoup an alleged $20 million overpayment on an energy deal, finding it unclear whether a 2021 agreement related to the contract barred the claim.
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May 02, 2024
Camp Lejeune Litigants Ask Court Who Can Represent Family
Family members of former residents of Camp Lejeune who died, allegedly after being exposed to contaminated drinking water, asked the North Carolina federal court overseeing the litigation on Wednesday to clarify who can qualify to act as a legal representative for out-of-state decedents.
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May 02, 2024
3rd Circ. Shuts Down Pa.'s Challenge To EPA Ozone Plan
The Third Circuit on Thursday upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's air emissions plan for coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania, which the state and a company had argued was illegally imposed.
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May 02, 2024
Haaland Faces Senate Heat Over Interior Dept.'s Land Policies
U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland on Tuesday defended her agency's commitment to fostering energy development on public lands as U.S. senators criticized her agency over issues ranging from new rules to the pace of energy leasing and project permitting.
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May 02, 2024
Biden Announces $3B To Fund Lead Pipe Replacement
The Biden administration is distributing $3 billion to states so they can replace lead water pipes that pose a health risk to those who rely on them for drinking water, as part of the larger goal to remove all lead service lines nationwide.
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May 02, 2024
Green Groups Want FEMA To Define 'Resiliency'
Environmental advocacy and consumer groups sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency in D.C. federal court Thursday, alleging the agency is way past its deadline to initiate rulemaking to define "resilient."
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May 02, 2024
Ohio City Targets EPA Over 'Foul-Smelling Scum' On Lake Erie
An Ohio city, a county board and a nonprofit want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to live up to its responsibility to stop "foul-smelling scum" from building up in western Lake Erie, according to a federal lawsuit.
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May 02, 2024
11th Circ. Lets Georgia Island Dock Lawsuit Proceed
A Georgia conservation group can resume its challenge to federal approval of a private pier on Cumberland Island after a divided Eleventh Circuit panel said regulators could conduct a more rigorous environmental review even though the dock was already built.
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May 02, 2024
11th Circ. Urged To Clear Final Hurdle To Interstate Water Deal
As the finish line comes into view in Georgia and Alabama's decadeslong fight over water rights, the Peach State, the federal government and a host of local water providers are urging the Eleventh Circuit to reject a bid by environmental groups to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management proposal for the Apalachicola watershed.
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May 02, 2024
Davis Wright Brings On MoFo Appellate Litigator In San Fran
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has brought on a former Morrison Foerster LLP partner in San Francisco, strengthening its appellate practice with an experienced appellate litigator who clerked for a U.S. Supreme Court justice, a California Supreme Court justice and other judges, the firm announced Thursday.
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May 02, 2024
Husch Blackwell Gains Energy Ace From Locke Lord In Austin
Husch Blackwell LLP has strengthened its energy practice with a partner in Austin who has expertise in regulatory matters and who came aboard from Locke Lord LLP.
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May 02, 2024
FTC Clears $60B Exxon Deal With Pioneer Executive Ban
The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday cleared the way for the close of the $60 billion mega-merger between Exxon Mobil Corp. and Pioneer Natural Resources, subject to an agreement barring former Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield from gaining a seat on Exxon's board.
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May 01, 2024
Bipartisan Reps. Introduce Bill To Trace Battery Supply Chains
Environmental advocacy groups including the Sierra Club, Earthworks and SAFE have thrown their support behind a new bill to promote traceability in battery supply chains, a measure aimed at weeding bad labor and environmental practices out of the supply chain.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers
Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.
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Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies
As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.
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SEC's Final Climate Disclosure Rules: What Cos. Must Know
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's scaled-back final rules requiring public companies to disclose certain climate-related information still face challenges in court, companies should begin preparing now to comply with the rules, say Celia Soehner and Erin Martin at Morgan Lewis.
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Caremark 2.0 Lends Shareholders Agency Against Polluters
The Caremark doctrine has been liberalized by recent Delaware court decisions into what some have termed a 2.0 version, making derivative cases against corporations far more plausible and invigorating oversight duty on environmental risks like toxic spills and air pollution, say Joshua Margolin and Sean Goldman-Hunt at Selendy Gay.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
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Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Regs And Financing
For investors in public utilities, wildfire liability considerations include not only regulatory complexities, but also bankruptcy claims resolution, financing judgments and settlements, and how to leverage organizational structures to maximize investment protections, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.