Environmental

Expert Analysis

• Climate Ruling May Help Future Plaintiffs Establish Causation

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Juliana v. United States blocked private litigants from using the courts to force climate change action by the federal government, but it may have laid a trail of breadcrumbs for future climate plaintiffs to establish injury in fact and causation, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• Rebuttal

  AI Can't Accurately Predict Case Length And Cost — Yet

  

  A recent Law360 guest article argued that artificial intelligence can precisely estimate the length and cost of a new case, but several limitations will likely delay truly accurate predictions for years to come, says Andrew Russell at Shaw Keller.

• Boardroom Hot Topics: ESG, Purpose And Stakeholders

  

  Public company boards of directors should recognize environmental, social and governance issues as a growing priority for investors, identify the purpose of their corporation, and consider focusing on a broader set of stakeholders, say Valeska Pederson Hintz and James O'Grady at Lowenstein Sandler.

• How Enviros Will Challenge Trump's NEPA Update

  

  The Trump administration's recently proposed updates to National Environmental Policy Act regulations — which forgo analysis of climate change impacts — are certain to draw litigation attacking the changes as arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of regulatory discretion, say Marcella Burke and Cason Hewgley of King & Spalding.

• Europe's New 'Right To Repair': Key Points For Manufacturers

  

  The European Union’s new repairability standards, set to affect many household electronic appliances as soon as April, will be challenging to manufacturers because they are outcome-based, and not just specification-driven — but this may be the new model of environmental product compliance, says Jonathan Cocker of Baker McKenzie.

• Prop 65 Chemical Labeling Litigation: Trends And Predictions

  

  Product safety litigation brought under Proposition 65, California's chemical disclosure law, shows no signs of slowing down in the coming year — with short-form labels and manufacturers' responsibility for product warnings likely to be key areas of contention, says Anne Marie Ellis of Buchalter.

• A Good Year Ahead For Energy Infrastructure M&A

  

  Recent policy developments and investment trends in China, Europe and the United States offer a number of compelling reasons to expect that energy infrastructure M&A deals will be strong in 2020, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

• Lawyers Can Build Trust Through The Spoken Word

  

  As attorneys, we may prefer the precision of written communication, but a phone call or an in-person conversation builds trust by letting others see and hear our authentic selves, rather than something constructed or scripted, says mediator Sidney Kanazawa of ARC.

• Bat Species Status Ruling Leaves Cos. Hanging

  

  A D.C. federal court's recent overturning of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered creates regulatory uncertainty for those developing, constructing or operating projects within the species' range, say Brooke Wahlberg and Rebecca Barho of Nossaman.

• Opinion

  Legal Prediction Is Demanding But Not Impossible

  

  The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent decision in Balducci v. Cige incorrectly concluded that predicting the length and cost of a case is nearly impossible, and overlooked artificial intelligence's ability to do so, says Joseph Avery with Claudius Legal Intelligence.

• EPA Renewable Fuel Shift May Increase Cost Of Compliance

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new 2020 rules for renewable identification numbers — which function as receipts attached to batches of renewable fuels — are inconsistent with the agency’s earlier policy and may make compliance more expensive, say Deanna Reitman and Jeffrey Bourdon of DLA Piper.

• SEC Exam Priorities Highlight Flexible, Holistic Compliance

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently released exam priorities encourage firms to emphasize investor protection and consider compliance in light of evolving business and market demands, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

• Ruling On FERC’s Tolling Orders Could Slow Pipelines

  

  If the D.C. Circuit reins in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s use of tolling orders — which delay court challenges to FERC directives — landowners might be gratified, but interstate pipeline construction projects could face added delays, says Richard Drom of Eckert Seamans.

• FERC Issues For Natural Gas Cos. To Watch In 2020

  

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's use of tolling orders, its position on eminent domain authority and its makeup after the presidential election could have a big impact on participants in interstate natural gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas projects this year, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• Malpractice Landscape Is Becoming Riskier For BigLaw

  

  A recent survey of lawyers’ professional liability insurers revealed an increase in malpractice claims against law firms, suggesting clients will demand more accountability in the coming decade, say Gerald Klein and Amy Nguyen at Klein & Wilson.