Environmental

  • December 11, 2025

    FEMA's Freeze On Disaster Mitigation Funds Ruled Unlawful

    The Trump administration unlawfully terminated Federal Emergency Management Agency funds intended to pay for disaster mitigating projects, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Thursday, describing the case as an "unlawful executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds" for specific purposes.

  • December 11, 2025

    Nonprofit Says Calif. Gov. Order Wrongfully Blocks Housing

    A housing nonprofit sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other parties in state court over government orders that blocked the construction of residential properties in certain areas hit by the January wildfires.

  • December 11, 2025

    NC County Sues DuPont, 3M, Tyco Over PFAS Contamination

    A county in southeastern North Carolina is suing 3M Co., DuPont de Nemours Inc., the Chemours Co., Tyco Fire Products LP and other companies, alleging that they knowingly sold products containing PFAS, or "forever chemicals," that have contaminated county land.

  • December 11, 2025

    Feds Challenge Utah Tribe's 1800 Act Land Ownership Claim

    The federal government is asking the D.C. Circuit to reject a bid by the Ute Indian Tribe to reverse a lower court decision that denied it ownership of 1.5 million acres of U.S. land, saying the challenge is based on mischaracterizations of a 19th century law.

  • December 11, 2025

    Sembcorp Entering Australia With $4.3B Alinta Energy Deal

    Singapore's Sembcorp Industries said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Alinta Energy, marking the company's entry into the Australian power market, through a deal valued at AU$6.5 billion, or about $4.3 billion, including debt. 

  • December 11, 2025

    Offshore Lease Sales Net $279M With Chevron, BP, Shell Bids

    The Trump administration wrapped up the first in a series of offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico under a July tax cut and spending bill, with Chevron, BP and Shell joining in the bidding process.

  • December 10, 2025

    Trump's Face Can't Grace National Parks Pass, Suit Alleges

    The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit Wednesday in D.C. federal court, seeking to stop President Donald Trump's face from being placed on new annual U.S. resident national park passes in an alleged violation of federal law.

  • December 10, 2025

    PacifiCorp Owes $39M In Latest Wildfire Trial

    An Oregon jury awarded $39.3 million in noneconomic damages Wednesday to a group of people who fled wildfires that the utility PacifiCorp had been found liable for starting, including an elderly woman who ended up living in a trailer park for four years and a man who lost the ability to keep his disabled wife in their home for the last three years of her life.

  • December 10, 2025

    Calif. Suit Over $4B High-Speed Rail Funds OK To Proceed

    A California federal judge on Tuesday denied the Trump administration's bid to toss California's lawsuit challenging the termination of $4 billion in grants for the state's electric rail project, rejecting the administration's contention that California asserted a breach-of-contract claim that only the Court of Federal Claims could hear.

  • December 10, 2025

    Judge Weighs Security Claims In Federal Bargaining Case

    A D.C. federal judge declined to immediately reinstate collective bargaining agreements for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and National Weather Service employees Wednesday, saying the case brought by the workers was more "complicated" and "difficult" than other federal worker bargaining suits he'd recently enjoined.

  • December 10, 2025

    Mont. Youths Say State, Gov. Violated High Court Enviro Ruling

    A group of young Montanans is asking the state Supreme Court to decide whether two laws that weaken environmental policies in the state violate their constitutional right to "clean and healthful" surroundings.

  • December 10, 2025

    11th Circ. Urged To Undo Atty Docs Disclosure In Peru Case

    Florida attorneys representing more than 1,000 Peruvian lead refinery workers in a toxic exposure action urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to overturn an order requiring the disclosure of documents related to former cocounsel in a foreign criminal proceeding, saying the files are protected by attorney-client privilege. 

  • December 10, 2025

    Supreme Court Urged To Deny Alaska's Fishing Regs Petition

    The U.S. and tribal associations are asking the Supreme Court to deny the state of Alaska's petition that seeks to reverse a Ninth Circuit order that barred it from opening part of the Kuskokwim River to all fishers, arguing that any intervention in the dispute should come from Congress.

  • December 10, 2025

    Tribunal Tells Ecuador To Pay $221M In Chevron Case

    An international tribunal in The Hague said the Republic of Ecuador must pay nearly $221 million to the Chevron Corp. in connection to a decades-long dispute over pollution in the Amazon.

  • December 10, 2025

    V&E-Advised Geothermal Co. Wraps $462M Funding Round

    Geothermal power company Fervo Energy, advised by Vinson & Elkins LLP, revealed Wednesday that it closed an oversubscribed Series E funding round after raising $462 million in capital, which will be used to boost the company's growth.

  • December 10, 2025

    Feds Fight Bid To Reopen Years-Old Montana Bison Dispute

    The federal government is fighting a motion by a neighborhood group to reopen a six-year-old dispute over a Yellowstone National Park bison management operation plan for additional environmental review, telling a Montana court that the decisions and documents challenged in the case are no longer operative.

  • December 09, 2025

    Smucker Pet Food Buyers Near Cert. In PFAS Disclosure Fight

    A California federal judge said Tuesday he's inclined to certify a class of consumers who allege The J.M. Smucker Co. failed to disclose risks of so-called PFAS forever chemicals in pet-food packaging contaminating kibble, telling counsel during a hearing that many issues Smucker raises "are better addressed on the merits."

  • December 09, 2025

    Florida Bill Seeks To Shield Landowners From Pollution Suits

    A Florida lawmaker has introduced a bill that would add hurdles to those looking to sue over pollution damages caused by old phosphate mines, giving property owners a new defense to avoid strict liability claims.

  • December 09, 2025

    FERC's Fate Uncertain As Humphrey's Executor Teeters

    The future of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may hinge on whether the U.S. Supreme Court will remake its 90-year-old precedent that protects members of independent agencies from being fired at will by the president.

  • December 09, 2025

    NJ Slams Town's Bid To 'Unilaterally Rewrite' PFAS Deal

    New Jersey has slammed a bid by Carneys Point Township to intervene in the state's federal suit against Chemours and other companies over PFAS contamination, saying the township shouldn't be allowed to "rewrite" the terms of the deal.

  • December 09, 2025

    Cummins Investors Ink $1.6M Deal Over Emissions Fraud Suit

    Engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. and its investors asked an Indiana federal court to approve a $1.6 million deal that will end claims that the company hurt investors by hiding emissions control devices in certain engines, causing it to owe $2 billion in payments to regulators to settle Clean Air Act claims.

  • December 09, 2025

    Latham Adds Energy Ace From Kirkland In Houston

    Latham & Watkins LLP has strengthened its mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice with a Houston-based partner who came aboard after more than a decade with Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

  • December 08, 2025

    Trump's 'Unlawful' Freeze Of Wind Projects Gets Blocked

    A Massachusetts federal judge Monday blocked President Donald Trump's executive order indefinitely pausing permits for wind farm projects, ruling that the order was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the law.

  • December 08, 2025

    11th Circ. Vacates Benefits Ruling In Black Lung Case

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday vacated a ruling that awarded survivors benefits to the widow of a railroad engineer who died after yearslong exposure to coal dust, finding the U.S. Department of Labor review board wrongly determined that a preparation plant was part of an underground coal mine. 

  • December 08, 2025

    What To Do When Jurors Don't 'Trust The Science'

    The pandemic and initiatives from the second administration of President Donald Trump challenging decades of established scientific norms have made science more politicized, and attorneys say picking a jury and presenting scientific evidence is increasingly challenging.

Expert Analysis

  • How Trump's Space Order May Ease Industry's Growth

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order aimed at removing environmental hurdles for spaceport authorization and streamlining the space industry's regulatory framework may open opportunities not only for established launch providers, but also smaller companies and spaceport authorities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Avoiding Unforced Evidentiary Errors At Trial

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    To avoid self-inflicted missteps at trial, lawyers must plan their evidentiary strategy as early as their claims and defenses, with an eye toward some of the more common pitfalls, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

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    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Resilience Planning Is New Key To Corporate Sustainability

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    While the current wave of deregulation may reduce government enforcement related to climate issues, businesses still need to evaluate how climate volatility may affect their operations and create new legal risks — making the apolitical concept of resilience increasingly important for companies, says J. Michael Showalter at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

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    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

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    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • Restored Charging Project Funds Revive Hope For EV Market

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    While 2025 began with a host of government actions that prompted some to predict the demise of the U.S. electric vehicle market, the Trump administration's recent restoration of federal funding for EV charging infrastructure under new terms presents market participants with reason for optimism, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • Demystifying The Civil Procedure Rules Amendment Process

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    Every year, an advisory committee receives dozens of proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, most of which are never adopted — but a few pointers can help maximize the likelihood that an amendment will be adopted, says Josh Gardner at DLA Piper.

  • Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

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    As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Teaching Trial Advocacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Teaching trial advocacy skills to other lawyers makes us better litigators because it makes us question our default methods, connect to young attorneys with new perspectives and focus on the needs of the real people at the heart of every trial, say Reuben Guttman, Veronica Finkelstein and Joleen Youngers.

  • Navigating Brazil's Regulations, Incentives For Green Projects

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    Brazil's evolving environmental regulatory framework and ongoing moves to attract international capital for climate-focused projects may appeal to U.S.-based companies and investors interested in sustainable development — but taking advantage of these opportunities requires careful planning and meaningful stakeholder engagement, says Milena Angulo at Guimarães.

  • Federal AI Action Plan Marks A Shift For Health And Bio Fields

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    The Trump administration's recent artificial intelligence action plan significantly expands federal commitments across biomedical agencies, defining a pivotal moment for attorneys and others involved in research collaborations, managing regulatory compliance and AI-related intellectual property, says Mehrin Masud-Elias at Arnold & Porter.

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