Environmental

  • August 11, 2025

    Over 2,000 Shrimpers Sue Hilcorp Over August 2022 Oil Spill

    More than 2,000 shrimpers and seafood business owners hit Hilcorp Energy Co. with a federal lawsuit over an August 2022 oil spill they say spoiled the opening day of shrimping season.

  • August 11, 2025

    Hawaiian Judge Vacates Letter Allowing Monument Fishing

    Commercial fishing cannot legally continue in the waters of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument under a National Marine Fisheries Services letter that tribal and environmental groups claim authorized the endeavor, a Hawaii federal court judge said, arguing evidence shows that the directive harmed the plaintiffs in the dispute.

  • August 11, 2025

    Proxy Proposals Shift Away From Politics Under Trump

    Shareholder proposals on environmental, social and political topics faced headwinds in early 2025, with both the number of submissions and investor support falling amid Trump administration policy shifts and "dizzying" legal and regulatory changes, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP said in a Monday report. 

  • August 11, 2025

    EPA Cancels Union Contracts Under Trump Order

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has canceled its collective bargaining agreements in line with President Donald Trump's directive to dozens of agencies to stop recognizing their workers' unions, which he said was to protect national security.

  • August 11, 2025

    Rising Star: Keller Rohrback's Adele Daniel

    Adele Daniel of Keller Rohrback LLP has been helping her firm win big-money cases for clients alleging toxic pollution, facing determined opponents in court, working on every stage of the litigation and earning a spot among the environmental law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 11, 2025

    Feds, Wind Farm Backers Cross Swords Over Permitting Halt

    The U.S. government and opponents of the Trump administration's halt of wind farm project reviews have made their cases to a Massachusetts federal judge as to why they should prevail in litigation challenging the legality of the moratorium.

  • August 11, 2025

    Ørsted To Raise $9.4B After Delays To US Wind Farm Sale

    Denmark's wind power giant Ørsted AS said Monday that it plans to raise $9.4 billion with support from the Danish state as it blamed resistance by the U.S. government to wind power after Donald Trump took office for disrupting its investment plans.

  • August 08, 2025

    FERC's Policy Work Was A Mixed Bag For Departing Chair

    Outgoing Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie touted the agency's work to encourage gas infrastructure development during his tenure, but lamented its failure to advance electricity policies aimed at lowering transmission costs and ensuring there's enough power supplying the nation's grid.

  • August 08, 2025

    Ark. Farmers Say Okla. Pollution Plan Violates State Sovereignty

    The Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation and two cattle ranchers are urging a federal court in Oklahoma to reject the state's $103 million solution to end a long-running legal fight against poultry producers, including Tysons Foods Inc., for polluting the Illinois River Watershed, saying Oklahoma's proposed limits on fertilizer derived from chicken waste would violate Arkansas' sovereignty.

  • August 08, 2025

    6th Circ. Revives Dodge Ram Drivers' Emissions Fraud Claims

    The Sixth Circuit signaled Friday that federal law doesn't preempt a group of drivers' claims alleging Fiat Chrysler and engine manufacturer Cummins deceptively marketed Dodge Ram trucks as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, punting the dispute back to Michigan federal court.

  • August 08, 2025

    Exxon, Suncor Urge Justices To Halt Colo. Climate Suit

    Exxon Mobil Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Colorado Supreme Court's decision allowing the city and county of Boulder's climate change tort against the companies to proceed in state court, arguing that the localities' claims are preempted by federal law.

  • August 08, 2025

    Calif. Justices Rip Deference To Regulator's Solar Ruling

    The Golden State's highest court unanimously struck down a lower court ruling that the justices said gave too much deference to the California Public Utilities Commission in a dispute over rooftop solar rates, saying when reviewing decisions of the state's utilities regulator, courts "remain the final arbiters of statutory meaning."

  • August 08, 2025

    Judge Says Insurer Must Face $100M Biz Interruption Claim

    A chemicals manufacturer accusing a reinsurer of failing to fully cover its roughly $100 million business interruption claim over a chemical plant explosion can still pursue its coverage claims, a Texas federal court ruled, finding the Texas Supreme Court would likely adopt the same holding.

  • August 08, 2025

    NJ Legislation Highlights From The 1st Half Of 2025

    During the first half of 2025, New Jersey lawmakers addressed a long-standing judicial vacancy crisis, strengthened protections for utility customers and streamlined the asbestos remediation process for Jersey City's historic courthouse.  

  • August 08, 2025

    Trade Group Sues Colorado Over Gas Stove Labeling Law

    A home appliances trade association has told a Colorado federal judge that recently passed state legislation mandating that a health warning be placed on all gas stoves is unconstitutional.

  • August 08, 2025

    Trump EO Requires Appointee Oversight Of US Grantmaking

    President Donald Trump has issued an executive order requiring that all funding opportunity announcements and grant awards be reviewed by his political appointees and allowing for grants to be terminated that fall outside the administration's priorities. 

  • August 08, 2025

    EV Makers Challenge New Fuel Economy Rule In DC Circ.

    An electric vehicle industry group is challenging the Trump administration's rollback of Biden-era fuel economy standards, claiming that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's freeze on compliance notifications is threatening the business models of American electric automakers.

  • August 08, 2025

    NY Says 1676 Order Can't Help Tribe In Eel Fishing Regs Row

    The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is fighting a Supreme Court bid by the Unkechaug Nation to undo a Second Circuit decision rejecting its challenge to the state's regulations on eel fishing harvests, arguing that a 1676 British colonial governor's order is not federal law.

  • August 08, 2025

    Trump Admin Invites Legal Fights With Clean Energy Moves

    Recent Trump administration moves to saddle renewable energy projects with additional regulatory and permit burdens are likely to face court challenges from the industry even as developers are forced to think long and hard about the viability of their projects.

  • August 08, 2025

    NC AG Has Power To Pursue PFAS Pollution Suit, Judge Rules

    Two DuPont spinoffs can't shirk a forever chemical contamination suit brought by the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, a state court judge has ruled, finding Attorney General Jeff Jackson does have the authority to pursue the case even after lawmakers curbed his powers.

  • August 07, 2025

    ConocoPhillips Agrees To $1.3B Sale Of Anadarko Assets

    ConocoPhillips, with guidance from Haynes Boone, is selling its Anadarko Basin assets for $1.3 billion, with the sale expected to close at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the independent oil producer announced on Thursday.

  • August 07, 2025

    Judge Orders Chemours To Cut Discharges At W.Va. Plant

    A West Virginia federal judge on Thursday ordered Chemours to take any steps needed to stop its Washington Works manufacturing plant from continuing to discharge excessive amounts of a harmful "forever chemical" into the Ohio River.

  • August 07, 2025

    Insurers Say Property Co.'s $7M Ida Claim Must Be Arbitrated

    A lower court order forcing a New Orleans property owner to arbitrate its $7 million Hurricane Ida damage claim against its domestic insurers should be reinstated, a group of carriers told the Fifth Circuit on Thursday, saying the New York Convention mandates the enforcement of the policy's arbitration provision.

  • August 07, 2025

    6th Circ. Halts FirstEnergy Production Of Bribery Probe Docs

    The Sixth Circuit on Thursday prevented shareholders of FirstEnergy Corp. from immediately accessing investigative documents prepared by BigLaw firms in the wake of a $1 billion bribery scandal, ruling that the utility company was likely to succeed in its claims that the disclosures were protected by attorney-client privilege.

  • August 07, 2025

    Teamsters Say Airgas Released Hazardous Gas On Strikers

    Members of a New Jersey-based Teamsters union have sued Airgas, alleging that the company released an unknown hazardous gas on them as they were peacefully picketing outside company facilities in New Jersey and Illinois, with both releases creating a "dense white cloud plume" that enveloped the striking workers.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Rewrite Rules For Challenging Enviro Agency Actions

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    Three recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, Oklahoma v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining — form a jurisprudential watershed in administrative and environmental law, affirming statutory standing and venue provisions as the backbone of coherent judicial review, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Despite Dark Clouds, Outlook For US Solar Has Bright Spots

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    While tariff, tax policy and bankruptcy news seemingly portends unending challenges for the U.S. solar energy industry, signs of continued growth in solar generating capacity and domestic solar manufacturing suggest that there is a path forward, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • ICSID Annulment Proceedings Carry High Stakes For System

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    The annulment proceedings brought by Freeport-McMoRan before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, seeking to redress a glaring and prejudicial oversight in its arbitral award against Peru, are significant for delimiting the boundaries of procedural fairness within the ICSID's annulment framework, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • Justices' NRC Ruling Raises New Regulatory Questions

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    In Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court avoided ruling on the NRC's authority to license private, temporary nuclear waste storage facilities — and this failure to reach the merits question creates new regulatory uncertainty where none had existed for decades, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 3 Judicial Approaches To Applying Loper Bright, 1 Year Later

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    In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in its Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, a few patterns have emerged in lower courts’ application of the precedent to determine whether agency actions are lawful, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Bill Leaves Renewable Cos. In Dark On Farmland Reporting

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    A U.S. Senate bill to update disclosure requirements for foreign control of U.S. farmland does not provide much-needed guidance on how to report renewable energy development on agricultural property, leaving significant compliance risks for project developers, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

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    My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

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    The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

  • 3 Juror Psychology Principles For Expert Witness Testimony

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    Expert witnesses can sometimes fall into traps when trying to teach juries complex topics by failing to consider the psychology of juror comprehension, but attorneys can help witnesses avoid these pitfalls with a deeper understanding of cognitive lag, chunking and learning styles, says Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • In NRC Ruling, Justices Affirm Hearing Process Still Matters

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas safeguards the fairness, clarity and predictability of the regulatory system by affirming that to challenge an agency's decision in court, litigants must first meaningfully participate in the hearing process that Congress and the agency have established, says Jonathan Rund at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • How Energy Cos. Can Prepare For Potential Tax Credit Cuts

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    The Senate Finance Committee's version of the One Big Beautiful Bill act would create a steep phaseout of renewable energy tax credits, which should prompt companies to take several actions, including conduct a project review to discern which could begin construction before the end of the year, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

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