Environmental

  • July 09, 2025

    Insurer Accused Of Dodging $2M Claims For Hurricane Beryl

    A car dealership told a Texas federal judge that its insurance company stiffed it to the tune of $2 million after Hurricane Beryl blew through and damaged multiple buildings, saying in a Wednesday complaint the insurer wrongly found the damages fell below the deductible.

  • July 09, 2025

    Sierra Club Says OMB Ignoring Funding Freeze Info Requests

    The Office of Management and Budget's refusal to produce records concerning the Trump administration's freeze of federal funding programs is impeding the Sierra Club's mission to advocate for and educate the public about pressing public health and environmental issues, the environmental organization alleged Tuesday in California federal court.

  • July 09, 2025

    EPA Violated ESA With Nitrogen, Soot Standards, Group Says

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the Endangered Species Act when it approved air quality standards for two pollutants without properly analyzing their effects on animals and plants, the Center for Biological Diversity told the D.C. Circuit Tuesday.

  • July 09, 2025

    Trump Admin Beats Injunction Bid Over Deleted Webpages

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Sierra Club and other nonprofits' request for a preliminary injunction forcing federal agencies to restore webpages the groups said provided critical environmental information, saying they hadn't shown keeping the status quo while their case is pending would cause irreparable harm.

  • July 09, 2025

    EPA Sued Over Oil Refineries' Hydrogen Fluoride Use

    A group of environmental advocates has hauled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency into California federal court to stop the use of hydrogen fluoride in domestic oil manufacturing refineries, arguing it's endangering the public and the Toxic Substances Control Act requires that the agency eliminate those risks through regulations.

  • July 09, 2025

    J&J Seeks To Toss 'Nowhere Close' Band-Aid PFAS Suit In NJ

    Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue Inc. are urging a New Jersey federal court to toss a proposed class action alleging that the companies have not disclosed to the public that PFAS "forever chemicals" are present in unsafe amounts in Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages, arguing that the plaintiffs come "nowhere close" to stating a plausible claim.

  • July 09, 2025

    Red States Want In On Youths' Suit Over Trump Energy Orders

    A coalition of Republican states led by Montana asked a federal court Tuesday for permission to intervene in a lawsuit brought by youths challenging President Donald Trump's recently enacted fossil fuel policies.

  • July 09, 2025

    3M PFAS Suit Belongs In State Court, Conn. Tells 2nd Circ.

    Connecticut is urging the Second Circuit to reject 3M Co.'s effort to move a state court lawsuit accusing the company of polluting the environment with forever chemicals contained in its consumer products to federal court.

  • July 09, 2025

    5 Years Ago, The McGirt Ruling Reshaped Tribal Jurisdiction

    It was widely held for decades that Oklahoma had domain over criminal matters on tribal lands, but five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court turned that regime on its head, finding 19th century federal treaties with the Creek Nation that formed its reservation are valid — and, in turn, reestablishing 45% of the Sooner State as Indian Country.

  • July 09, 2025

    Mass. Cos. Must Keep Bottled Water Flowing In PFAS Case

    A Massachusetts federal judge has ordered defendant companies to keep providing bottled water to residents of Westminster, Massachusetts, maintaining the status quo while the court determines whether those companies have made the residents' tap water sufficiently safe from so-called forever chemicals.

  • July 08, 2025

    Grocer's Octopus In Olive Oil Also Comes With Lead, Suit Says

    Natural grocery store chain Lazy Acres has been selling a tinned "octopus in olive oil" product that also contains lead in violation of California's Proposition 65, according to a suit lodged in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday.

  • July 08, 2025

    'Tiger King' Star 'Doc' Antle Sentenced For Wildlife Trafficking

    Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, a star of the Netflix docuseries "Tiger King," was sentenced Tuesday to one year in prison and ordered to give up three chimpanzees, having pled guilty in South Carolina federal court to wildlife trafficking and money laundering.

  • July 08, 2025

    Fla. Distorted Detention Center Construction, Group Says

    An environmental nonprofit claimed in Florida federal court filings Tuesday it has evidence additional land in the Everglades is being used to construct a federal immigration detention center, alleging a misrepresentation from Florida officials that the camp is built on the footprint of an existing airport structure.

  • July 08, 2025

    5th Circ. Wary To Let Surety Stick Chevron With $11M Bill

    A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of a surety company's argument that BP and Chevron need to pony up $11 million to pay for decommissioning costs, asking Tuesday what to do with contractual language that seemingly absolved them of having to pay that bill.

  • July 08, 2025

    Product Liability Cases To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

    The fate of a $2.5 billion punitive damages award against Ford and looming bench verdicts in the first PFAS trials brought by a state are among the cases that product liability attorneys will be following closely in the second half of 2025.

  • July 08, 2025

    Trump Declares 50% Copper Tariff, Floats 200% Pharma Tariff

    President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will impose a new 50% tariff on copper imported into the U.S., while also raising the possibility of imposing a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals.

  • July 08, 2025

    Wash. Seafood Plant, Steel Shop Slapped With CWA Suits

    Environmental groups launched a pair of Clean Water Act lawsuits in Washington federal court on Tuesday accusing an Evergreen State seafood producer and specialty machinery firm of releasing pollutants into local waterways in violation of state and federal permitting regulations.

  • July 08, 2025

    Del. Judge Cuts Co-Plaintiff From $57M Refined Coal IP Suit

    A co-plaintiff alongside Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. cannot share in a $57 million award from a jury that found patents on technology for refining coal to reduce mercury emissions from power plants were infringed, with a Delaware federal judge ruling on Tuesday the other company lacks standing.

  • July 08, 2025

    Mich. Judge Certifies Edenville Dam Flood Victim Classes

    A Michigan claims court judge has certified classes of businesses and residents affected by flooding from the collapse of a hydroelectric dam, ahead of a January trial to determine if state agencies are liable for the disaster. 

  • July 08, 2025

    States Back Enviro Orgs. Bid To Block EPA's Halt Of $3B Grant

    A group of Democratic attorneys general on Monday told a D.C. federal district court that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to terminate environmental justice grants deprives vulnerable communities of funding "necessary to achieve a healthy environment."

  • July 08, 2025

    Judge Halts Plan To Slash AmeriCorps Workforce, Funding

    A Maryland federal judge determined that the Trump administration must reinstate hundreds of AmeriCorps employees and restore $400 million in funding and grants to nonprofits, saying public interest and a balance of equities favor a preliminary injunction.

  • July 08, 2025

    Insurer, Guam School Settle Typhoon Coverage Fight

    The owner of a high school in Guam and its property insurer resolved their coverage dispute over the owner's claims the insurer underpaid its more than $5.1 million typhoon damage claim in bad faith, in part through allegedly "causing delay," the parties told a Guam federal court.

  • July 08, 2025

    Tax Court Says IRS Offer In $57M Easement Case Isn't Binding

    A settlement offer the Internal Revenue Service said it mistakenly made to a partnership after rejecting its $57 million conservation easement deduction is not binding, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday, declining the partnership's request to enforce the deal.

  • July 08, 2025

    Everglades Plan Won't Spoil Buddhist Temple, Fla. Court Told

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urged a Florida federal court Tuesday to toss a Buddhist temple's claims alleging that an Everglades restoration project is disrupting members' ability to peacefully meditate, arguing that the complaint came too late and that construction isn't coercing a change in their religious practices.

  • July 08, 2025

    Environmental Regulations To Watch In 2025: Midyear Report

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it is planning big changes to existing regulations and policies, including possibly rescinding its finding that greenhouse gases pose a danger to people's health and rolling back standards for forever chemicals. Here are some of the biggest regulatory matters to watch in the second half of 2025.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Move Beyond Surface-Level Edits To Master Legal Writing

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    Recent instances in which attorneys filed briefs containing artificial intelligence hallucinations offer a stark reminder that effective revision isn’t just about superficial details like grammar — it requires attorneys to critically engage with their writing and analyze their rhetorical choices, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • 9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

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    District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Future Of Enviro Crimes Under Trump's Federal Regs Order

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order about fighting overcriminalization in federal regulations creates new advocacy opportunities for defense counsel to argue that particular environmental crime investigations and matters ought to be limited or declined based on the policy priorities reflected in the order, say attorneys at Sidley.

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