Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Environmental
-
May 21, 2024
Houston Club Asks Court To Halt Storm Damage Demolition
A Houston nightclub damaged in last week's severe storm told a Harris County court Monday that city officials improperly declared that the building should be demolished.
-
May 21, 2024
BASF Agrees To $316.5M Settlement In PFAS Foam MDL
Attorneys representing public water systems in a South Carolina multidistrict litigation over so-called forever chemicals in drinking water announced Tuesday that they've reached an agreement in principle with defendant BASF Corp., which will pay $316.5 million to resolve the claims.
-
May 21, 2024
Valero Brings $37M Refund Claim Over Fuel Credit, Crude Tax
Energy company Valero is seeking $37 million in tax refunds for biomass fuel mixtures it said should've qualified for the alternative fuel tax credit and for claimed overpayments of crude tax, according to a complaint in Texas federal court.
-
May 21, 2024
DOJ, VW Ask 9th Circ. To Void Jones Day Docs Release Order
The U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen have told the Ninth Circuit that forcing them to release confidential Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal would have far-reaching, chilling implications for federal criminal prosecutions.
-
May 21, 2024
US Steel And Cleveland-Cliffs Spar Over Merits Of Nippon Deal
U.S. Steel sought to "correct the record" regarding its planned $14.9 billion sale to Nippon Steel on Tuesday, highlighting its continued faith in the deal while blasting what it called a "misinformation campaign" from rival Cleveland-Cliffs.
-
May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
-
May 21, 2024
The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.
-
May 21, 2024
Texas Oil Co. Sues To Challenge Colo. Regulators' $23M Fine
A Texas oil and gas company accused Colorado regulators of failing to properly serve violation notices and imposing an "excessive" $23.2 million fine contrary to the rights set forth in the state and U.S. constitutions, in a complaint filed in Colorado state court.
-
May 20, 2024
HOA Pecks At Chickens-As-Pets Theory In NC Appeal
A North Carolina couple's 60-plus chickens aren't household pets, a local homeowners association has told the state's top court in seeking to reinstate a $31,500 judgment in its favor that was upended last month by a three-judge panel in the lower appeals court.
-
May 20, 2024
10th Circ. Oral Args. Poised To Shape NM Pollution Coverage
The Tenth Circuit said there were "good arguments on both sides" of an appeal at oral arguments Monday over whether absolute pollution exclusions doomed a New Mexico property owner's quest for defense coverage of underlying contamination litigation, in a case that could set the tone for insurance battles in the state.
-
May 20, 2024
Biofuel Groups Urge High Court To Undo 5th Circ. Ruling
Two biofuel trade associations called on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to review a Fifth Circuit decision vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's denial of small refiners' requests for exemptions from their renewable-fuel program obligations, highlighting a split with five other circuit courts.
-
May 20, 2024
Nonprofits Renew Bid To Enter Red States' Border Wall Suit
Two nonprofits urged a Texas federal court to add them to a challenge to the Biden administration's plans to use border wall appropriations for remediation projects, saying they were shocked by the administration's acceptance of an order suspending the plan.
-
May 20, 2024
EPA Touts Brownfield Grants In Visit To Polluted Philly Site
Biden administration officials visited a riverfront site in Philadelphia where the city is using federal support to clean up contamination and add amenities, as they promoted $3 million in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency support to four New Jersey communities.
-
May 20, 2024
Oil & Gas Groups Press DC Circ. To Block EPA Methane Rule
Oil and gas industry groups have urged the D.C. Circuit to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's expanded methane emissions control requirements while they're being challenged in court, saying the agency failed to reckon with the requirements' outsized impacts on owners of low-producing oil and gas wells.
-
May 20, 2024
Calif. Atty Denies Role In Flint Water PR Stunt
A California attorney representing a public relations firm told a Michigan federal judge on Monday that she had nothing to do with the firm's campaign attacking a lawyer suing one of its clients connected to the Flint water crisis.
-
May 20, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.
-
May 20, 2024
Wyo. Tribe Secures $9.2M For Wastewater Infrastructure
The Northern Arapaho Business Council has been awarded a nearly $9.2 million federal grant aimed at improving a wastewater system known as the Beaver Creek Lagoon that serves the Beaver Creek housing development and Wind River Hotel & Casino.
-
May 20, 2024
Settlement Ends Insurer's Stormwater Coverage Suit
An H.W. Kaufman Group insurer settled a lawsuit seeking a declaration that it owed no coverage to a home construction company or its owner in an underlying suit accusing the company of performing defective work that led to pooling stormwater, according to a notice filed in Georgia federal court.
-
May 20, 2024
Justices Stay Out Of Pipeline Land Fight With FERC
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the D.C. Circuit decision dismissing a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's eminent domain authority brought by Virginia landowners along the route of the Mountain Valley pipeline.
-
May 17, 2024
Utah, Farm Groups Ask To Reopen Bears Ears Monument Suit
The state of Utah and two farming associations have asked a D.C. federal court to lift a more than three-year stay in a tribal case over the Bears Ears National Monument, saying the case is now moot and another monument case is pending before the Tenth Circuit.
-
May 17, 2024
Group Sues Feds Over Logging In NH National Forest
A forest protection group has sued the U.S. Forest Service in New Hampshire federal court, challenging commercial logging projects it recently approved in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
-
May 17, 2024
DC Circ. Probes Carbon Capture In LNG Approval Challenge
The D.C. Circuit on Friday questioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to reapprove a Texas liquefied natural gas terminal without considering the terminal developer's proposal to add environmentally friendly modifications, amid renewed challenges to the agency's authorization of LNG facilities in the Lone Star State.
-
May 17, 2024
Chicago Wants Climate Deception Claims Back In State Court
The city of Chicago says it should be in state court hashing out climate change deception claims against several of the nation's largest oil producers because the companies lodged "objectively baseless" arguments to remove its case to federal court.
-
May 17, 2024
Fla. Investor Says Mining Co. Froze His Shares In Costly Error
An investor and former employee of a Canadian mining company alleged breach of fiduciary duty and negligence against the business, saying in a lawsuit in Florida federal court that he was wrongfully prevented from selling his shares and lost money when the stock price dropped following an unfavorable arbitration ruling.
-
May 17, 2024
New Domestic Content Guidance May Boost Energy Credits
The U.S. Treasury Department's new guidance on bonus tax credits for clean energy projects that source domestic-made materials and components aims to simplify the process for determining eligibility and spur more development to get those extra incentives.
Expert Analysis
-
ECHR Ruling May Pave Path For A UK Climate Damage Tort
In light of case law on the interaction between human rights law and common law, the European Court of Human Rights' recent ruling in KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, finding the country at fault for failures to tackle global warming, could tip the scales toward extending English tort law to cover climate change-related losses, say lawyers at Cleary.
-
Opinion
Climate Change Shouldn't Be Litigated Under State Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the Hawaii Supreme Court's October decision in Honolulu v. Sunoco that Hawaii could apply state law to emissions generated outside the state, because it would lead to a barrage of cases seeking to resolve a worldwide problem according to 50 different variations of state law, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.
-
Regulating Resurrected Species Under The ESA
As the prospect of extinct species being resurrected from DNA and reintroduced into the wild grows closer, an analysis of the Endangered Species Act suggests that it could provide a thoughtful, flexible governance framework for such scenarios, say Caroline Meadows and Shelby Bobosky at the SMU Dedman School of Law.
-
E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
-
IP Considerations For Companies In Carbon Capture Sector
As companies collaborate to commercialize carbon capture technologies amid massive government investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a coherent intellectual property strategy is more important than ever, including proactively addressing and resolving questions about ownership of the technology, say Ashley Kennedy and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
-
Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes
Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.
-
5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.
-
What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule
A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.
-
Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
-
Opinion
SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule
Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.
-
What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron
With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.
-
Opinion
SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
-
Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation
Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.
-
How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.