Environmental

  • September 02, 2025

    Colorado Pipeline Co. Challenges $314M Property Valuation

    Colorado assets of a petroleum pipeline company were wrongly valued by the state for property tax purposes at $314 million, the company said, challenging its valuation for at least the third straight year.

  • August 29, 2025

    Nuke Plant Restarts: Chances Exist, But Challenges Await

    Growing U.S. electricity demand has sparked moves to restart shuttered nuclear power plants in order to help feed that appetite for power, but the recommissioning process is far from simple. Here, attorneys who work on nuclear matters outline to Law360 several considerations that go into bringing a plant out of mothballs.

  • August 29, 2025

    Amazon Can't Scrap Toilet Paper Suit, Consumers Say

    Plaintiffs suing Amazon in a proposed class action that accuses the retail juggernaut of lying to consumers about the environmental impacts of its toilet paper and other paper products said the company's effort to hide behind third-party forestry certifications doesn't justify the suit's dismissal.

  • August 29, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: School Housing, Texas Land, Miami Transit

    Momentum in the student housing sector, limits to foreign ownership of Texas land and incentives in Miami transit zones were among the key developments covered this week in Law360 Real Estate Authority.

  • August 29, 2025

    DC Circ. Backs Biden Gulf Drilling Plan Amid Trump Revamp

    The D.C. Circuit rejected environmental groups' bid to scale back the U.S. Department of the Interior's 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program, finding the plan satisfied all legal requirements.

  • August 29, 2025

    Norwegian Shipping Co. Pleads Guilty To Pollution Charge

    Shipping company V.Ships Norway admitted to illegally dumping oil-contaminated waste in the Atlantic Ocean and was sentenced to pay a $2 million fine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • August 29, 2025

    Trump Admin Yanks $679M In Offshore Wind Projects

    The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday that it is canceling $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest salvo in the Trump administration's attack on wind power. 

  • August 29, 2025

    Hurricane Maria Fraud Suit Against Adjuster Thrown Out

    A Puerto Rico federal court tossed an insurer's lawsuit against a public adjuster alleging it inflated its calculation of damage that a Puerto Rico town suffered from Hurricane Maria in 2017, finding the lawsuit amounts to "overly broad claims of dissatisfaction with the opposing party's conduct during the insurance claim process."

  • August 29, 2025

    NLRB Atty Joins Blank Rome's Labor Group In Philadelphia

    An attorney who spent the first 15 years of his legal career working with National Labor Relations Board has recently moved into private practice and joined Blank Rome LLP's growing labor team.

  • August 29, 2025

    States Say White House Caved In AmeriCorps Cut Fight

    A coalition consisting of Maryland, two dozen other states and D.C. that is challenging the Trump administration's attempts to slash AmeriCorps programs and withhold funds announced Friday the White House has chosen to release nearly $185 million as it faced "a blistering legal defeat."

  • August 28, 2025

    Trump Ends Bargaining Rights For Workers At More Agencies

    President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that purports to remove collective bargaining rights from federal workers at several more agencies, including NASA, the National Weather Service and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a move that one union slammed as "retaliation."

  • August 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Rules BLM Can Implement Oregon Logging Plan

    Officials at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management sufficiently vetted an Oregon logging project that conservationists claim will harm threatened wildlife, a Ninth Circuit panel has ruled, concluding the project does not violate earlier plans to protect coastal forest habitats.

  • August 28, 2025

    EPA Backs Truck-Makers' Bid To Block Calif. Emissions Regs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday joined truck-makers in asking a California federal court to immediately block implementation of the state's emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks.

  • August 28, 2025

    Court Blocks Bid To Keep Everglades Detention Center Open

    A Florida federal judge denied a bid to halt a preliminary injunction requiring the government to cease operations at an Everglades immigration detention center, ruling no new evidence was shown that its detainees are dangerous or why a facility must be placed in that particular location. 

  • August 28, 2025

    Tribal Members Seek 5th Circ. Redo In San Antonio Park Row

    Two members of a Native American church are asking the Fifth Circuit to rehear its appeal, which looks to block the restoration of a San Antonio park, saying that if left uncorrected, the opinion will leave religious believers vulnerable and sow confusion among district courts.

  • August 28, 2025

    Energy Dept. Extends Pa. Plant's Lifespan, Citing Power Risks

    U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Thursday ordered PJM Interconnection and Constellation Energy to continue operating a Pennsylvania power plant that was supposed to have closed in May.

  • August 28, 2025

    Red States Fight Youths' Effort To Stop Trump Energy Orders

    Blocking implementation of President Donald Trump's energy-related emergency orders would harm the U.S. electric grid and economy in ways that would outweigh any purported climate change benefits, Republican-led states told a Montana federal judge.

  • August 28, 2025

    Hawaii Transient Tax Is Unconstitutional, Cruise Cos. Say

    The extension of Hawaii's 11% transient accommodation tax to cruise ship passengers under a new law violates the U.S. Constitution, a group of cruise companies told a U.S. district court.

  • August 28, 2025

    UK Plastic Packaging Tax Revenue Dips As Exemptions Rise

    The U.K. has collected slightly less revenue from its tax on plastic packaging over the past year as manufacturers have begun using more recycled materials to qualify for exemptions from the levy and imports have declined, HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday.

  • August 28, 2025

    FedArb Hires Ex-RTX Legal Chief As Commercial Mediator

    California-based alternative dispute resolution service Federal Arbitration Inc., or FedArb, announced Wednesday the hiring of a former corporate vice president and chief litigation counsel at aerospace and defense conglomerate RTX Corp. as a Connecticut-based mediator and arbitrator focused on commercial matters.

  • August 28, 2025

    Hotel Group Says Insurer Owes $12.5M For Helene Losses

    A hotel group said it is entitled to recover $12.5 million from a Liberty Mutual unit for business interruption losses stemming from Hurricane Helene, the company said, telling a North Carolina federal court that the insurer has unjustifiably and in bad faith refused to provide coverage.

  • August 28, 2025

    Commonwealth Fusion Systems Wraps $863M Funding Round

    Private fusion company Commonwealth Fusion Systems on Thursday revealed that it clinched an $863 million Series B2 funding round, marking what the company says is the "largest amount raised" among deep tech and energy companies since its 2021 $1.8 billion Series B funding round.

  • August 27, 2025

    Buyers Drop State Claims In Target Deceptive 'Clean' Label Suit

    A proposed class of consumers alleging Target's Clean range of beauty products actually contain chemicals harmful to humans and the environment agreed Wednesday to voluntarily dismiss their specific state law claims without prejudice.

  • August 27, 2025

    Tribe Wins Limited Approval Of Bid To Intervene In Casino Suit

    A California federal judge said the Koi Nation may intervene in the state's lawsuit over a U.S. government plan to put land into trust for the tribe's proposed casino, but she also ruled it hasn't waived its sovereign immunity so it will not be joined to the litigation as an indispensable party.

  • August 27, 2025

    Colorado Sues Mobile Home Park Over Unsafe Drinking Water

    Colorado health officials told a state judge on Wednesday that a local mobile home park's drinking water tested positive for potentially dangerous bacteria, and the mobile home park is violating state law by ignoring mandated further testing and refusing to notify residents of the test results.

Expert Analysis

  • How Trump's Trade Policies Are Shaping Foreign Investment

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    Five months into the Trump administration, investors are beginning to see the concrete effects of the president’s America First Investment Policy as it presents new opportunities for clearing transactions more quickly, while sustaining risk aversion related to Chinese trade and potentially creating different political risks, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 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.

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