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Environmental
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May 17, 2024
Industry Emboldened After Justices Galvanize Agency Attacks
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court said "extraordinary" and "far-reaching" attacks on administrative enforcers can skip agency tribunals and go straight to federal district court, ambitious challenges to regulatory powers are rapidly gaining traction, and the high court is poised to put them on an even firmer footing.
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May 17, 2024
4 Firms Build $2.55B Sale Of Avangrid To Spain's Iberdrola
Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola SA and its portfolio company, sustainable energy business Avangrid, on Friday announced that they have reached an agreement for Iberdrola to take Avangrid private by purchasing the remaining issued and outstanding shares it does not already own in a $2.55 billion deal built by four firms.
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May 17, 2024
Wash. Energy Codes Challenged Again After 9th Circ. Decision
In the wake of a Ninth Circuit ruling that forced Washington officials to revisit regulations on natural gas appliances used in new construction, a group of natural gas companies, homeowners and construction interests are claiming the state's apparent fix is again out of step with federal law.
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May 17, 2024
Kilpatrick Brings On Nelson Mullins Energy Pro In Atlanta, DC
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP has picked up a new energy regulatory attorney in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., with a diverse background, including working for Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP as well as Google and the South Carolina House of Representatives.
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May 17, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen a wave of claims filed against Verity Trustees Ltd., Harley-Davidson hit retailer Next with an intellectual property claim, Turkish e-commerce entrepreneur Demet Mutlu sue her ex-husband and Trendyol co-founder Evren Üçok and the Solicitors Regulation Authority file a claim against the former boss of collapsed law firm Axiom. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 17, 2024
Glass Lewis, ISS Split On Chevron-Hess Deal Guidance
Hess Corp. shareholders got mixed advice from the two leading proxy advisory firms on whether to vote in favor of a $53 billion takeover by Chevron Corp., further muddling the oil and gas giants' path to closing the mega-deal amid an ongoing dispute with Exxon Mobil Corp.
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May 16, 2024
DC Circ. Mulls Rolling Back Pipeline Safety Regs Over Cost
The industry group challenging a handful of pipeline safety standards told a D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday that there will be "no fight" between it and the government on one of the regulations if the court simply rules that two terms that the agency maintains have the same definition do mean the same thing.
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May 16, 2024
Metal Co., Supplier Will Pay $14M To Settle NJ Pollution Suit
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin unveiled a $14 million settlement Thursday between the state's Department of Environmental Protection and the once-owners of a former metal etching facility and its supplier for their alleged role in contaminating groundwater with trichloroethylene in northern Bergen County.
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May 16, 2024
Ariz. Lawmakers Say Groups Can't Be Part Of Monument Suit
The Arizona Legislature is fighting bids by a slew of conservation groups and tribes to intervene in two lawsuits in federal court that challenge a Biden administration proclamation designating an Indigenous sacred site in the Grand Canyon region as a national monument.
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May 16, 2024
Disinfectant Maker To Pay $1.2M To Exit Abandoned-Product Suit
The peddler of a disinfectant that stands accused of working with Walmart to abandon millions of units of product made from unregistered chemicals, which is illegal to sell and difficult to dispose of, on two unwitting warehouse companies has reached a settlement to end a $30 million lawsuit.
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May 16, 2024
EPA Doctor Not A Whistleblower For Slamming Lead Plan
A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pediatrician and epidemiologist who publicly criticized the EPA's plan to reduce lead in drinking water as inadequate is not protected by federal whistleblower law, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Clean Energy CEO Gets 6 Years For Forgeries Netting $1.1M
The CEO of a Pennsylvania clean energy company was sentenced to six years in federal prison for defrauding investors out of $1.1 million and falsifying documents to cover his tracks, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Exxon Pipeline In Dallas At Risk Over Excavation Co. Dumping
ExxonMobil and a commercial excavation company have agreed to a temporary injunction that would prevent the company from dumping cement slabs and other debris on land over a key Exxon fuel pipeline that runs under Dallas, with a state judge on Thursday indicating she would sign off on the proposal.
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May 16, 2024
La. River Project Would Damage Swamp, Green Groups Say
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-approved project meant to increase river flow through an important Louisiana basin will ruin the area with fertilizer and sediment, environmental groups said in a new lawsuit filed Wednesday.
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May 16, 2024
New BLM Plans Sunset Federal Coal Leasing In Wyo., Mont.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday unveiled court-ordered, revised resource management plans for coal-rich areas of Montana and Wyoming that end future coal leasing in the regions, a move blasted by congressional representatives of those states.
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May 16, 2024
Oil & Gas Groups Challenge DOI Overhaul Of Leasing Regs
A coalition of oil and gas groups has slapped the U.S. Department of the Interior with a lawsuit in Wyoming federal court seeking to unravel the agency's final rule boosting bonding requirements, royalty rates and minimum bids for its onshore federal oil and gas leasing program.
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May 16, 2024
GM, LG Ink $150M Deal To End Chevy Bolt Battery Defect Suit
A proposed class of Chevrolet Bolt owners asked a Michigan federal court on Thursday to give the go-ahead for a $150 million deal to end claims against General Motors LLC and LG units over alleged battery defects they say make the cars prone to overheating and fires.
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May 16, 2024
Apt. Complex Must Face Insurer's Mold Death Coverage Suit
A Georgia federal judge has refused to toss an insurer's suit seeking to evade coverage of an apartment complex accused of failing to stop a mold infestation that killed a tenant, finding the insurer has plausibly alleged it does not have a duty to defend under the prevailing insurance policy.
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May 16, 2024
V&E Guides Crescent Energy On $2.1B SilverBow Buy
Vinson & Elkins LLP is guiding Crescent Energy Co. on a new agreement to purchase Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP-led SilverBow Resources Inc. in a transaction valued at $2.1 billion, the Houston-based energy companies said Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Treasury Provides Extra Relief For Bonus Energy Tax Credits
The U.S. Treasury Department provided additional safe harbors Thursday that clean energy project developers can use to qualify for bonus tax credits for domestically sourcing their steel and aluminum parts in response to the Biden administration's new trade restrictions on solar products from China.
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May 16, 2024
Biden To Restore Tariffs On Bifacial Solar Panel Imports
The Biden administration is lifting a tariff exemption that was granted in 2019 for bifacial solar modules, saying Wednesday that the move will help ensure that imports from China don't undercut U.S. solar manufacturing.
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May 15, 2024
Two Firms To Lead GrafTech Suit Over Environmental Issues
An Ohio federal judge on Wednesday appointed Abraham Fruchter & Twersky LLP and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP to lead a shareholder class action against GrafTech International, accusing the electrode-maker of covering up its environmental contamination in Monterrey, Mexico, in the run-up to its initial public offering.
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May 15, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Block Arizona Mineral Drilling Projects
A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday refused to block drilling at an exploratory mine in a southern Arizona national forest after a coalition of conservation groups argued the project would threaten imperiled species, finding that the government adequately considered the mine's impact on wildlife.
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May 15, 2024
Navajo President Seeks Approval Of Water Rights Settlement
The Navajo Nation's president has urged the federally recognized tribe's council to approve two historic water rights settlements as soon as possible, saying decadeslong negotiations have finally come to an end and now promise to secure funding for critically needed infrastructure.
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May 15, 2024
Monsanto Trials Over Wash. School PCBs Could Merge
In the wake of a Washington Court of Appeals ruling resolving key questions in a series of toxic torts against Monsanto, a state Superior Court judge is considering merging plaintiff cohorts into larger groups ahead of trial, looking to curtail years of costly litigation over alleged PCB contamination at a public school site.
Expert Analysis
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Recent Rulings Add Dimension To Justices' Maui Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund established new factual criteria for determining when the Clean Water Act applies to groundwater — and recent decisions from the Ninth and Tenth Circuits have clarified how litigants can make use of the Maui standard, says Steven Hoch at Clark Hill.
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10th Circ. Ruling Means More Okla. Oilfield Pollution Litigation
By applying Oklahoma's statutory definitions of pollution to a private landowner's claim for negligence for the first time, the Tenth Circuit's recent decision in Lazy S Ranch v. Valero will likely make it harder to obtain summary judgment in oilfield contamination cases, and will lead to more litigation, say attorneys at GableGotwals.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition
Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Proposed RCRA Regs For PFAS: What Cos. Must Know
Two rules recently proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would lead to more per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances being regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and would increase the frequency and scope of corrective action — so affected industries should prepare for more significant cleanup efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Proposed Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs May Be Legally Flawed
While the recently proposed regulations for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit have been lauded by some in the environmental community, it is unclear whether they are sufficiently grounded in law, result from valid rulemaking processes, or accord with other administrative law principles, say Hunter Johnston and Steven Dixon at Steptoe.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power
In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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What Recent Setbacks In Court Mean For Enviro Justice
Two courts in Louisiana last month limited the federal government's ability to require consideration of Civil Rights Act disparate impacts when evaluating state-issued permits — likely providing a framework for opposition to environmental justice initiatives in other states, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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New Hydrogen Regulations Show The Need For IP Protections
The introduction of hydrogen regulations, such as the IRS' proposed tax credit for clean hydrogen under the Inflation Reduction Act, are reshaping the competitive landscape, with intellectual property rights an area of increased emphasis, say Evan Glass and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
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Series
ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council
The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference
Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.