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Environmental
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April 19, 2024
NY Nixes Power Deals With Trio Of Offshore Wind Projects
New York officials on Friday said they wouldn't offer power contracts to a trio of offshore wind projects, the latest setback for the Empire State in efforts to make offshore wind a key component of its clean energy future.
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April 19, 2024
Biden Administration Sharply Limits Drilling In Alaska Arctic
The Biden administration on Friday issued new restrictions on oil and gas leasing across vast swathes of Alaska's Arctic while simultaneously ruling out construction of a controversial road state officials proposed to access mining areas in sensitive wilderness.
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April 19, 2024
Pa. AG Charges Shell With Hiding Pipeline Pollution Spills
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Friday that she has charged a Shell subsidiary in state court, saying the company did not tell the state's Department of Environmental Protection about pollution problems it encountered while building a 45-mile pipeline in the Keystone State.
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April 19, 2024
Fla. Solar Panel CEO Can Be Sued In Mich., Judge Says
A Michigan federal judge ruled Thursday that a Florida resident and former CEO of a solar panel company must face racketeering claims in Michigan alongside the company for allegedly scamming customers because he used to own property in the state and lived there during the alleged scheme.
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April 19, 2024
Arnold & Porter Atty Returns To Greenberg Traurig In Calif.
Greenberg Traurig LLP has rehired a former associate from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP whose practice focuses on a range of environmental litigation dealing with cancer-causing chemicals, plastic pollutants and the laws surrounding their regulation.
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April 19, 2024
EPA Says 2 'Forever Chemicals' Are Hazardous Substances
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday officially declared two "forever chemicals" to be hazardous materials under federal law, which could bring a host of consequences for Superfund site cleanups and development projects.
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April 19, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen U.K. holiday resort chain Butlins target Aviva and a huddle of insurers, Meta and WhatsApp tackle a patents claim by telecommunications company Semitel, an ongoing construction dispute between Essex County Council and Balfour Beatty, and Formycon AG hit a pharmaceutical company for infringing medical products. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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April 18, 2024
Nuke Power Plant Owner Says NY Can't Bar Water Discharges
The owner of the shuttered Indian Point nuclear power plant sued the state of New York on Thursday, alleging a law banning discharges of radioactive materials into the Hudson River unlawfully infringes on the federal government's authority.
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April 18, 2024
4th Circ. Vacates Enviro Win In Mining Co. Permit Ruling
The special receiver for a defunct mining company can transfer mining permits for a site formerly owned by Patriot Coal Corp., the Fourth Circuit ruled, finding that a West Virginia federal judge interpreted a consent decree providing for mine shutdown and cleanup too broadly.
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April 18, 2024
Electronics Co. Says Insurer Cut $34.9M In Asbestos Coverage
A Philadelphia electronics company that inherited asbestos liability from a company it acquired told a Pennsylvania federal court that an insurer is wrongfully preventing it from accessing over $34.9 million in coverage to deal with the claims.
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April 18, 2024
BLM Prioritizes Conservation On Federal Land In Final Rule
The Biden administration finalized a rule Thursday that prioritizes the conservation of federal lands through new initiatives like leasing frameworks that center on restoration and mitigation.
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April 18, 2024
Enbridge Says Feds' Pipeline Brief Aids Michigan Case
Enbridge Energy has said the U.S. government's recent brief to the Seventh Circuit in separate litigation over its Line 5 pipeline backs its challenge against Michigan over the state's attempts to shutter the project, arguing the federal government has a strong interest in ensuring that trade and diplomatic relations with Canada aren't affected.
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April 18, 2024
25 States Urge DC Circ. To Block EPA Auto Emissions Rules
Twenty-five Republican-led states on Thursday called for the D.C. Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans through 2032.
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April 18, 2024
FERC To Reveal Final Grid-Planning Policy Revamp
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday said it would unveil on May 13 the final version of its long-awaited overhaul of how major electric transmission projects are planned and paid for.
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April 18, 2024
Gulf Oil Terminal Sale Spurs Environmental Settlement Talks
The recent sale of a Gulf Oil shoreline terminal in New Haven, Connecticut, is poised to advance settlement talks in an environmental lawsuit challenging the facility's preparedness for the alleged effects of global warming, according to a federal court hearing held Thursday.
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April 18, 2024
Pomerantz To Rep Investors In AT&T Lead Cable Class Action
A New Jersey federal judge approved Pomerantz LLP as the lead counsel for a proposed investor class action alleging AT&T lied about its effort to be environmentally conscious while contributing to the installation of toxic lead cables, with the New York City Public Pension Funds serving as lead plaintiff.
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April 18, 2024
Admiral Balks At Covering Menendez Ally In Pollution Suit
Admiral Insurance Co. is asking a New Jersey federal court for a declaration that it owes no coverage to a businessman who is a co-defendant in U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial in a decade-long suit by Edgewater Borough over contamination at a construction site.
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April 18, 2024
Maui County Sued Over Wildfire Landfill Debris Storage
Maui County has been slapped with a lawsuit in Hawaii federal court alleging it relied on a deficient, 28-year-old environmental impact statement when taking over a nearly 20-acre parcel of land to house debris from last year's massive wildfires, in violation of the Hawaii Environmental Protection Act.
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April 18, 2024
Coast Guard's Dredging Barge Approval Upheld At 5th Circ.
The U.S. Coast Guard properly certified a dredging vessel with foreign-made components to work in the Houston Shipping Channel, according to a Fifth Circuit panel ruling that the maritime service deserved court deference to interpret its own regulations.
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April 17, 2024
Trial-Ready Paraquat MDL Cases Tossed After Testimony Axed
An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday threw out the first group of trial-ready cases over the herbicide paraquat, agreeing with Syngenta and Chevron that the plaintiffs' expert testimony must be excluded and finding that the cases fail without that testimony.
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April 17, 2024
PG&E Sued For $225 Million Dixie Fire Forest Damage
Owners of the Collins Almanor Forest in Northern California have slapped PG&E with a complaint alleging that they incurred more than $225 million in damage after the Dixie Fire ripped through approximately 55,000 acres of their forest lands in July 2021.
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April 17, 2024
Tribal Groups Say Final Fish Harvesting Rule Violates NEPA
Two Alaskan tribal organizations are asking a federal court to vacate a final groundfish harvest rule for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, arguing that it fails to account for the rapid and unprecedented shifts in their ecosystems caused by climate change over the past two decades.
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April 17, 2024
Ga. Jury Finds Supplier At Fault For Botched Herbicide Job
An Atlanta federal jury on Wednesday found a company hired to thin out woods on a rural Georgia property and a subcontractor brought in to spray the property with herbicide were responsible for wrecking a developer's plans for turning the location into a quail hunting retreat.
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April 17, 2024
Hawaii AG Releases Timeline Of Deadly Lahaina Wildfire
Hawaii's attorney general on Wednesday released findings from the first report of a three-part investigation into how state and county governments responded to the wildfires that ignited on the island of Maui last year, decimating the historic town of Lahaina and leaving more than 100 people dead.
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April 17, 2024
Tesla Gets PTAB To Wipe Out Vehicle Charging Patent
Tesla has persuaded the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to invalidate all claims of a Charge Fusion Technologies electrical charging patent, the latest development in a larger legal battle between the parties.
Expert Analysis
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Exxon ESG Proxy Statement Suit May Chill Investor Proposals
Exxon Mobil’s recent use of a Texas federal lawsuit to intimidate shareholders into withdrawing a climate-friendly proxy proposal could inspire more public companies to sue to avoid adopting ESG resolutions — a power move that would chill activist investor participation and unbalance shareholder-corporate relations, say Domenico Minerva and James Fee at Labaton Keller.
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3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict
In one of the latest examples of so-called nuclear verdicts, a single plaintiff was awarded $2.25 billion in a jury trial against Monsanto — revealing the need for defense attorneys to prioritize trust, connection and simplicity when communicating with modern juries, say Jenny Hergenrother and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.
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What To Know About RWI In Acquisition And Divestiture Deals
As a slower pace of merger activity turns underwriters toward new industries, representations and warranties insurance policies are increasingly being written for acquisition and divestiture energy deals, making it important for contracting parties to understand how the RWI underwriting process works in this new sector, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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Opinion
New La. Gas Pipeline Projects Must Respect Rules And Rights
As pipeline developers rush to join in Louisiana's Haynesville Shale gas boom, established operators like Energy Transfer are justified in demanding that newer entrants respect safety rules, regulatory requirements and property rights when proposing routes that would cross existing pipelines, says Joshua Campbell at Campbell Law.
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Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo
Freight forwarders and other nonprincipal parties involved in global cargo movement should follow the guidance in the multi-agency know-your-cargo compliance note to avoid enforcement actions should they fail to spot evasive tactics used in supply chains to circumvent U.S. sanctions and export controls, say attorneys at Venable.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand
Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE
As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.
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The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues
The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.
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3 Administrative Law Lessons From 5th Circ. Appliance Ruling
Showing that mundane details can be outcome-determinative, the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Louisiana v. U.S. Department of Energy — that the government's repeal of rules affecting dishwashers and laundry machines is invalid — highlights the relationship between regulatory actions and statutory language, say Michael Showalter and Vyasa Babu at ArentFox Schiff.
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A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards
In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.
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Aviation Back On Course, But Keep Seat Belts Fastened
While the airline industry finally returned to profitability last year for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, and is poised for historic levels of traffic in 2024, supply chain problems and economic and geopolitical uncertainty persist — so more turbulence may lie ahead, say Kevin Lewis and Bart Biggers at Sidley.
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Preparing For A New Wave Of Litigation Under Silicosis Rules
After the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued an emergency temporary standard to combat noncompliance with assessments of workers' exposure to particles of crystalline silica, companies that manufacture, distribute or sell silica-containing products will need aggressive case-specific discovery to navigate a new wave of litigation, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation
There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.