Environmental

  • July 03, 2025

    139 EPA Workers Put On Leave For Letter Critical Of Trump

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Thursday that it had placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed onto a letter criticizing the Trump administration's policies as undermining the agency's "mission of protecting human health and the environment."

  • July 03, 2025

    Gov't Must Still Face Claim In Calif. Shipyard Cleanup Suit

    A California federal judge on Thursday granted the U.S. government's bid to trim some claims from a suit challenging aspects of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund site cleanup in San Francisco, but not all of them.

  • July 03, 2025

    Judge Trims Cities' Challenge To Md. Offshore Wind Project

    A Maryland federal judge has largely left intact a lawsuit brought by Ocean City, Maryland, and Fenwick Island, Delaware, challenging the federal government's approval of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, rejecting the developer's argument that all of their claims are barred from judicial review. 

  • July 03, 2025

    Youths Urge 9th Circ. To Revive Federal Equal Protection Case

    A group of youths is asking the Ninth Circuit to revive its lawsuit alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget are violating the youngsters' constitutional rights by not properly protecting them from climate change.

  • July 03, 2025

    Biggest Environmental Law Decisions Of 2025: Midyear Report

    The first half of 2025 saw the U.S. Supreme Court impose limitations on water permit requirements, as well as key decisions in lower courts in climate change and environmental justice cases. Here, Law360 takes a look at some of the biggest environmental law rulings of 2025.

  • July 03, 2025

    Navajo Nation's Bid To Block Lease Ban Put On 90-Day Hold

    The Navajo Nation's bid to block a Biden administration order that withdrew U.S. land from new mineral leasing and development near a historic site has been paused after the parties said a recent presidential executive order could moot the dispute, a New Mexico federal judge said.

  • July 03, 2025

    Circuit-By-Circuit Recap: Justices Send Message To Outliers

    It was a tough term at the U.S. Supreme Court for two very different circuits — one solidly liberal, one solidly conservative — that had their rulings overturned in eye-popping numbers. But it was another impressive year for a relatively moderate circuit that appears increasingly simpatico with the high court.

  • July 03, 2025

    The Moments That Shaped The Universal Injunction Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court voted along ideological lines when it hindered the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide pauses on presidential policies, but that outcome didn't seem like a foregone conclusion during oral arguments earlier this year. What do the colloquies suggest about the justices' thinking? Here are some moments that may have swayed them.

  • July 03, 2025

    Pacific Seafood Faces CWA Suit For Alleged Permit Violations

    The Center for Food Safety and Wild Fish Conservancy hit Pacific Seafood Aquaculture LLC with a Clean Water Act citizen suit alleging it has failed to comply with permit terms for three Columbia River net pen facilities, each producing more than 20,000 pounds of rainbow trout annually.

  • July 03, 2025

    Illinois Cases To Watch In 2025: Midyear Report

    The impact of regulatory permits on insurance policy pollution exclusions, the debate over ditching two-step collective certifications and further interpretation of Illinois' biometric privacy law are at the heart of some of the state's biggest cases to watch through the end of the year.

  • July 03, 2025

    NC Gov. Vetoes Bill Stamping Out Carbon Reduction Target

    North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has rejected a piece of legislation that would have eliminated the state's 2030 goal to cut carbon emissions by 70%, saying it would cost ratepayers in the long run and keep the Tar Heel State too beholden to natural gas.

  • July 03, 2025

    DHS Says Feds Aren't Funding Everglades Detention Center

    The federal government is distancing itself from the new migrant detention center in the Everglades, saying in a court filing Thursday that it has not "implemented, authorized, directed or funded" the "Alligator Alcatraz" camp.

  • July 03, 2025

    The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

    The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.

  • July 03, 2025

    Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

    The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.

  • July 03, 2025

    Cooley Leads AI-Focused Chipmaker Ambiq's $75M IPO Filing

    Venture-backed chipmaker Ambiq Micro Inc. filed for a $75 million initial public offering Thursday, with Cooley LLP advising it and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP representing the underwriters, marking the latest artificial intelligence-related startup to pursue an IPO.

  • July 02, 2025

    Energy Firm Says Tribal Nonprofit Trade Secret Suit Too Vague

    An energy infrastructure consulting firm called on an Oregon federal judge to throw out a Native American nonprofit's lawsuit alleging the firm's founder and tribal liaison misappropriated its trade secrets, saying the nonprofit has failed to identify the trade secrets with any particularity.

  • July 02, 2025

    FCC Floats Pole Attachment Reform In 'Build' Agenda Kickoff

    Changes to utility pole attachment rules to expedite broadband deployment could be among the first actions under a much wider "Build America" agenda unveiled Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission chief.

  • July 02, 2025

    EQV Ventures' Upsized IPO Tops 4 Listings Totaling $830M

    Energy-focused special purpose acquisition company EQV Ventures Acquisition Corp. II began trading Wednesday after pricing an upsized $420 million initial public offering, in the largest of four SPAC IPOs totaling $830 million.

  • July 02, 2025

    Solar Farm Halt Can't Rest On Federal Tax Credits, Judge Says

    A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block a NextEra Energy solar farm in Kansas, saying arguments that the project can't receive federal clean energy tax credits until it undergoes an environmental review aren't supported by law.

  • July 02, 2025

    Judge Backs Forest Service In Idaho Logging Project Dispute

    An Idaho federal judge has tossed Rocky Mountain conservation advocates' lawsuit alleging the U.S. Forest Service failed to properly analyze impacts on animal species when it approved a logging and construction project in the Idaho panhandle.

  • July 02, 2025

    Demolition Contractor Sues Over Alleged Project Lockout

    A contractor dismantling a former coal-fired power plant in western Pennsylvania is seeking a court order preventing its replacement from removing scrap material and equipment during a dispute with the developer who wants to turn the site into a data center.

  • July 02, 2025

    GOP Reps. Want Probe Of RI Judge Blocking Funding Freeze

    Two Republican U.S. House members have asked the First Circuit to investigate a Rhode Island federal judge who blocked a Trump administration spending freeze, claiming the judge's link to a funding recipient constitutes a conflict of interest, one of those congressmen's office confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

  • July 02, 2025

    DC Circ. Stands By Decision Nixing $7B Power Line Fight

    The D.C. Circuit has rejected an en banc rehearing petition from Illinois landowners and farmers challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to issue a license for the $7 billion Grain Belt Express transmission project, affirming an appellate panel and a district court's findings that the plaintiffs lack standing.

  • July 02, 2025

    The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

    After justices and oral advocates spent much of an argument pummeling a lower court's writing talents, one attorney suggested it might be time to move on — only to be told the drubbing had barely begun. Here, Law360 showcases the standout jests and wisecracks from the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term.

  • July 01, 2025

    DC Circ. Tosses Mich. Utility's Grid Upgrade Challenge

    A D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's refusal to grant a Michigan transmission owner sole ownership of grid upgrades needed to serve a Michigan solar farm, rejecting arguments that existing agreements guaranteed it full ownership rights.

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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