Environmental

  • September 12, 2025

    8th Circ. Pauses Challenges To Abandoned Climate Regs

    The Eighth Circuit on Friday said it would wait to rule on challenges to Biden-era climate disclosure rules that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will no longer defend, giving the regulator time to decide what it wants to do with the rules.

  • September 12, 2025

    DOJ Says States Can't Reverse Grant Cuts In OMB Reg Fight

    The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out a suit brought by a score of states accusing it of misinterpreting an Office of Management and Budget regulation to slash thousands of grants, arguing they must seek relief in another forum.

  • September 12, 2025

    States, Tribes Say New Policy Warrants Ore. Dam Case Restart

    An Oregon federal judge granted a joint motion by two states, environmental groups and tribes to lift a five-year stay in a lawsuit over Columbia River Basin dams' hydropower practices and attempts to restore fisheries, following a Trump administration memo revoking a basin agreement.

  • September 12, 2025

    EPA To Spike Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed repealing a 15-year-old program that requires power plants, fossil fuel and natural gas suppliers, and other facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions, which the EPA said would save companies money.

  • September 12, 2025

    Liberty Wins Defense Reimbursement In Crane Damage Row

    A subcontractor's insurer must reimburse a Liberty Mutual unit for roughly $477,000 in defense costs stemming from settled litigation over property damage from an unsecured crane, a New York federal court ruled Friday, finding that a self-insured retention only applied with respect to the subcontractor.

  • September 12, 2025

    Chem Industry's Goals For Toxic Substance Law Face Hurdles

    The chemical industry is pushing to overhaul a federal toxic substances law to accelerate the approval of new products, but narrow party margins in Congress, compromises built into the law and environmental groups' opposition weigh heavily against them.

  • September 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Asks Justices To Shut Down Climate Torts

    The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to climate change lawsuits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies, arguing that such suits are barred by both the U.S. Constitution and Clean Air Act.

  • September 12, 2025

    Buyers Seek Final OK In $1.5M Rust-Oleum Greenwashing Suit

    A class alleging that Rust-Oleum Corp. has been "greenwashing" its cleaning products with labels claiming they are "non-toxic" and "Earth Friendly" is asking a California federal court to grant final approval of a $1.5 million settlement to resolve the suit.

  • September 12, 2025

    Insurer Doubles Down On Bid To Undo $1.1M Roof Verdict

    A North Carolina federal court adopted the wrong causation standard in its instructions to a jury that awarded a church $1.1 million over its roof damage claim under what is known as an all-risk property policy, the church's insurer told the Fourth Circuit, urging the appeals court to set aside the verdict.

  • September 12, 2025

    Magnesium Producer's DIP Rollup Denied Amid Enviro Row

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Friday rejected US Magnesium's request to roll up some $3 million in existing debt after the state of Utah argued that doing so would improperly grant a lender liens on unencumbered assets, saying the evidence didn't support approving the rollup so early in the Chapter 11 case.

  • September 12, 2025

    Calif. Court Refuses To Block Climate Reporting Rules, Again

    A California federal court judge would not bar two new state climate disclosure regulations while a coalition of business groups takes its bid for an injunction up to the Ninth Circuit, saying his perspective hasn't shifted since the groups' last injunction request. 

  • September 12, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen former Master Chef presenter Gregg Wallace sue the BBC, Elon Musk's xAI take legal action against a staff engineer, and fashion mogul Kevin-Gerald Stanford file a fresh claim against Lion Capital-owned Klotho and EY amid a long-running All Saints share acquisition dispute.

  • September 11, 2025

    Energy Giants Largely Defeat Climate Change RICO Suit

    A Puerto Rico federal judge on Thursday mostly threw out, for good, racketeering and antitrust claims accusing a slew of energy industry companies of misrepresenting the climate dangers of fossil fuel products in causing a pair of hurricanes, though she declined to throw out some of the claims with prejudice.

  • September 11, 2025

    Ex-Nikola CEO Seeks To Undo Investor Class In Fraud Case

    Former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton on Thursday asked an Arizona federal judge to decertify at least part of a class of investors accusing him and the company of exaggerating the viability of Nikola's technology and its business prospects, arguing the lead investors didn't identify and contact class members during discovery.

  • September 11, 2025

    CFTC Withdraws Biden-Era Voluntary Carbon Credit Guidance

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has withdrawn Biden-era guidelines that were intended to foster transparency and deter manipulation in the emerging market for voluntary carbon credits.

  • September 11, 2025

    Judge Won't Sink Calif. Offshore Oil Platform Suit

    A California federal judge has rejected Sable Offshore Corp.'s bid to toss a lawsuit accusing the federal government of failing to make the company update safety and pollution-control plans, saying the government's decision to not require an update doesn't sink green groups' allegations.

  • September 11, 2025

    Muscogee Can Continue Fight Over Ala. Burial Grounds

    A federal district judge has conditionally allowed the Muscogee Creek Nation to renew its challenge against an Alabama tribe in a dispute over a sacred burial site, saying it must first cure its sovereignty pleading problem before refiling the complaint.

  • September 11, 2025

    Trump Admin Should Release Climate Panel Docs, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday encouraged the Trump administration to voluntarily turn over records from a recently disbanded panel that environmental groups say worked secretly with regulators to justify a proposed reversal of the government's longstanding position that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health.

  • September 11, 2025

    State Regulators Press FERC To Back $21.8B MISO Grid Plan

    Utility commissions in favor of a $21.8 billion transmission development plan told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week that other state commissions challenging the plan are mischaracterizing their policy differences as tariff violations.

  • September 11, 2025

    IRS Forfeits Opposition In $37M Easement Dispute, Court Told

    Two partnerships seeking to reinstate their combined $37 million tax deductions for donating adjoining Georgia conservation easements told the Eleventh Circuit that the IRS has effectively forfeited its opposition to their claim that the U.S. Tax Court made valuation errors in reducing their tax breaks.

  • September 10, 2025

    Trump Admin's Push To Sunset Energy Regs Faces Hurdles

    Legal obligations and practical challenges may hamstring the Trump administration's efforts to wipe out as many energy regulations as possible, making the moves vulnerable to lawsuits while creating uncertainty for the energy industry.

  • September 10, 2025

    Consumers Defend Challenge To Nippon-US Steel Merger

    Consumers urged a California federal judge Wednesday not to dismiss their challenge to Nippon Steel's now-closed purchase of U.S. Steel Corp., arguing they've fixed an earlier lawsuit's shortcomings.

  • September 10, 2025

    Biz Groups Ask 4th Circ. To Revisit Ethylene Oxide Class Suit

    Business groups have urged the Fourth Circuit to reconsider a recent ruling that allowed a West Virginia woman's proposed class action to proceed against Union Carbide Corp. and Covestro LLC over ethylene oxide exposure, arguing that she doesn't have ground for her medical-monitoring claims.

  • September 10, 2025

    Unions' Challenge To Fed. Layoffs, Reorganizations Proceeds

    The Trump administration must continue facing a union-backed challenge to its federal worker layoffs and agency reorganizations, a California federal judge ruled, tossing the administration's argument that the U.S. Supreme Court cast enough doubt on the suit's legitimacy by pausing an injunction to justify dismissing the case.

  • September 10, 2025

    FERC Urged To Drop 'Ill-Conceived' Pipeline Review Updates

    Gas industry groups urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to accept Secretary of Energy Chris Wright's request to scrap plans for greater environmental reviews for pipeline approvals, agreeing that they exceed FERC's authority and undermine regulatory certainty.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Approaches To Atty Ethics Liability For Agentic AI Errors

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    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Resilience Planning Is New Key To Corporate Sustainability

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    While the current wave of deregulation may reduce government enforcement related to climate issues, businesses still need to evaluate how climate volatility may affect their operations and create new legal risks — making the apolitical concept of resilience increasingly important for companies, says J. Michael Showalter at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

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    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How EU Is Tweaking Enviro Laws After US Trade Deal

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    While a recent joint statement from the European Union and the U.S. in the wake of their trade deal does not mention special treatment for U.S. companies, the EU's ongoing commitment to streamline its sustainability legislation suggests an openness to addressing concerns raised by the U.S., say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • Restored Charging Project Funds Revive Hope For EV Market

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    While 2025 began with a host of government actions that prompted some to predict the demise of the U.S. electric vehicle market, the Trump administration's recent restoration of federal funding for EV charging infrastructure under new terms presents market participants with reason for optimism, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • Demystifying The Civil Procedure Rules Amendment Process

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    Every year, an advisory committee receives dozens of proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, most of which are never adopted — but a few pointers can help maximize the likelihood that an amendment will be adopted, says Josh Gardner at DLA Piper.

  • Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

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    As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Teaching Trial Advocacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Teaching trial advocacy skills to other lawyers makes us better litigators because it makes us question our default methods, connect to young attorneys with new perspectives and focus on the needs of the real people at the heart of every trial, say Reuben Guttman, Veronica Finkelstein and Joleen Youngers.

  • Navigating Brazil's Regulations, Incentives For Green Projects

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    Brazil's evolving environmental regulatory framework and ongoing moves to attract international capital for climate-focused projects may appeal to U.S.-based companies and investors interested in sustainable development — but taking advantage of these opportunities requires careful planning and meaningful stakeholder engagement, says Milena Angulo at Guimarães.

  • Federal AI Action Plan Marks A Shift For Health And Bio Fields

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    The Trump administration's recent artificial intelligence action plan significantly expands federal commitments across biomedical agencies, defining a pivotal moment for attorneys and others involved in research collaborations, managing regulatory compliance and AI-related intellectual property, says Mehrin Masud-Elias at Arnold & Porter.

  • Data Center Construction Trends, Challenges In Ill. And Texas

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    Data centers in Illinois and Texas are reshaping the industrial landscape, but this growth brings legal complexity, so developers, contractors and corporate legal departments must have a deep understanding of each state's legal terrain and take a proactive approach to risk management, say attorneys at Hicks Johnson.

  • 5 Key Steps To Prepare For Oral Arguments

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    Whether presenting oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court or a local county judge, effective preparation includes the same essential ingredients, from organizing arguments in blocks to maximizing the potential of mock exercises, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

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