Environmental

  • June 16, 2025

    Monsanto Fights Plaintiffs' Billion-Dollar Ask In PCB Tort Trial

    Nearly two dozen people who say they were poisoned by Monsanto-made chemicals asked a Washington state jury on Monday for a damages award of $1.1 billion to $3.3 billion, as the company's counsel countered the plaintiffs lack blood testing results and other key evidence to back their "extraordinary" request.

  • June 16, 2025

    NY Seeks To Move Feds' Climate Superfund Suit Upstate

    The Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York's climate change Superfund law should be transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District, where it can join a similar lawsuit lodged by several Republican-led states, New York told a federal judge.

  • June 16, 2025

    Monsanto Ends Roundup Cancer Case With Midtrial Settlement

    Monsanto confirmed Monday that it has settled a Texas man's Roundup cancer lawsuit shortly before closing arguments in the trial were set to begin.

  • June 16, 2025

    NY Looks To End Long Island Tribal Fishing Rights Row

    New York officials have asked a federal judge to toss a long-standing dispute with the Shinnecock Indian Nation over fishing off of Long Island, arguing that tribal members have filed invalid claims to their purported rights to fish in waters at the town of Southampton.

  • June 16, 2025

    Texas Justices Say Park Repairs Trump Native Religion Claims

    A law forbidding Texas from enacting rules to curtail certain religious services does not extend to its preservation and management of publicly owned lands, the state Supreme Court said, weighing in on a Fifth Circuit dispute between Native American church members and the city of San Antonio over access to a local park.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ky. Judge Trims Firefighters' Claims In CSX Derailment Suit

    A Kentucky federal judge said Monday that state law bars most claims in a personal injury lawsuit from seven firefighters alleging rail giant CSX Transportation Inc. is strictly liable for a 2023 derailment that exposed first responders to toxic fumes.

  • June 16, 2025

    Shell Loses Bid To Halt Suit Over Oil Terminal's Pollution Plan

    Two Shell Oil Co. subsidiaries cannot halt discovery in an environmental group's challenge to pollution control efforts at a New Haven petroleum terminal based on their interpretations of a state agency's draft permit, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled.

  • June 16, 2025

    6th Circ. Denies Mich. Gov.'s Rehearing Bid In Pipeline Suit

    A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit on Monday rejected a request for a rehearing from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who had asked the appellate court to reconsider its earlier decision that she didn't have sovereign immunity from Enbridge Energy's lawsuit seeking to halt her efforts to shut down the Line 5 pipeline.

  • June 16, 2025

    NRC Commissioner Says Trump Illegally Fired Him

    Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman and current commissioner Christopher Hanson said Monday that President Donald Trump illegally fired him on Friday, becoming the latest member of an independent agency removed by the president.

  • June 16, 2025

    High Court Will Hear Chevron, Exxon Pollution Liability Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to determine whether federal or state courts are the proper venue for Louisiana's bid to hold Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other major oil companies liable for damages to the state's coastal lands that were allegedly caused by World War II-era oil production activities.

  • June 16, 2025

    GAO Says DOE Hasn't Held Funds Under Trump Wind Pause

    The U.S. Department of Energy has not unlawfully withheld any federal funds in response to a presidential memorandum directing it and the U.S. Department of the Interior to put all wind energy permitting and leasing activities on hold, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    Wealth Taxes, End Of Profit Shifting Worth $2.6T, Group Says

    World governments could raise about $2.6 trillion annually, more than enough revenue to finance most climate-related needs, if they collectively adopted low-rate wealth taxes beginning with the richest 0.5% and stopped multinational corporations from shifting profits, the Tax Justice Network said Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    High Court Turns Down Influencer's Jury Right Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the case of a social media influencer who argued his case deserved to be heard by a jury after he was convicted of a misdemeanor in a bench trial.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ga. Landowners Sue Carpet, Chemical Makers Over PFAS

    Shaw Industries, Mohawk Industries, 3M Co. and several other major carpet manufacturers and chemical makers face a trio of new lawsuits accusing them of contaminating soil, dust and water across north Georgia with so-called forever chemicals.

  • June 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Allows ConocoPhillips Project To Proceed, For Now

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday held that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management must reconsider a small part of its approval for the controversial ConocoPhillips Willow oil and gas project, though it stopped short of vacating existing approvals for the Arctic energy development and allowed the project to proceed.

  • June 13, 2025

    State Dept. Layoffs Still Violate Injunction, Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Friday that planned staff reductions at the State Department would violate her injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order directing layoffs at federal agencies, saying she's not persuaded by the government's assertion that the department's reorganization was underway before the order.

  • June 13, 2025

    Feds Say Enviro Group Doesn't Belong In Texas Mussel Suit

    The U.S. Department of the Interior told a Texas federal judge Friday an environmental group has no right to join a Texas suit challenging the classification of several Central Texas mussel species as endangered or threatened, saying no divergence of interests exists.

  • June 13, 2025

    SEC Scrubs Biden-Era Agenda To Give Atkins A 'Clean Slate'

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is backing away from promised Biden-era regulations on cybersecurity risk management, environmental disclosures and equity market reform, withdrawing over a dozen rule proposals as newly appointed Chair Paul Atkins seeks to rewrite the agency's agenda.

  • June 13, 2025

    Trump Ends Protections, Funding For Columbia River Basin

    President Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. from a Biden-era agreement with two Pacific Northwest states and three tribal nations to restore salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin and increase clean energy production, saying his administration is committed to protecting the country from "radical green agenda policies."

  • June 13, 2025

    Michigan AG Sues Auto Suppliers Over Toxic Pollution

    The Michigan Attorney General's Office alleged two auto parts suppliers illegally discharged untreated contaminated water that reached multiple bodies of water and emitted an unlawful amount of air pollutants in a new complaint seeking civil penalties and contamination cleanup costs.

  • June 13, 2025

    Enviro Orgs. Challenge Trump's Mercury Rule Pass For Coal Plants

    As the Trump administration moves to undo recently tightened mercury emissions rules for coal-fired power plants, environmental groups have challenged President Donald Trump's decision to exempt dozens of plants from the stricter standards.

  • June 13, 2025

    DC Circ. Sides With FERC In Substation Cost Dispute

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got it right when it denied a wind facility operator's petition seeking reimbursement from the Western Area Power Administration for its contribution to a substation expansion.

  • June 13, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen Tottenham Hotspur FC kick off against Manchester United co-owner Ineos Automotive following a soured sponsorship deal, Acer and Nokia clash over patents for video coding technology, and two investors reignite litigation against the founders of an AI exercise bike business that unlawfully pocketed $1.2 million in investments to fund their own lifestyles. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • June 13, 2025

    Cooley, Latham Lead Drone Operator Airo's $60M IPO

    Drone systems developer Airo Group Holdings Inc. began trading Friday after a $60 million initial public offering priced below its targeted range and guided by Cooley LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • June 12, 2025

    Calif. Insurance Chief Probes State Farm's Wildfire Coverage

    California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Thursday that he is launching an investigation into State Farm's handling of thousands of claims from the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires, as complaints continue to grow.

Expert Analysis

  • Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

    Author Photo

    The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.

  • 4 Ways To Leverage A Jury's Underdog Perceptions

    Author Photo

    Counsel should consider how common factors that speak to their client's size, power, past challenges and alignment with jurors can be presented to try and paint their client as a sympathetic underdog, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Why Hiring Former Jurors As Consultants Can Be Risky

    Author Photo

    The defense team's decision to hire former juror Victoria George in the high-profile retrial of Karen Read shines a spotlight on this controversial strategy, which raises important legal, ethical and tactical questions despite not being explicitly prohibited, says Nikoleta Despodova at ND Litigation.

  • What To Watch For As High Court Mulls NRC's Powers

    Author Photo

    If successful, Texas’ challenges to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority — recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and currently pending before a Texas federal court — may have serious adverse consequences for aspiring NRC licensees, including potential nuclear power plant operators, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

    Author Photo

    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Cos. Face Enviro Justice Tug-Of-War Between States, Feds

    Author Photo

    The second Trump administration's sweeping elimination of environmental justice policies, programs and funding, and targeting of state-level EJ initiatives, creates difficult questions for companies on how best to avoid friction with federal policy, navigate state compliance obligations and maintain important stakeholder relationships with communities, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

    Author Photo

    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • NEPA Repeal Could Slow Down Environmental Review

    Author Photo

    As the Trump administration has rescinded the Council on Environmental Quality's long-standing National Environmental Policy Act regulations, projects that require NEPA review may be bogged down by significant regulatory uncertainty and litigation risks, potentially undermining the administration's intent to streamline the permitting process, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

    Author Photo

    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • How Attorneys Can Make The Most Of A Deposition Transcript

    Author Photo

    With recent amendments to federal evidence rules now in effect, it’s more important than ever to make sure that deposition transcripts are clear and precise, and a few key strategies can help attorneys get the most out of a transcript before, during and after a deposition, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

    Author Photo

    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • Despite SEC Climate Pause, Cos. Must Still Heed State Regs

    Author Photo

    While businesses may have been given a reprieve from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's rules aimed at standardizing climate-related disclosures, they must still track evolving requirements in states including California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York that will soon require reporting of direct and indirect carbon emissions, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • 5 Areas Contractors Should Watch After 1st 100 Days

    Author Photo

    Federal agencies and contractors face challenges from staff reductions, contract terminations, pending regulatory reform and other actions from the second Trump administration's first 100 days, but other areas stand to become more efficient and cost-effective, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

    Author Photo

    Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Environmental archive.