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Environmental
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February 11, 2025
Feds Must Enforce Law In Dakota Pipeline Row, Court Told
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is fighting a bid by the federal government and a slew of Republican-led states to dismiss its lawsuit that seeks to block an energy company from operating the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying there's a mandatory duty to ensure its operations comply with environmental laws.
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February 11, 2025
Insurer Says $641M Deal Over Tainted Flint Water Not Covered
An insurer told a Michigan federal court Tuesday that it shouldn't have to pay any part of a $641 million settlement reached by a Flint, Michigan, medical center on behalf of patients who supposedly suffered from legionella and lead exposure because of unclean drinking water in the facility.
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February 11, 2025
Eaton Fire Victim Wants Sanctions Against SoCal Edison
A victim of the recent devastating Eaton Fire in Altadena has told a California state judge that Southern California Edison and its attorneys should face sanctions for allegedly concealing efforts to reenergize electrical transmission lines while the blaze was still burning last month.
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February 11, 2025
Plant Nursery To Shell Out $2.5M In H-2A Wage Suit
An operator of plant nurseries in California agreed to shell out $2.5 million in back wages after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined that it coerced H-2A workers to quit in order to dodge the program's wage and hour requirements, the department said.
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February 11, 2025
Activist Elliott Targets Phillips 66 Again Over Lack Of Progress
Activist investor Elliott Investment Management LP on Tuesday sent a letter to the board of directors of energy conglomerate Phillips 66 calling for "urgent changes" to improve operating performance and regain shareholder trust, saying "another year of empty rhetoric and broken promises is unacceptable."
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February 11, 2025
Pot Grower Says Nearby Farm's Pesticides Caused $17M Loss
A Massachusetts cannabis grower says pesticides used by an adjacent berry farm contaminated its entire 2022 harvest, costing the lost value of that crop and two subsequent years' revenue, totaling at least $17 million.
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February 11, 2025
Award Enforcement Suit Must Focus On Italy Immunity First
A D.C. federal judge said Italy has at least a "colorable" sovereign immunity defense to litigation by Dutch, Danish and Luxembourgish firms seeking to enforce $23 million in arbitral awards granted after the country rolled back renewable energy subsidies.
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February 11, 2025
Republican-Led SEC Pauses Climate Regulation Litigation
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signaled Tuesday that it may not move forward with a Biden-era regulation requiring public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, asking the court overseeing litigation against the climate reporting rules not to schedule the case for oral argument.
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February 11, 2025
Automakers Lose Fight To Block Mass. 'Right To Repair' Law
A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday tossed what was left of a long-running suit filed by major automakers seeking to block a Bay State law requiring vehicle manufacturers to provide open access to telematics systems.
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February 10, 2025
Xcel, Telecom Cos. Say Colo. Fire Plaintiffs Can't Opt Out Of Trial
Xcel Energy and two telecom companies being sued over the Marshall Fire in Colorado told a state judge that hundreds of plaintiffs pushing to opt out of a common liability trial should not be able to do so, at least until expert reports are shared.
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February 10, 2025
Calif. Ruling Holds Wildfire Debris Not A Coverable Loss
Two California homeowners didn't have a covered claim for wildfire debris that infiltrated their home, a state appeals panel ruled, saying there was no evidence the debris caused the kind of loss or damage required for coverage.
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February 10, 2025
Texas Property Owner Seeks Over $1M In Storm Coverage
A Nationwide unit unlawfully failed to cover hail and wind damage to a Texas property, its owner alleged in federal court, accusing the insurer of fraud and violating state insurance statutes over unfair settlement practices and prompt claim payment and seeking over $1 million in damages.
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February 10, 2025
Gov't Defends Approval Of CP-KCS Rail Merger To DC Circ.
The federal government told the D.C. Circuit a coalition of Illinois towns is challenging the approval of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.'s $31 billion merger with Kansas City Southern Railway Co. over the deal's potential effect on just 23 miles of a combined rail network that spans more than 20,000 miles.
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February 10, 2025
Judge: Dominican Republic Should Pay $44M Landfill Award
A magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., recommended Friday that a $43.6 million arbitral award issued after the Dominican Republic terminated a landfill concession should be enforced, saying there was no evidence that the tribunal failed to investigate allegations of underlying fraud.
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February 10, 2025
Nevada Lithium Mine Violates Indigenous' Rights, Report Says
The federal government's approval of an 18,000-acre open-pit lithium mine in northern Nevada is a violation of Indigenous' rights, according to a recent report, which says at least six tribes have ties to the site where they've experienced violations against their religion, culture and ancestral lands.
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February 10, 2025
SpaceX Says It Has Been Harmed By Coastal Commission
SpaceX has argued it should be allowed to move forward with its suit alleging the California Coastal Commission wrongly tried to block the company's rocket launches, saying it had been harmed by the commission's allegedly unconstitutional actions.
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February 10, 2025
EPA Asks 5th Circ. To Uphold Asbestos Ban Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is defending a Biden-era rule strengthening its restrictions on the use of the most prevalent variety of asbestos, which are being challenged by industry, worker and green groups.
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February 10, 2025
Latest Ore. Fire Verdict Brings PacifiCorp Damages To $270M
An Oregon jury held that PacifiCorp must pay $49.5 million to eight victims of the state's 2020 Labor Day wildfires, bringing the total damages verdicts in the class action to $270 million so far as more bellwether trials loom throughout 2025.
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February 10, 2025
Green Groups Defend Methane Charge Against Industry Suit
Conservation groups urged a Michigan federal judge to throw out industry group litigation challenging the constitutionality of an Inflation Reduction Act provision that directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose fees on methane emitters, while the Trump administration asked to have the case put on hold "to review the matter."
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February 10, 2025
NJ Hospital Hit With Class Claims Over Retirement Plan Fees
A New Jersey health system has been accused of mismanaging its employees' retirement funds, according to a proposed class action filed by one of its employees in Garden State federal court.
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February 10, 2025
Trump Buyout Plan Still On Hold As Unions Cite 'Confusion'
A Boston federal judge on Monday extended his hold on President Donald Trump's federal worker buyout program as he weighs a request from unions to block the so-called Fork Directive, which promises months of pay to government employees who resign their posts.
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February 10, 2025
Investor Urges US Steel To Dump Deal After Trump Comments
Activist investor Ancora Holdings Group on Monday urged U.S. Steel to abandon its proposed $14.9 billion merger with Japan's Nippon Steel, stating that the deal has "no chance of being resurrected" in light of statements made by President Donald Trump on Friday.
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February 10, 2025
Trump Admin Violating Order To Unfreeze Funds, Judge Says
A Rhode Island federal judge ruled Monday the Trump administration is not complying with the court's temporary restraining order barring a freeze on funding for federal grants and programs, ordering the administration to immediately restore the frozen funds.
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February 07, 2025
Trump Isn't Obeying Order To Unfreeze Funds, States Say
The Trump administration is not complying with a temporary restraining order barring a freeze on funding for federal grant and aid programs, a coalition of states told a Rhode Island federal judge Friday, asking the court to enforce its order and to enter a stiffer injunction blocking the funding freeze.
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February 07, 2025
Nippon-US Steel Merger Targeted By Consumers In Calif.
A group of consumers has asked a California federal court to prohibit Japan's Nippon Steel Corp. from acquiring U.S. Steel Corp. in their proposed $14.9 billion mega-merger, filing suit just days before President Donald Trump suggested that the deal was being called off.
Expert Analysis
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Rethinking How To Engage Shareholders, Activists Via Proxies
This proxy season, companies should consider visually driven proxy statements that highlight the board's strengths, the alignment between executive compensation and performance, and a commitment to sustainability and risk management to earn the support of investors and fend off hostile acquirers, say Craig Clay and Ron Schneider at DFIN.
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Opinion
Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
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5 Key Takeaways From Energy Secretary's Confirmation
The recent confirmation hearing for U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright highlighted several important themes, including his vision for transforming the DOE, his nuanced stance on renewables, and a renewed emphasis on energy abundance and affordability, says Connor McCulloch at Ankura Consulting Group.
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What Day 1 Bondi Memos Mean For Corporate Compliance
After Attorney General Pam Bondi’s flurry of memos last week declaring new enforcement priorities on issues ranging from foreign bribery to diversity initiatives, companies must base their compliance programs on an understanding of their own core values and principles, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.
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Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example
Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Steel Cases Test Executive Authority, Judicial Scope
Lawsuits challenging former President Joe Biden’s order blocking the merger of Japan's Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel may shape how future administrations wield presidential authority over foreign investment in the name of national security, says Hdeel Abdelhady at MassPoint Legal.
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What Calif. Bill Could Mean For Battery Energy Storage
A newly proposed bill in the California Legislature would place major restrictions on the development of battery energy storage system projects in the state — but with Gov. Gavin Newsom's strong support for clean energy technology, the legislation will likely face significant obstacles, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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3 Ways Trump Can Nix SEC's Climate Disclosure Rules
Given President Donald Trump's campaign statements and agency appointments, it's likely that his administration will try to annul the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rules, but his options for doing so present unique opportunities and challenges, with varying levels of permanence and impact, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Perspectives
Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines
KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.
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Reg Waiver Eases Calif. Rebuilding, But Proceed With Care
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive order suspending some environmental review and permitting requirements for the reconstruction of homes and businesses damaged by recent wildfires may streamline rebuilding efforts, but will require careful navigation of the evolving regulatory landscape, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.
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The Post-Macquarie Securities Fraud-By-Omission Landscape
While the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 opinion in Macquarie v. Moab distinguished inactionable "pure omissions" from actionable "half-truths," the line between the two concepts in practice is still unclear, presenting challenges for lower courts parsing statements that often fall within the gray area of "misleading by omission," say attorneys at Katten.
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Trump's Energy Plans: Climate, Data Centers, LNG And More
With a host of executive orders addressing climate and emissions policies, expanded energy development, offshore and onshore projects, liquefied natural gas and more, the second Trump administration has already given energy companies much to consider, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex
Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.
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A View Of The Shifting Insurance Regulatory Landscape
Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland explore how the Federal Insurance Office's climate report, the new presidential administration and the California wildfires might affect the insurance regulatory landscape.
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Trump's Energy Plans: Funding, Permits And Nuclear Power
In the wake of President Donald Trump's flurry of first-day executive orders focusing on the energy sector, attorneys at Gibson Dunn analyze what this presidency will mean for energy-related grants and loans, changes to permitting processes and developments in nuclear power.