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Environmental
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April 24, 2024
Dow Loses Bid To Keep NJ Toxic Water Row In Federal Court
A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday remanded to state court the attorney general's lawsuit accusing Dow Chemical Co. and other companies of hiding the danger of 1,4-dioxane, a likely cancer-causing compound, and causing "pervasive and widespread" groundwater pollution.
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April 24, 2024
Biden Admin Closes $362M Loan To Texas EV-Wiring Maker
The Biden administration has finalized a $362 million loan to help pay for a Texas automotive-wiring component plant, a move intended to boost the U.S. domestic supply chain for electric vehicles.
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April 24, 2024
9th Circ. Backs Limits On Montana Wolf Trapping
A split Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday largely affirmed a lower court's order limiting wolf trapping and snaring in Montana over concerns it could impact grizzly bears, but directed the court to reconsider its "overbroad" geographic scope and limitations on state officials' research.
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April 24, 2024
EPA Floats $1B In School Bus, Truck Electrification Grants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said it would offer approximately $1 billion in grants to fund the electrification of school buses, garbage trucks and other heavy-duty commercial vehicles, another part of the Biden administration's efforts to decarbonize the U.S. transportation sector.
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April 24, 2024
Bradley Arant Gains Real Estate Pro In Dallas From Gray Reed
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP continues to expand in the Lone Star State, adding a real estate and environmental law partner in Dallas from Gray Reed & McGraw LLP.
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April 24, 2024
Solar Panel Co. Loses Calif. Appeal Over PAGA Arbitration
A California appellate panel sided with a lower court as it ruled in a published opinion that a carveout in a home solar panel company's employment agreement did not require a former worker to arbitrate his individual Private Attorneys General Act claims, keeping his suit in court.
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April 24, 2024
Samsung Unit Says Exclusion Doesn't Apply To Storm Losses
A Samsung unit seeking coverage for more than $400 million in damage to its semiconductor manufacturing facility related to Winter Storm Uri in 2021 asked a Texas federal court to rule that power loss during the storm did not trigger the policy's so-called lack of services exclusion.
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April 23, 2024
Ex-Auditor, County Prosecutor Win Pennsylvania AG Primary
The race for Pennsylvania's next attorney general will pit an academic who was the state's fiscal watchdog against a Navy veteran serving as a county's top prosecutor, early primary election results showed Tuesday evening.
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April 23, 2024
Sharper Sustainability Rule May Strengthen Bid Protests
A new regulation for more environmentally friendly government purchases puts teeth into a long-standing requirement for sustainable procurement, and is likely to strengthen businesses' arguments in bid protests as agencies wrestle with the full scope of the rule.
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April 23, 2024
Sierra Club Sues EPA Over NY Aluminum Plant's Air Pollution
The Sierra Club slapped U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan with a complaint in D.C. federal court Tuesday accusing the agency of failing to require the state of New York to cut sulfur dioxide emissions from a 112-year-old aluminum smelting plant.
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April 23, 2024
Florida Loses Bid To Stay Ruling Nixing Its CWA Permit Power
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday declined Florida's request to pause his ruling that stripped the state's federally delegated authority over a Clean Water Act permitting program, finding that the Sunshine State had not shown it was likely to succeed in its appeal of the ruling.
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April 23, 2024
$12M Chicago Toxic Demolition Settlement Receives Final OK
An Illinois federal judge gave his final blessing to a group of Chicago residents' $12.25 million settlement with a developer and several contractors that allegedly covered a neighborhood in potentially toxic dust during a smokestack demolition.
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April 23, 2024
Judge Allows $956M Atty Fees In 3M, DuPont PFAS Settlements
A South Carolina federal judge on Tuesday signed off on attorney fees totaling more than $956 million in settlements with 3M and DuPont over so-called forever chemicals in firefighting foam that contaminated drinking water, saying that another group of lawyers may not have been able to reach the same outcome.
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April 23, 2024
EPA Tells 5th Circ. To Sink Texas' Ozone Plan Challenge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency urged the Fifth Circuit to reject Texas' attempt to challenge the agency's denial of its revised plan to control ozone in the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas, saying the Lone Star State's arguments "do not withstand scrutiny."
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April 23, 2024
Blue States Leap To Defend EPA Vehicle Emissions Rule
California and 21 other blue states, along with a smattering of cities and the District of Columbia, have told the D.C. Circuit that they want to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defend its rule requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans from legal attack by red states.
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April 23, 2024
NJ Appeals Court Backs State's Siting Regs For Solar Projects
A New Jersey state appeals court on Tuesday upheld project-siting requirements under a Garden State law encouraging new solar development, rejecting a renewable energy industry group's argument that the requirements are unlawfully strict.
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April 23, 2024
EPA Finishes Stronger Chemical Risk Evaluation Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced stronger and broader regulations to assess chemicals' health and environmental risks, completing a process that started when the Ninth Circuit struck down parts of the initial rule as too weak.
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April 23, 2024
$45B DOE Deal Backed By Common Sense, Contractor Says
A U.S. Department of Energy contractor urged the Federal Circuit to restore a $45 billion deal it won, saying the department was allowed to award the deal despite the contractor not being continuously registered in a federal award management database.
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April 23, 2024
Cleveland-Cliffs Execs Say US Steel-Nippon Deal Is 'Dead'
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. executives said Tuesday that U.S. Steel is "denying reality" as it continues to pursue its $14.9 billion sale to Japan's Nippon Steel, suggesting that the deal is effectively "dead" following President Joe Biden's opposition to it and that the Ohio-based steel manufacturer remains the only viable buyer.
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April 23, 2024
Hunton Hires Martin Marietta Assistant GC In San Francisco
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP said Tuesday it is growing its environmental team by bringing in a land use and mining expert as a partner in the firm's San Francisco office from building supply company Martin Marietta Materials Inc., where he was assistant general counsel.
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April 22, 2024
4 Biggest Takeaways From New EPA 'Forever Chemicals' Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule listing two "forever chemicals" as hazardous substances under the Superfund law will introduce costly new cleanup requirements at polluted sites — that is, if the rule survives probable legal challenges targeting its novel legal foundation and the accuracy of asserted health risks.
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April 22, 2024
Los Angeles Sues 3M, DuPont Over 'Forever Chemicals'
The city of Los Angeles is the latest to sue 3M, DuPont and other chemical companies over contamination caused by "forever chemicals," saying the substances from firefighting foam leech into the environment and that the companies "should pay to help clean up the mess that they created."
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April 22, 2024
Businessman Seeks OK On $44M Dominican Republic Award
A Jamaican businessman has asked a D.C. federal court to enforce a $44 million arbitral award he won against the Dominican Republic following a dispute over a landfill, saying the country is improperly seeking to vacate the award.
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April 22, 2024
Texas, Mo. Seek Full Vacatur Of DHS Border Wall Plan
Texas and Missouri on Monday urged a Texas federal court to fully vacate the Biden administration's plans to redirect border wall construction funds, saying the plan adopted an overarching policy the court had declared was unlawful.
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April 22, 2024
USW Says EPA Asbestos Ban Doesn't Protect Workers Enough
The United Steelworkers and the nonprofit Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization called on the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent ban on the most prevalent variety of asbestos, with the union arguing the ban falls short by failing to provide certain interim protections.
Expert Analysis
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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Takeaways From EPA's New Methane Emission Rules
Attorneys at V&E examine two new Clean Air Act rules for the oil and gas industry, explaining how they expand methane and volatile organic compound emission reduction requirements and amplify U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement risks.
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3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.
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Risks Of Nonmutual Offensive Collateral Estoppel In MDLs
After the Supreme Court declined to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. personal injury litigation, nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel could show up in more MDLs, and transform the loss of a single MDL bellwether trial into a de facto classwide decision that binds thousands of other MDL cases, say Chantale Fiebig and Luke Sullivan at Weil Gotshal.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers
Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.
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Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies
As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.
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SEC's Final Climate Disclosure Rules: What Cos. Must Know
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's scaled-back final rules requiring public companies to disclose certain climate-related information still face challenges in court, companies should begin preparing now to comply with the rules, say Celia Soehner and Erin Martin at Morgan Lewis.
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Caremark 2.0 Lends Shareholders Agency Against Polluters
The Caremark doctrine has been liberalized by recent Delaware court decisions into what some have termed a 2.0 version, making derivative cases against corporations far more plausible and invigorating oversight duty on environmental risks like toxic spills and air pollution, say Joshua Margolin and Sean Goldman-Hunt at Selendy Gay.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
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Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Regs And Financing
For investors in public utilities, wildfire liability considerations include not only regulatory complexities, but also bankruptcy claims resolution, financing judgments and settlements, and how to leverage organizational structures to maximize investment protections, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.
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Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Liability Theories
The greater frequency and scale of wildfires in the last several years have created operational and fiscal challenges for electric utility companies, including new theories of liability and unique operational and risk management considerations — all of which must be carefully considered by utility investors, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.