Environmental

  • June 23, 2025

    Monsanto Settles With Families After 11th Seattle PCB Trial

    Monsanto settled a tort case on Monday brought by 22 people who claim that they were poisoned by chemicals known as PCBs at a Washington school, ending jury deliberations following a nine-week trial in state court.

  • June 23, 2025

    Permit Delays Out Of Hand, Telecom Biz Tells Interior Dept.

    Telecom providers are still having a tough time getting federal permits approved for broadband projects, with the Bureau of Land Management causing severe delays, the industry's main trade group told the U.S. Department of the Interior.

  • June 23, 2025

    Green Groups Urge DOI To Force Companies To Plug Wells

    Conservation groups on Monday urged the Trump administration to block oil and gas companies with unplugged wells and inactive platforms from securing new offshore drilling rights, accusing the government of letting the companies use the ocean as their junkyard.

  • June 23, 2025

    NY Tribe Says Feds Ignore Public Health In Sanitation Fight

    The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe has asked a New York federal court to order the Indian Health Service to turn over its authority to maintain sanitation facilities to the tribe, arguing that part of the IHS's public health mission is to ensure clean water and functioning sewage systems.

  • June 23, 2025

    Apache Nonprofit Asks Justices For Rehearing In Mining Row

    An Apache nonprofit is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a decision to deny its petition that looked to block the transfer of nearly 2,500 acres to an Arizona copper mining company, arguing the outcome of a case now before the justices could sway their analysis.

  • June 23, 2025

    NJ Justices Greenlight Renewed Bid For Roundup Mass Tort

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has granted a renewed application for lawsuits against Monsanto Co. and its parent company, Bayer AG, alleging injuries from exposure to the company's weed killer Roundup to be designated as multicounty litigation, according to a Monday notice to the bar.

  • June 23, 2025

    Kennedys Expands With Litigators In Philly, Midwest

    Kennedys Law LLP expanded its litigation team with the recent addition to its offices in Philadelphia and Chicago of four attorneys specializing in liability, insurance and cybersecurity.

  • June 23, 2025

    Coal Processing Co. Admits To Bypassing Pollution Controls

    The now-defunct Erie Coke Corp. has pled guilty to criminal violations of the Clean Air Act at its former lakefront facility, federal prosecutors have announced.

  • June 20, 2025

    Science Research Funding Cuts Blocked By Mass. Judge

    A Massachusetts federal judge Friday prohibited the Trump administration from cutting certain National Science Foundation research funding associated with facilities and administrative costs, ruling that the policy runs afoul of multiple laws and the government hasn't adequately explained its reasoning.

  • June 20, 2025

    San Antonio Pushes To Repair Park Amid Tribal Dispute

    The city of San Antonio has asked the Fifth Circuit to lift a stay on a tribal appeal after the Texas Supreme Court answered a question about a state law addressing religious practices, arguing that the high court's opinion rules out two Native Americans' claims.

  • June 20, 2025

    EPA Told To Explain Its Crop-Based Fuel Standards

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday returned a mixed opinion on challenges from green groups to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2023-2025 renewable fuel standards, upholding the agency's volume-setting process but ruling that its climate change analysis was arbitrary and capricious under the Clean Air Act.

  • June 20, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Chubb's Win In $49M Sandy Coverage Fight

    The Second Circuit on Friday cemented a Chubb unit's win in a decade-long dispute over a chocolatier's bid for an additional $49 million in coverage for Superstorm Sandy losses, affirming a decision denying the chocolatier's requests to set aside a jury verdict or hold a new trial.

  • June 20, 2025

    Ga. County Seeks Extension Of Feds' Sewer Update Deadline

    Georgia's DeKalb County has again asked a federal judge for more time to come into compliance with a federal consent decree requiring it to upgrade its sewer systems, arguing that recent assessments of the project have made the decree's timeline "substantially more onerous."

  • June 20, 2025

    Mich. Says Feds Can't Block AG's Climate Tort Suit

    The Trump administration's lawsuit to block Michigan from suing fossil fuel companies for climate harms is based on guesswork about a hypothetical lawsuit and should be dismissed, Michigan argued Friday.

  • June 20, 2025

    Attys Face Sanctions For 'Sweeping' Copying Of Firm's Motion

    A California federal judge has ordered The Neil Jones Food Co.'s defense counsel to explain why she shouldn't sanction them for filing a dismissal motion that appears to plagiarize a losing motion filed by another firm in another case in the district, slamming the "sweeping copy and paste" conduct as "patently unacceptable."

  • June 20, 2025

    Microplastics Focus May Force Change In Biz Practices

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it's considering research that could lead to microplastics regulation, and although policies may be years away, businesses are already facing pressure to change their practices from increasing state regulation and consumer litigation.

  • June 20, 2025

    FERC Pauses Regulations To 'Speed Up' Natural Gas Projects

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently made moves including the enactment of a one-year waiver on a construction authorization policy in order to "speed up" natural gas infrastructure projects in the U.S., the agency has announced.

  • June 20, 2025

    Mich. AG, Enviro Groups Fight Feds' Coal Plant Order

    Michigan's attorney general and several environmental groups want to undo the federal government's order forcing a retiring power plant to stay open through the summer, saying the energy crisis cited in the order doesn't exist.

  • June 20, 2025

    DC Circ. Rejects Chicago Suburbs' Rail Merger Challenge

    A D.C. Circuit panel has rejected a petition from Chicago suburbs that are challenging the approval of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.'s $31 billion merger with Kansas City Southern Railway Co., finding that regulators addressed the environmental and other concerns the communities raised.

  • June 20, 2025

    Trump Taps Atty Dropped By Biden For Eastern Ky. Fed. Court

    President Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate former Kentucky Solicitor General Chad Meredith to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

  • June 20, 2025

    Pearson Warshaw, Fegan Scott To Steer PVC Antitrust Class

    Pearson Warshaw LLP and Fegan Scott LLC have been tapped as lead counsel for a new class of end-user plaintiffs in consolidated litigation accusing polyvinyl chloride pipe companies of using a commodity pricing service to exchange information and illegally fix prices.

  • June 20, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Latham, Paul Weiss, Covington

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Nippon Steel closes its purchase of U.S. Steel, Hunter Point Capital buys a minority stake in Equitix, Eaton acquires Ultra PCS Ltd. from the Cobham Ultra Group, and Eli Lilly and Co. acquires Verve Therapeutics.

  • June 20, 2025

    Justices Say Fuel Groups Can Fight Emissions Waiver

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said that fuel industry groups can challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act waiver that has allowed California to set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles.

  • June 18, 2025

    Feds Want Nuke Trust Earnings To Offset DOE Breach Awards

    The U.S. government asked the Federal Circuit to toss a ruling holding that trust fund earnings that reimbursed closed nuclear plant owners' spent fuel storage costs should not offset the damages awarded for the Energy Department's ongoing failure to accept fuels for disposal.

  • June 18, 2025

    Consumers Drop Gore-Tex 'Greenwashing' Class Suit

    Consumers suing the maker of the waterproof fabric Gore-Tex are looking to end, for now, their proposed class action against the company alleging W.L. Gore & Associates used toxic forever chemicals to manufacture its material while also "greenwashing" its image.

Expert Analysis

  • What New Study Means For Recycling Compliance In Calif.

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    Companies must review the California recycling agency's new study to understand its criteria for assessing claims of product and packaging recyclability under a law that takes effect next year, and then decide whether the risks of making such claims in the state outweigh the benefits, say attorneys at Keller & Heckman.

  • Opinion

    Proposals Against Phillips 66 Threaten Corporate Law

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    Activist investor Elliott Investment Management's latest attempted tactic — initiating a high-stakes proxy contest against Phillips 66 — goes too far and would cause the company to both violate Delaware law and avoid the legal exception to the shareholder proposal process, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

  • Balancing Deep-Sea Mining Executive Order, Int'l Agreements

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order directing exploration and exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources appears to conflict with the evolving international framework regulating such activities, so companies and investors should proceed with care and keep possible future legal challenges in mind, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Mitigating Import Risks Around Southeast Asian Solar Cells

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent final determinations in its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into solar cells produced in certain Southeast Asian countries make it important for U.S. purchasers to consider risk mitigation strategies, including modifying supply chains and contractually assigning import responsibilities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Arbitral Ruling In EU Fisheries Clash Clarifies Post-Brexit Pact

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    The Permanent Court of Arbitration's recent ruling marks a pivotal moment in the evolving jurisprudence surrounding the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, concluded between the U.K. and the EU after Brexit, and sets an important precedent for interpretation and enforcement of trade and environment clauses in cross-border disputes, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Series

    Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.

  • Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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