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Environmental
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December 19, 2024
Feds Could Pay $1.1M To Settle WWII Refinery Waste Fight
A Valero Energy Corp. unit is asking a Michigan federal judge to sign off on a deal that would have the U.S. government pay it $1.1 million for cleanup costs allegedly stemming from the government's wartime operations at a refinery in Houston.
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December 19, 2024
$1.2B Sought From Phillips 66 After $605M Trade Secrets Win
A retailer of low-carbon fuels has asked a California state court to add $1.2 billion to a $604.9 million trade secrets verdict against Phillips 66, arguing that the jury's conclusion that Phillips 66's misappropriation of confidential information was willful and malicious merits exemplary damages.
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December 19, 2024
Graphite Cos. Seek Up To 920% Tariffs On Chinese Products
A group of graphite producers is asking the federal government to impose tariffs as high as 920% on Chinese rivals to hamper that country's alleged tactics of producing and exporting natural and synthetic graphite at low, unfair prices.
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December 19, 2024
Michigan's Biggest Decisions Of 2024
This year, the Michigan Supreme Court instituted sweeping changes to the state's wage and paid leave laws, took some damages off the table for wrongful death plaintiffs, and recognized third-party retaliation claims.
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December 19, 2024
Bain Capital Wants Out Of Bias Claims From Attorney
Bain Capital has asked a New Jersey state court to toss discrimination claims brought by a former in-house attorney for a chemicals company it had acquired, alleging she was unlawfully dismissed after she discussed taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.
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December 19, 2024
Chemours, DuPont Say New Info Undermines Class Cert.
The Chemours Co. FC LLC and EIDP Inc. are asking a North Carolina federal judge to decertify classes in a consolidated suit alleging that they knew about PFAS leaks into their water systems, saying information that's come to light since the certification disqualifies the named plaintiffs from representing the class and undermines the alleged common proof of their claims.
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December 18, 2024
Feds Get Judge's OK On $150M Lower Passaic Pollution Deal
A New Jersey federal judge Wednesday signed off on the federal government's $150 million consent decree with 82 companies that share some responsibility for the Garden State's Lower Passaic River pollution, calling the agreement "an important next step" in holding the companies accountable and furthering cleanup efforts.
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December 18, 2024
Emissions Cheating Biz Gets Truck Tuning Co. CEO 10 Months
The owner of a prominent Louisiana automotive tuning company will serve 10 months of a three-year probation term on house arrest in addition to paying a $1.55 million criminal fine after pleading guilty to selling illegal software that bypassed diesel trucks' emissions controls, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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December 18, 2024
Monsanto Protests DNA Damage Argument In PCB Closings
An attorney in a toxic tort against Monsanto drew a sustained objection from the company's defense during closings Wednesday as he attempted to argue that some of the young girls allegedly exposed to PCBs "will give birth to children with altered DNA," as counsel sparred over whether the plaintiffs suffered "generational harm."
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December 18, 2024
States, Green Groups Drop Suits Over USPS Vehicle Plan
A coalition of states and cities and several environmental groups moved to dismiss their lawsuits challenging the U.S. Postal Service's multibillion-dollar plan to acquire its next-generation delivery vehicles.
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December 18, 2024
EPA Greenlights California's Race To 100% ZEVs By 2035
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday authorized California's plan to require that all new light cars and trucks sold in the state be zero-emission vehicles by 2035, a move that was instantly slammed by the fossil fuel industry.
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December 18, 2024
Texas Says Border Wall Panel Sales May Violate Injunction
Missouri and Texas asked a federal judge to probe whether the Biden administration is violating an order to use $1.4 billion of congressional funds to build the southern border wall, pointing to media reports that wall materials are being sold off.
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December 18, 2024
Energy Co. Orsted Sells 50% Solar Farm Stake In $572M Deal
Danish multinational energy company Orsted, advised by Sidley Austin LLP, on Wednesday announced plans to sell a 50% equity stake in three U.S. onshore projects to energy transition-focused investor Energy Capital Partners in a $572 million deal.
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December 18, 2024
Connecticut AG Gets Remand Of 'Forever Chemicals' Suit
A Connecticut federal judge has shipped one of the state's PFAS "forever chemicals" lawsuits back to state court, siding with the state attorney general's argument that the case targeted pollution from consumer products and civilian industrial sources that were not "inextricably commingled" with chemicals produced to military specifications.
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December 18, 2024
The Biggest 1st Circ. Rulings Of 2024
The nation's smallest federal circuit court in 2024 issued an opinion tackling the government of Mexico's efforts to hold U.S. firearms makers responsible for the flow of illegal arms across the southern border, determining the claims are not barred by a litigation shield, among other high-profile decisions.
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December 18, 2024
Mont. High Court Cements Right To 'Stable Climate System'
The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the state's constitution guarantees the right to "a stable climate system" and affirmed a lower court's decision to strike down state law provisions that barred the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions in permitting decisions.
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December 17, 2024
Del. Justices Won't Revive Investors' $2.4B EV SPAC Deal Suit
The Delaware Supreme Court has declined to reinstate a proposed class action in the state's Chancery Court that accused a blank-check company of withholding key information from investors ahead of its $2.4 billion go-public deal with electric-vehicle maker Canoo Holdings Ltd.
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December 17, 2024
Red States Can Back Feds In Dakota Access Pipeline Row
A North Dakota federal judge said Tuesday that 13 Republican-led states can back the federal government in litigation brought by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe seeking to halt operations of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
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December 17, 2024
Insurer Can't Duck Coverage Of Fire Suit, Texas Jury Finds
A Texas federal jury rejected an insurer's bid to escape covering a trucking company in an underlying suit over a fire at a saltwater disposal facility that killed one of the company's employees, finding that the incident was not caused by the excluded act of hydrofracking.
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December 17, 2024
Senate GOP Enviro Leader Questions EPA On Grant Funding
The leading Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said Tuesday she's worried about the "potential for misuse" of the $30 billion in funding being doled out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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December 17, 2024
Monsanto Beats Appeal In NJ Pollution Suit Defense Bid
A New Jersey state court judge correctly dismissed a company's complaint seeking Bayer AG's Monsanto's help covering environmental enforcement claims for polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCB, contamination after the case's original judge retired, the state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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December 17, 2024
Renewable Energy Investor Asks Court To OK €42M Award
A Luxembourg-based renewable energy investment firm on Tuesday urged a District of Columbia federal judge to confirm a €41.8 million ($43.9 million) arbitration award over Spain's abandoned energy economic incentives after the D.C. Circuit recently said such awards can be enforced.
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December 17, 2024
Revised LNG Export Study Flags Gas Price And Climate Worries
The Biden administration on Tuesday said that unconstrained U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas would increase both domestic energy prices and cumulative greenhouse gas emissions, and retained a pause on export project reviews that President-elect Donald Trump is expected to lift upon taking office.
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December 17, 2024
5th Circ. Tosses EPA Rule After Agency Loses Docs
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday granted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's unusual request that the court vacate a challenged 2016 rule that partially disapproved regional haze plans created by Texas and Oklahoma and imposed a federal plan.
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December 17, 2024
3M Fights Michigan's Mootness Claims In PFAS Rule Suit
Michigan is wrong to allege that 3M's challenge to rules on PFAS in tap water is moot, the company has told the state Supreme Court, claiming it will still be affected by the challenged regulations despite the state's arguments that new regulations supersede them.
Expert Analysis
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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What To Expect From Evolving Wash. Development Plans
The current round of periodic updates to Washington counties' growth and development plans will need to address new requirements from recent legislation, and will also likely bring changes that should please property owners and developers, says Jami Balint at Seyfarth.
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Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus
Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Energy And AI: Key Issues And Future Challenges
Artificial intelligence promises new technical advantages for the energy industry, but it is also responsible for vast, and growing, energy consumption — so the future of AI and energy will require balancing technological advancement with regulatory oversight, environmental responsibility and infrastructure development, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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From Muppet Heads To OJ's Glove: How To Use Props At Trial
Demonstrative graphics have become so commonplace in the courtroom that jurors may start to find them boring, but attorneys can keep jurors engaged and improve their recall by effectively using physical props at trial, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.
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Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Opinion
It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act
In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.
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How Corner Post Affects Enviro Laws' Statutes Of Limitations
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board has helped to alter the fundamental underpinnings of administrative law — and its plaintiff-centric approach may have implications for some specific environmental laws' statutes of limitations, say Chris Leason and Liam Martin at Gallagher and Kennedy.
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2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances
Progress in trial technologies in the last 10 years has been transformative for courtroom presentations, but two core communication axioms are still relevant in today's world of drone footage evidence and 3D animations, say Adam Bloomberg and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Nuclear Power Can Help Industrial Plants Get To Net-Zero
In the race to fight climate change and achieve net-zero emissions, the industrial sector currently faces immense challenges — but the integration of nuclear energy is a promising solution, so companies should consider the financial and regulatory issues, opportunities, and risk-mitigating factors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror
Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.