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Environmental
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January 20, 2025
Trump, Musk Sued By Nonprofits Over DOGE Transparency
Public Citizen and other nonprofits hit the Trump administration with multiple lawsuits seeking to shut down the new Department of Government Efficiency in D.C. federal court Monday, alleging the Elon Musk-led advisory committee targeting government waste lacks requisite transparency guardrails to prevent DOGE from solely advancing private interests.
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January 20, 2025
Trump Announces 2nd Exit From Paris Climate Agreement
President Donald Trump announced upon being sworn in Monday that for a second time, he will pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord.
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January 17, 2025
Red States Challenge DOE Rule On Gas Heater Efficiency
Several red states and industry groups are challenging the Biden administration in its waning days over a final rule the U.S. Department of Energy has issued on making certain natural gas water heaters more energy efficient, asking the Eleventh Circuit to toss the rule in a petition for review filed Friday.
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January 17, 2025
NHTSA Defends Fuel-Economy Regulations In 6th Circ.
The U.S. Department of Transportation told the Sixth Circuit on Friday that its new fuel-economy standards are technologically feasible and properly account for a variety of alternative-fuel vehicles, rejecting claims from Republican-led states and fuel industry groups that the stringent standards amount to an unlawful electric vehicles mandate.
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January 17, 2025
9th Circ. Backs Vacating Some Trump-Era Oil And Gas Leases
A split Ninth Circuit ruled Friday that an Idaho federal court, but not a Montana federal court, abused its discretion in striking down oil and gas leases sold during the Trump administration, but halted "surface-disturbing activity" while the federal government reconsiders the leasing decisions.
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January 17, 2025
NM Justices Reject Utility Challenges To Solar Rule
New Mexico's top court issued a slip opinion explaining its decision to back a community solar rule enacted by state regulators and to reject arguments by an Xcel Energy unit and other utilities claiming the rule ran afoul of a Community Solar Act passed by lawmakers.
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January 17, 2025
Red States And Oil Groups Attack Biden's Coastal Drilling Ban
Louisiana-led states and fossil fuel groups are asking a federal judge in the Pelican State to scrap a pair of Biden administration memos that recently banned new oil and gas leasing across more than 625 million acres of federal waters.
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January 17, 2025
DC Circ. Seems Of Split Mind On EPA Air Compliance Suit
The D.C. Circuit seemed split Friday on what to do about a Republican state-led appeal accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of stepping on their toes when issuing a rule that changed the deadline for submitting Clean Air Act compliance plans for power plants.
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January 17, 2025
Green Groups Defend EPA's Drinking Water PFAS Rule
Green groups on Friday asked the D.C. Circuit to uphold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule setting the first-ever limits for forever chemicals in the nation's drinking water, which is being challenged by water utility associations and chemical industry players.
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January 17, 2025
Texas-Led States Join Challenge To EPA Methane Tax
A coalition of Texas-led states has joined a slew of industry groups challenging a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that imposes fees oil and gas companies must pay if their methane emissions exceed certain thresholds.
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January 17, 2025
Tennessee, BlackRock Settle Suit Over ESG Goals
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Friday that his office has dismissed its lawsuit accusing BlackRock of misleading customers about its environmental, social and corporate governance investment strategies, with the asset manager committing to certain transparency and compliance measures.
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January 17, 2025
Muscogee Look To Renew Alabama Burial Grounds Dispute
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is asking a federal district court for permission to file a new complaint in a dispute over a sacred Alabama burial ground site after the Eleventh Circuit last year allowed the tribe to reinstate its allegations.
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January 17, 2025
P&G Accused Of 'Greenwashing' And Making 'Frankenforests'
Procter & Gamble is greenwashing its Charmin toilet paper by misleading consumers into believing it is ethically sourced and that the multinational consumer goods company is following through with sustainable reforestation promises, a 48-count proposed class action alleges.
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January 17, 2025
Sidley-Led Hennessy Capital's 7th SPAC Raises $175M
Blank-check company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VII began trading publicly on Friday after raising $175 million in its initial public offering, which will be used to merge with a company in the industrial technology or energy transition sectors.
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January 17, 2025
GOP Reps. Look To End President's National Monument Power
Two Republican members of Congress have launched a bill seeking to strip the president's power to declare national monuments, saying the Antiquities Act of 1906 is in dire need of reform that would hand over that authority to Congress.
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January 17, 2025
Fla. HOA Says Insurer Failed To Pay Or Appraise $9.5M Claim
A Sunshine State condo association told a Florida federal court Friday that its insurer failed to pay its $9.5 million claim for damages sustained as a result of Hurricane Ian, alleging the insurer didn't meet its policy's terms regarding assigning an appraiser.
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January 17, 2025
Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Restore Threatened Seals' Habitat
The federal government has asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn an Alaska federal district court judge who vacated the National Marine Fisheries Service's designation of critical habitat for Pacific bearded seals and Arctic ringed seals.
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January 17, 2025
DC Circ. Sends LNG-By-Rail Rule Back To Drawing Board
The D.C. Circuit on Friday wiped out a Trump-era rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be transported by rail and said any replacement rule must contain an extensive environmental review given the catastrophic risks of an accident or spill.
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January 17, 2025
Mich. Local Power Rule Needs Stricter Scrutiny, 6th Circ. Says
A split Sixth Circuit panel said a requirement for Michigan electricity suppliers to source some of their power locally may be unconstitutional and must be reviewed again by a lower court because it disadvantages out-of-state energy producers.
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January 17, 2025
Property Owner Says Nationwide Lowballed On $3.8M Losses
A Georgia property owner accused its insurer, a Nationwide unit, of "grossly underestimating" damages from separate hail and water events, alleging it was offered a combined total of less than $8,000 for losses exceeding $3.8 million, in a case removed to Georgia federal court.
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January 17, 2025
PE-Backed M&A Values, Megadeals Surged In 2024
Private equity-backed merger and acquisition values jumped nearly 25% year-over-year in 2024, while PE-backed megadeals valued above $5 billion more than doubled, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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January 17, 2025
Co. Suggests 4 Chemicals For Taxable Substances List
The Internal Revenue Service is seeking comments on proposals from Occidental Chemical Corp. to add four chemicals to the Internal Revenue Code's list of taxable substances, the agency said Friday.
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January 16, 2025
US Could Soon Find Itself On Wrong End Of Energy Disputes
America's energy landscape has been marked in recent years by the Biden administration's enthusiastic support of renewable energy projects, but international disputes experts are predicting that the incoming Trump administration's promise to derail such projects could land the U.S. in legal hot water.
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January 16, 2025
Trump's DOT Pick Says Air Safety, New Tech Big Priorities
President-elect Donald Trump's would-be transportation secretary pledged to oversee a leaner and more efficient U.S. Department of Transportation focused on expediting project permitting, prioritizing mega infrastructure projects, and ensuring that Boeing and aviation safety gets "back on track."
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January 16, 2025
3M Hit With PFAS Suit Over Wash. Resident's Cancer Diagnosis
A woman who lives near the Spokane International Airport filed suit Thursday against 3M, DuPont and various other companies over alleged "forever chemical" contamination of her drinking water, claiming her adult son has developed cancer after decades of exposure.
Expert Analysis
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How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment
Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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High Stakes In Justices' Review Of Clean Air Act Venue Fights
Disputes over the Clean Air Act's venue provision may seem arcane, but a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision encompassing three cases will affect core principles of the separation of powers and constitutional due process in ways that could have significant consequences for the regulated community, say J. Michael Showalter and David Loring at ArentFox Schiff.
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Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month
Despite an uptick in filings in the Texas Business Court's initial months of operation, the docket remains fairly light amid an apparent wait-and-see approach from some potential litigants, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Opinion
Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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Fluoride Ruling Charts Path To Bypass EPA Risk Evaluations
A California federal court's recent ruling in Food and Water Watch v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ordering the agency to address the public health risks of fluoridated drinking water, establishes a road map for other citizen petitioners to bypass the EPA's formal risk evaluation process, say attorneys at Wiley.
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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The Ups And Downs Of SEC's Now-Dissolved ESG Task Force
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force, which was quietly disbanded sometime over the summer, was marked by three years of resistance from some stakeholders to ESG regulation, a mixed record in the courts and several successful enforcement actions, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What Hawaii High Court Got Right And Wrong In AIG Ruling
Though the Hawaii Supreme Court in its recent Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance decision correctly adopted the majority rule that recklessly caused harm is an accident for coverage purposes, it erred in its interpretation of the pollution exclusion by characterizing climate change as "traditional environmental pollution," say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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7 Tips To Help Your Witness Be A Cross-Exam Heavyweight
Because jurors tend to pay a little more attention to cross-examination, attorneys should train their witnesses to strike a balance — making it tough for opposing counsel to make their side’s case, without coming across as difficult to the jury, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Series
Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.
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Useful Product Doctrine May Not Shield Against PFAS Liability
Courts have recognized that companies transferring hazardous recycled materials can defeat liability under environmental laws by showing they were selling a useful product — but new laws in California and elsewhere restricting the sale of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances may change the legal landscape, says Kyle Girouard at Dickinson Wright.
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CFTC Anti-Fraud Blitz Is A Warning To Carbon Credit Sellers
With its recent enforcement actions against a carbon offset project developer and its senior executives for reporting false information about the energy savings of the company's projects, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is staking out its position as a primary regulator in the voluntary carbon credit market, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Opinion
Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits
With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.
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How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program
During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.