Environmental

Expert Analysis

• A Likely Tipping Point For Nonlawyer Ownership Of Law Firms

  

  The Arizona Supreme Court's recent decision to eliminate prohibitions on nonlawyer ownership of law firms may show that the organized bar's long-standing rhetoric that such rules are essential to protecting the legal profession's core values is overblown, say Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law and Bradley Wendel at Cornell Law School.

• A Road Map For Drafting Persuasive Discovery Motions

  

  Best practices that can help litigators write convincing discovery motions include thinking about the audience, addressing a few key questions, and leaving out boilerplate from supporting briefs, says Tom Connally at Hogan Lovells.

• How Congress Can Depoliticize The Supreme Court

  

  Congress has multiple means to take the politics out of federal judicial nominations and restore the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court — three of which can be implemented without a constitutional amendment, says Franklin Amanat at DiCello Levitt.

• Lessons From An In-Court Jury Trial During The Pandemic

  

  Following a recent in-person jury trial at the Indiana Supreme Court, Angela Hall and Jason Rauch at Faegre Drinker offer takeaways on remote trial preparation, socially distanced voir dire and evidence presentation during the COVID-19 era.

• 5 Ways Retailers Can Mitigate Product Liability Litigation Risk

  

  While courts sometimes hold retailers liable for injuries caused by products they sold but did not manufacture — as a California appeals court did recently in Bolger v. Amazon — retailers can implement a number of strategies to reduce product liability litigation risk, say Alexandra Cunningham and Elizabeth Reese at Hunton.

• Environmental Considerations For Cos. Contemplating Ch. 11

  

  Debtors reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, and their creditors, should be aware that environmental obligations may be exempt from the automatic stay on creditor claims triggered by a bankruptcy filing, and that some will not be dischargeable at all, say Dianne Phillips and Maria de la Motte at Holland & Knight. 

• Opinion

  The Case For A Nonpolitical Federal Judiciary

  

  For the last 20 years, at the insistence of both parties, U.S. Supreme Court nominations have been fierce ideological battles — which is bad for the country and bad for the public's perception of the legitimacy of the court, say Judge Eric Moyé, Judge Craig Smith and Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer.

• Key Regulatory Concerns For Cos. Making COVID-19 Products

  

  Recent enforcement actions by federal agencies against businesses making products intended to protect against COVID-19 highlight why companies must understand which regulators they are answerable to, and what standards they must follow when producing, advertising, labeling and selling their goods, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• The Keys To A Better Privilege Logging Paradigm

  

  Current privilege logging practices to identify what information is being withheld from discovery often lead to costly disputes, so practitioners should adopt a system based on trust and good faith, similar to the presumptions embedded in the business judgment rule for corporate directors and officers, say Kevin Brady at Volkswagen and Charles Ragan and Ted Hiser at Redgrave.

• Equator Principles Update: What Energy Cos. Should Know

  

  An Oct. 1 update to the Equator Principles will bring significant changes to the environmental, social and governance framework, and energy projects receiving loans of as little as $50 million must now prepare for compliance, says Jillian Kirn at Greenberg Traurig.

• White House Due Process Memo Could Reform Enforcement

  

  A little-noticed memo recently issued by the Trump administration in response to the pandemic, directing federal agencies to provide greater due process to individuals and companies under regulatory investigation, represents a long-overdue sea change in the way justice is carried out in enforcement proceedings, say Joan Meyer and Norman Bloch at Thompson Hine.

• Law Firm Hiring Considerations In A COVID-19 Economy

  

  Financially robust law firms are entering the recruiting market aggressively knowing that dislocations like the COVID-19 crisis present rare competitive opportunities, and firms that remain on the sidelines when it comes to strategic hiring will be especially vulnerable to having their best talent poached, says Brian Burlant at Major Lindsey.

• Streamlining Power Transmission Siting To Help Renewables

  

  It can take years and cost millions of dollars to secure state regulatory approval for electric transmission system upgrades needed to facilitate clean energy development, so it is important for states to create abbreviated siting processes for projects with limited anticipated impacts, says Andy Flavin at Troutman Pepper.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Act To Preserve Democracy This Election

  

  COVID-19 concerns and glaring gaps in registration threaten to dampen voter turnout in the 2020 election, so attorneys should take on the problem by leveraging their knowledge and resources in seven ways, says Laura Brill at Kendall Brill.

• Key Compliance Tips For 2020 TSCA Chemical Reporting

  

  The Toxic Substances Control Act requires manufacturers and importers to report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency every four years on their use and disposal of certain chemicals — and with the next reporting deadline on Nov. 30 and recent changes to TSCA regulations, companies must focus on their reporting strategies, say attorneys at Pillsbury.