Environmental

Expert Analysis

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• Climate Change And Insurance: Insurers' Subrogation Claims

  

  Once the litigation floodgates open for property damage lawsuits against greenhouse gas polluters, a second wave of subrogation claims brought by first-party property insurers is likely to follow, say José Umbert and Jason Reeves of Zelle.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• What Justices' Deference Opinion Means For Employers

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court rewrote the rules on judicial deference to federal agency guidelines with its recent decision in Kisor v. Wilkie. For employers — where agency guidance frequently disclaims authoritative use — it means a lot of settled law is potentially up for grabs, says Steven Katz at Constangy Brooks.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.

• ARIA Paves The Way For US Reengagement With Asia

  

  A U.S. Senate subcommittee recently held hearings concerning the 6-month-old Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which seeks to renew U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. But the success of the law will depend on whether the private, governmental and nongovernmental sectors make full use of the funding it provides, says Chuong Le of Snell & Wilmer.

• The Art Of The 'Science And Expert Team' In Mass Torts

  

  Science is at the foundation of mass tort lawsuits involving drugs or medical devices. Critical to a virtual law team in these cases, the "science and expert team" does more than get into the weeds of scientific issues and retain experts, say attorneys at FaegreBD, Peabody & Arnold and Shook Hardy.

• Rethinking The Tech-First Approach To Law Firm Solutions

  

  When a lawyer complains about some workflow inefficiency they are having, the knee-jerk reaction of many firms is to look for a technology-based workaround. This overlooks the importance of human psychology and behavior, which may be the root of the problem, says Ryan Steadman of Zero.

• Perspectives

  Artisanal Miners' Roadblocks To Justice: Is A Path Clearing?

  

  Efforts to give small-scale gold miners, who face displacement, pollution and violence at sites around the world, access to fair and functioning justice systems have met with apathy from politicians and fierce resistance from powerful business lobbies, but there are signs that this may be changing, says Mark Pieth, president of the Basel Institute on Governance.

• In High Court's Kisor Ruling, 2 Important Doctrines Survive

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s surprising 9-0 ruling in Kisor v. Wilkie salvaged Auer deference, but of even greater significance was Chief Justice John Roberts’ alignment with the four liberal justices on the stare decisis question, say Dan Deane and Nathan Warecki at Nixon Peabody.

• Top 10 Techniques For Crafting A Dazzling Brief

  

  Legal writing often falls flat not because it’s unorganized, but because it’s technically unsound and riddled with gaffes that cheapen and degrade it. Avoiding the most common mistakes will keep judges interested and, most importantly, make them trust you, says Daniel Karon of Karon LLC.

• Recent Tax Equity Rulings And The Renewable Energy Sector

  

  While mirror Federal Claims Court decisions last week in the Bishop Hill Energy and California Ridge Wind Energy cases were favorable for the renewable energy industry, companies seeking project development grants from the U.S. Department of the Treasury may want to reconsider some of their practices, say David Burton and Keith Martin from Norton Rose.

• High Court May Take On Preemption In Superfund Case

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review a Montana Supreme Court decision allowing common-law environmental cleanup claims at sites already subject to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup orders. The court may have taken the case because it addresses federal agencies' authority to preempt state-level claims, say Jeffrey Dintzer and Greg Christianson of Alston & Bird.