Analysis

Top 5 Enviro Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

By Gautama Mehta

The second half of 2026 could see courts delivering important rulings that will determine whether municipalities can set their own building emissions laws, the extent of California's authority to regulate pollution and citizens' power to enforce the Clean Air Act. Here, Law360 takes a look at five environmental cases that could be resolved before the end of the year.

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Trump Admin. Cuts ESA 'Harm' Definition, Groups Vow Fight

By Tom Lotshaw

The Trump administration on Friday said it's scrapping a long-standing definition of "harm" for the Endangered Species Act that included habitat degradation, with environmental groups promising a legal challenge and warning the change will put imperiled species at greater risk of extinction.

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Dissolved LLC Can't Revive Trade Secret Suit, 5th Circ. Says

By Adam Lidgett

The Fifth Circuit has refused to revive a defunct Louisiana company's trade secret suit against a business that won a bid for certain onshore drilling assets and the bank that financed the buy, finding it dissolved itself before actually filing the case.

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Broker Wants Out Of Oil Co.'s Bond Insurance Conspiracy Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

An insurance broker urged a Texas federal court to dismiss it from litigation alleging a group of insurers conspired to set unreasonable terms for surety bonds, arguing an oil company behind the suit failed to demonstrate the broker had a role in what the company alleged was a scheme.

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Analysis

US-Canada Stalemate Expected To Hold Amid USMCA Review

By Dylan Moroses

The trade stalemate between the U.S. and Canada is likely to continue through a drawn-out review process for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, though companies will benefit from an underlying level of stability as the deal remains in effect, trade lawyers said.

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Fed. Circ. Judge Calls Patent Case In-Court Demo 'Misleading'

By Nadia Dreid

A Federal Circuit judge chided a company Friday morning for bringing its own specialized oil drilling tool to court to demonstrate to the panel how a device that allegedly infringes its patent works.

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Keystone Pipeline Operator To Pay $30M For Kansas Oil Spill

By Hailey Konnath

The Keystone Pipeline's owner and operator has agreed to pay a $26.8 million civil penalty plus $3 million for natural resource restoration projects in Kansas for a 2022 rupture of the pipeline that spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, according to a Friday announcement.

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Colo. Panel Rules Mineral Rights Appeal Premature

By Rachel Konieczny

The Colorado Court of Appeals tossed an estate's appeal of a lower court's decision that threw out its claims of mineral trespass and unjust enrichment in a Colorado property, finding the trial court's order was not final and appealable.

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How New FERC Orders Are Prepping Grid For Large Loads

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent show-cause orders to grid operators to justify how their rates and regulations account for the interconnection of large and colocated loads like data centers may be just the first step in FERC's efforts to address anticipated reliability and affordability challenges in the coming years, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

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CFIUS' Mandate Misses Foreign Risk In Project Subcontracts

Recent calls for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review equity transactions like the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. deal miss a consequential oversight gap — CFIUS' inability to review the subcontracting layer of U.S. infrastructure projects, says Thibaut Giret at Alstef Group.

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Roundup

The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

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Judge Newman Won't Reopen High Court Suspension Battle

By Theresa Schliep

Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman did not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider her bid to save a suit against her fellow judges for suspending her from the bench over her refusal to undergo medical tests.

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Jackson Walker Settlements Over Judge Romance Get Greenlit

By Emma Cueto

A Texas bankruptcy judge has recommended approval of nine settlements regarding legal fees paid to Jackson Walker LLP connected to a former firm partner's romantic relationship with a then-bankruptcy judge, with the firm agreeing to pay $4.79 million in total, including $1.4 million to the estate of J.C. Penney.

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Trump-IRS Settlement Result Of Sham Suit, Judge Rules

By Jack McLoone

President Donald Trump's $10 billion suit against his own Internal Revenue Service and the resulting settlement deal lacked a legitimate controversy, given Trump's control over both the agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, a Florida district judge said Monday in an order barring Trump or others from citing the deal.

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Wells Fargo's $50M Deal In Atty's Ponzi Scheme Gets 1st OK

By Gina Kim

Wells Fargo will pay $50 million to settle a proposed class action alleging it knowingly helped a Las Vegas attorney run a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme deceiving investor victims into fronting money for borrowers awaiting personal injury settlement payouts, according to a preliminary approval order issued in Nevada federal court.

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Mass Tort Firms Hit With Suit Over AI Solicitation Calls

By Lynn LaRowe

A Michigan-based mass tort law firm and a pair of affiliate firms are violating federal and Texas state laws through an artificial intelligence-generated telemarketing campaign meant to solicit clients, according to a putative class action filed in Texas federal court.

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Senate Confirms SDTX Judge Pick Tied To Gun Group

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-44 Monday evening to confirm Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Arthur "Rob" Jones as a U.S. district judge to serve on the Southern District of Texas bench.

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Blanche Hearing To Proceed After Graham's Death

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee will still hold the confirmation hearing for Todd Blanche's nomination to be attorney general on Wednesday, despite the death of committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., over the weekend. 

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week handled disputes involving corporate control, post-closing competition, executive departures, arbitration awards and shareholder litigation.

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