The U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting judicial review of environmental analyses of infrastructure projects, combined with the Trump administration's drive to ease approval processes, may boost developers' optimism — but the extent to which reviews can be narrowed remains unknown.
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TOP NEWS

Analysis

Projects Get Some NEPA Relief, But How Much Is Unknown

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting judicial review of environmental analyses of infrastructure projects, combined with the Trump administration's drive to ease approval processes, may boost developers' optimism — but the extent to which reviews can be narrowed remains unknown.

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High Court Restores Federal Approval Of Utah Oil Railway

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the federal government's approval of a rail project intended to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin.

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Interior OKs Utah Mine In First Fast-Tracked Energy Review

By MJ Koo

The U.S. Department of the Interior has greenlit a uranium and vanadium mine in southeastern Utah, the first to be approved under a new, expedited 14-day environmental review process.

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Kids Launch New Climate Case Over Trump Energy Orders

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. government on Thursday was hit with a fresh lawsuit from youths alleging that federal energy policies harm their future by exacerbating climate change, specifically targeting President Donald Trump's executive orders aimed at boosting fossil fuels.

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OIL AND GAS

Judge Sees No Harm In BLM Drill Permits Near Colo. Grassland

By Tom Lotshaw

A Colorado federal judge said an environmental group failed to show standing for a suit challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's refusal to mitigate surface pollution from oil and gas wells on state and private lands on and around the Pawnee National Grassland.

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Big Oil Caused Woman's Heat Wave Death, Novel Suit Says

By Hailey Konnath

The daughter of a Seattle woman who died during a 2021 heat wave filed a first-of-its kind wrongful death suit in Washington state court Thursday against oil and gas giants — including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell — alleging the companies knew for decades their fossil fuel products would one day "claim lives."

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Shell Told To Disclose Climate Risk Docs In RI Terminal Case

By Lauren Berg

A Rhode Island federal judge Thursday ordered Shell Oil Co. to answer the Conservation Law Foundation's inquiries concerning its knowledge behind the construction and operation of a bulk storage terminal in Providence that the conservation group claims is unprepared for flooding and other weather events expected in a changing climate.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

DOT Calls States' EV Charging Funding Suit Premature

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Department of Transportation urged a Washington federal judge to reject an attempt by 16 states to block the Trump administration from cutting off funding for electric vehicle charging projects, saying their claims aren't yet ripe for review.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Buyer Beware Of Restrictive Covenants In Delaware

Based on recent Delaware Chancery Court opinions rejecting restricted covenants contained in agreements in the sale-of-business context, businesses need to craft narrowly tailored restrictions that have legitimate interests, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

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Series

Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Analysis

3 Takeaways From The Judgments On Trump's Law Firm EOs

By Aebra Coe

Three federal judges have now weighed in on President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms, with each ruling in favor of the firms and deeming the orders unconstitutional. Here are three takeaways from the combined 227 pages of those judges’ conclusions.

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DOJ Sidelines ABA From Vetting Trump's Judicial Picks

By Kevin Penton

The Justice Department plans to direct judicial nominees away from a long-standing vetting process by the American Bar Association, labeling it an "activist organization," according to a Thursday letter by Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

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Harvard Taps Paul Weiss High Court Litigator For Board

By Hailey Konnath

Kannon Shanmugam, a Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP partner and veteran U.S. Supreme Court litigator, has been selected to join the Harvard Corp. governing board, according to an announcement made Thursday.

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Analysis

Tariff Rulings Undercut Trump's Trade Authority, Dealmaking

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. trading partners have inadvertently found new leverage in tariff negotiations with the Trump administration after federal courts found several of the president's duties were improperly imposed, raising larger questions about future tariff authorization in the midst of a global trade spat.

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Influencer Hits Akin With Malpractice Suit Over Boxing Deal

By Lynn LaRowe

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and one of its Texas-based partners allegedly failed to understand California law in handling a financial dispute between a social media influencer and the company that hired him to participate in an amateur boxing competition, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in a Lone Star State federal court.

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For-Profit School Sued Over Thompson Coburn Leak Notices

By Emily Sawicki

A for-profit college operator is facing a proposed class action in Alabama federal court, alleging it failed to properly secure its data and notify students in a timely manner that its law firm, Thompson Coburn LLP, had been hit with a cyberattack causing a data breach of sensitive records.

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Fed. Circ. Revives Trump Tariffs As It Weighs Appeal

By Natalie Olivo

The Federal Circuit temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump's global tariffs Thursday, a day after the U.S. Court of International Trade held that an emergency law did not give the president "unbounded authority" to impose the measures.

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Trump Pardons Twice-Convicted Former Conn. Governor

By Brian Steele

President Donald Trump has pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, a one-time chairman of the Republican Governors Association, who resigned from office in 2004 and served two stints in prison for corruption and lying to federal election officials.

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Investors Allege Manhattan Firm Aided $43M Ponzi Scheme

By Emma Cueto

A pair of investors filed suit against New York-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP and two of its former attorneys on Thursday, alleging that the midsize firm and the attorneys, who have since departed for Saul Ewing LLP, lied on behalf of a client who has since been charged with running a $43 million Ponzi scheme.

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Ex-Atty's Death In Colo. Jail Sparks Suit Over Medical Neglect

By Craig Clough

The family of a disbarred attorney imprisoned for felony theft sued three members of the medical staff at the prison where he died, alleging in Colorado federal court Wednesday their neglect resulted in Steven Bachar dying from cardiac arrest after he asked for days for proper medical attention.

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Trump Names 4 Jurists, State AG Official For Fla. Judgeships

By Lynn LaRowe

President Donald Trump this week announced his nominations of four judges and a top official in the Florida Attorney General's Office to fill district judgeships in the Sunshine State's Middle and Southern Districts.

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Calif. Justices Propose Tweaking Rules For Bar Examiners

By Emily Sawicki

The California Supreme Court has proposed changes to the administration of the state's troubled bar exam, circulating a slate of amendments designed to clarify the role of the Committee of Bar Examiners, including spelling out its duty to review and approve all questions used in the exam.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Grant & Eisenhofer's Beth Graham

By Tracey Read

Elizabeth "Beth" Graham, a San Francisco-based principal at Grant & Eisenhofer PA and a member of its executive committee, played a key part in negotiating a $600 million settlement in April 2024 for plaintiffs in litigation arising from the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment, earning her a spot among Law360's 2025 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Association for Justice

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

Anschutz Exploration Corp.

Cantor Fitzgerald LP

Center for Biological Diversity Inc.

Chevron Corp.

Cleveland Integrity Services Inc.

ConocoPhillips Co.

Conservation Law Foundation Inc.

Cornell University

Earthjustice

Education Corporation of America

Exxon Mobil Corp.

FaZe Clan Inc.

First Liberty Institute

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Kodiak Building Partners

Learning Resources Inc.

Natural Resources Defense Council

Norfolk Southern Corp.

Our Children's Trust

Public Citizen Inc.

Shell PLC

Sierra Club

Southeastern University

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Verdad Resources LLC

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Advocates for the West

Akin Gump

Baker & Hostetler

Barnes & Thornburg

Beveridge & Diamond

Blank Rome

Bracewell LLP

Burg Simpson

Bush Ross

Cadwalader Wickersham

Chace Ruttenberg

Clark Hill

Clement & Murphy

Galen & Davis

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

Grant & Eisenhofer

Henderson Franklin

Hodgson Russ

Holland & Knight

Holland Holland Edwards

Jenner & Block

K&L Gates

Kanner & Whiteley

Kaplan Kirsch

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kopelowitz Ostrow

L'Abbate Balkan

Latham & Watkins

Lieff Cabraser

McCarter & English

Meritz Reddy

Milbank LLP

Milberg Coleman

Moritt Hock

Motley Rice

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Pittman Dutton

Proskauer Rose

Quarles & Brady

Saul Ewing

Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP

Seila Law

Sidley Austin

Simmons Hanly

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Snell & Wilmer

Strauss Borrelli

Susman Godfrey

Thompson Coburn

Venable LLP

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Land Management

California Supreme Court

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Council on Environmental Quality

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Election Commission

Federal Highway Administration

Florida Attorney General's Office

Hopi Tribe

Navajo Nation

New York Supreme Court, New York County

Pueblo of Zuni

South Florida Water Management District

Surface Transportation Board

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

Washington Attorney General's Office