The second half of 2026 may see the outcome of federal efforts to speed up construction timelines via federal rulemaking and in Congress, and the resolution of open questions around how the repeal of a foundational climate regulation will impact energy policy. Here are four key policy areas that are on environmental attorneys' radar.
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TOP NEWS

Analysis

Top 4 Enviro Policies To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

By Gautama Mehta

The second half of 2026 may see the outcome of federal efforts to speed up construction timelines via federal rulemaking and in Congress, and the resolution of open questions around how the repeal of a foundational climate regulation will impact energy policy. Here are four key policy areas that are on environmental attorneys' radar.

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DOJ Unveils Law Firm Subpoenas In ABA Docs Bid Fight

By Ryan Boysen, Rae Ann Varona, Alison Knezevich, Daniel Moritz-Rabson and Aebra Coe

The BigLaw firms that cut deals with the Trump administration last year to skirt punitive executive orders are now grappling with subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice seeking deal-related communications and depositions of the firms' managing partners or chairs, according to Friday court filings.

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Judge Denies Bid To Fast-Track Alaska Refuge Road Ruling

By Crystal Owens

An Alaskan district judge is asking the federal government, the state of Alaska and an Indigenous corporation to provide an anticipated construction timeline for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

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Del. High Court Says Jarkesy Doesn't Extend To State Cases

By Katryna Perera

The Delaware Supreme Court has declined to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy holding to a state securities fraud suit arising from an administrative enforcement action brought by the state's Investor Protection Unit, finding there are no similar common-law cases requiring the right to a jury trial.

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States Ask To Join Fight Against DOD Wind Project Blockage

By Nadia Dreid

Nearly 20 states have told an Oregon federal judge they want in on a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's decision to block land-based wind projects in the U.S. from moving forward.

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Russia Can't Pause $5B Crimean Award Suit, Judge Says

By Caroline Simson

A D.C. federal judge Friday refused to reimpose a pause on litigation filed by Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company to enforce a $5 billion arbitral award against Russia, calling it "mere speculation" that an ongoing appeal in the Netherlands would affect the proceedings.

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Judge Says OMB Can't Change Grant Terms After Award

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge said Friday the Trump administration cannot rely on a shift in policy to retroactively change the terms of already awarded grants in order to justify canceling them.

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Analysis

The Biggest Trade Secret Rulings Of 2026: A Midyear Report

By Ivan Moreno

The Federal Circuit issued two of the year's most consequential trade secret rulings within days of each other, wiping out Insulet's victory in a wearable insulin patch pump case while reopening a software company's path to potentially larger damages in a dispute with Ford Motor Co. Here, Law360 highlights the biggest trade secret decisions so far this year.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Brief

Commerce Opens Duty Probes Into Chinese Supplements

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce is investigating whether certain dietary supplements imported from China are being sold at unfair prices and should be subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, it said Friday.

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OIL AND GAS

Petrobras Unit Seeks $700K Fees Over Failed Award Challenge

By Caroline Simson

A Petrobras-managed Dutch consortium is seeking more than $700,000 in fees from a group of Brazilian entities and their counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP following their unsuccessful attempt to vacate a $76.1 million arbitral award issued in a long-running offshore oil dispute.

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Latham, Milbank Lead H1 '26 Private Infrastructure Deal Surge

By Al Barbarino

Global private infrastructure financing reached $820.5 billion in the first half of 2026, up 55.3% from $528.5 billion a year earlier, as Latham & Watkins LLP and Milbank LLP led deal counts globally and in North America, according to Infralogic data.

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Pipeline Worker Engaged In Interstate Commerce, Court Says

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court ruled that Energy Transfer LP cannot compel the family of a man who died in a pipeline explosion to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act, finding Thursday that the FAA did not apply to his employment contract because he engaged in interstate commerce.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen Snapchat and Dolby press on with a fresh infringement claim in their ongoing patent battle, The Telegraph face an intellectual property claim by a photo archive, a group of international human rights barristers and chambers sued, and oil business Equinor embroiled in a contract dispute with BP after recently acquiring full ownership in their offshore project. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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DATA CENTERS

Core Scientific Data Center Builder Hit With $2.5M Suit

By Abigail Harrison

A contractor brought on to build a data center owned by cryptocurrency mining company Core Scientific Inc. is accused of owing a subcontractor $2.5 million after it failed to pay for completed work, according to a new lawsuit in North Carolina federal court.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely to continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

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Tips For Investors, Creditors Before Venezuela Restructuring

As Venezuela enters the first genuinely actionable phase of what may become one of the largest sovereign debt restructurings in modern financial history, creditors should strategically evaluate their claim types and investors should consider engaging before formal negotiations commence, says Rodrigo Carvalho at Winston Taylor.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How Competitive Is Your Compensation? Take Our Survey

Is your compensation keeping pace with the rate of inflation? Do you know what your colleagues made last year? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's Law Firm Compensation Survey.

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Trump Admin Wants Susman Godfrey DQ In ABA's EO Suit

By Adrian Cruz

Over a year into a suit by the American Bar Association challenging 2025 executive orders targeting law firms, the Trump administration is looking to have Susman Godfrey LLP disqualified as plaintiffs' counsel, alleging the firm can't act as counsel in a case where it's also a key witness.

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Simpson Thacher Points To Audit Issues In Malpractice Trial

By Cara Salvatore

A corporate founder seeking more than $100 million in a malpractice case against Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP endured a withering cross-examination in Florida state court Monday over his companies' money flows and an auditor's refusal to certify their financial statements two years after the fundraising transaction he believes the firm botched.

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Jackson Walker, US Trustee Denied Delay In Romance Dispute

By Emma Cueto

Jackson Walker LLP and the U.S. Trustee's Office, grappling with the aftermath of a romantic relationship between one of the firm's former partners and a then-bankruptcy judge, will not be able to delay pretrial proceedings to continue negotiating a possible settlement, a judge ruled Monday.

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AGs Say DOJ Suit Would 'Upend' Atty Discipline System

By Phillip Bantz

Attorneys general in 20 states have raised alarms over the U.S. Department of Justice's "unprecedented effort" to halt a disciplinary case in D.C. against former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Clark, warning the Trump administration is trying to "upend a centuries-old system of attorney discipline" and put federal government lawyers beyond the reach of local disciplinary authorities.

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Tennessee Lawyer Disbarred For Doxxing Judge, Hiding Client

By Rachel Rippetoe

The Supreme Court of Tennessee on Monday upheld a decision to permanently disbar a family law attorney for harassing a juvenile court judge online and illegally hiding a client and their child from police officers in her home.

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Trump Demands Review Of Judges' Science Manual

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has escalated a recent controversy over a scientific manual for federal judges that has been around for over three decades. 

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Another NYC Public Defense Union Sets Strike Deadline

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem union became the latest New York City-area legal aid union to set a strike deadline this week, announcing Monday that its over 230 members will walk off the job if they don't reach a deal with their managers by Friday at 8 a.m.

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Atty Says Firm Used Info From Merger Talks Against Him

By Christine DeRosa

A Florida-based attorney and accountant has accused DeWitt LLP of retaliating against him after he declined to merge his estate practice with the firm by representing a woman he sued for defamation in a separate case after he had shared confidential information with DeWitt.

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NYC Judiciary Advisory Committee Executive Steps Down

By Andrea Keckley

The executive director of New York City's Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary has resigned, a City Hall spokesperson confirmed Monday, as the committee's near-total vacancy continues.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week tackled disputes involving intellectual property, corporate control, fiduciary duties, artificial intelligence, trust administration and cryptocurrency litigation.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abbott Laboratories

Access Advance LLC

Air Liquide

American Bar Association

American Petroleum Institute Inc.

Appian Corp.

BDO LLP

Banco Sabadell SA

Benefit Street Partners Ltd.

Brooklyn Defender Services

CDI Corporation

CLEAResult Consulting Inc.

CaixaBank SA

Calpine Corp.

Center for Biological Diversity Inc.

Center for Family Representation Inc.

Center for Justice

Constellation Energy Corp.

Core Scientific Inc.

Deutsche Bank AG

Dolby Laboratories Inc.

Duke Energy Corp.

Earthjustice

Energy Transfer LP

Equinor ASA

Fifth Third Bancorp

Ford Motor Co.

Fort Point Capital

General Mills Inc.

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Gleason Corp.

Grindr LLC

Groupe PSA

Grupo Antolin SA

Hannaford Brothers Co.

Instagram Inc.

Insulet Corp.

Insulet Corporation

Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

MTX Group

Macquarie Group Ltd.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Micron Technology Inc.

Momentus Inc.

Naftogaz

National Academy of Sciences

National Westminster Bank PLC

Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem

Netlist Inc.

Patriot National Inc.

Pegasystems Inc.

Petrobras

Rivian Automotive LLC

Salesforce.com Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sandoz International GmbH

Skydance Media LLC

Snap Inc.

Solar Energy Industries Association

Solicitors Regulation Authority Ltd.

Swan Energy Inc.

Syntel, Inc.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

Teleperformance SA

The Bronx Defenders

The District of Columbia Bar

The New York Times Co.

TriZetto Corp.

Vantage Data Centers

WK Kellogg Co

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. Ltd.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Advokatfirmaet Selmer AS

Alston & Bird

Arnold & Itkin

Arnold & Porter

Ashurst Perkins

Bailey Duquette

Baker McKenzie

Beveridge & Diamond

Bird & Bird

Boyes Turner

Burness Paull

Burns Charest

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang

Clarke Willmott

Cleary Gottlieb

Clifford Chance

Clyde & Co

Conrad & Scherer

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Curtis Mallet-Prevost

DMH Stallard

DeWitt LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dentons

Eversheds Sutherland

HSF Kramer

Hogan Lovells

Jackson Walker LLP

Jenner & Block

Joelson JD LLP

Jones Day

Kellogg Hansen

Kirkland & Ellis

Kobre & Kim

Latham & Watkins

Liskow & Lewis

McCarter & English

Meritz Reddy

Milbank LLP

Mishcon de Reya

Morgan Lewis

Nabarro LLP

Norton Rose

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Quinn Emanuel

Richards Layton

Rusty Hardin

Simmons & Simmons

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Skadden Arps

Smith Debnam

Stearns Weaver

Susman Godfrey

TLT LLP

Trowers & Hamlins

Varnum LLP

Wedlake Bell

Weightmans LLP

White & Case

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Winston Taylor

Womble Bond

Wright Close Barger & Guzman

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alaska Department of Law

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Companies House

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Judicial Center

Internal Revenue Service

International Monetary Fund

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

National Institutes of Health

Native Village of Paimiut

New Jersey Attorney General's Office

New York State Unified Court System

North Carolina Utilities Commission

Office of Foreign Assets Control

Texas Tenth Court of Appeals

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

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

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

US Office of Management and Budget

Unified Patent Court

West Virginia Attorney General's Office