A Washington federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider its approval of a timber harvesting and forest restoration project, finding the agency failed to provide adequate maps of the area to the public.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Feds Must Review Wash. Logging Project Over Map Concerns

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A Washington federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider its approval of a timber harvesting and forest restoration project, finding the agency failed to provide adequate maps of the area to the public.

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Judge Rejects Trump Admin's Bid To Shield Climate Group

By Tom Lotshaw

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's assertion that its climate change working group is exempt from a statute governing the transparency of advisory committees, but also denied environmentalists' push to get their hands on the group's records.

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EXIM Bank Wants Suit Over $20B Mozambique LNG Project Axed

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Export-Import Bank of the United States is asking a D.C. federal judge to toss green groups' effort to block $4.7 billion in financing for a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique led by TotalEnergies SE.

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POLICY & REGULATION

FTC Sends White House List Of Regulations For Deletion

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission provided the White House with a report on Wednesday recommending that more than 125 regulations from agencies across the federal government be modified or deleted because they create barriers to competition.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

Satellites Belong In FCC's Enviro Reviews, Agency Told

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission can't justify excluding potentially luminous satellites from environmental reviews keyed to industries under its jurisdiction, a group fighting light pollution said.

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WATER

Auto Supplier Can Wind Down Biz Amid AG's Pollution Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Michigan judge said Wednesday she won't stop an automotive supplier from dissolving its business, even as the state attorney general sues the company for allegedly releasing untreated contaminated wastewater into the environment.

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OIL & GAS

WaterBridge Reaches $634M IPO Pricing, Guided By 2 Firms

By Nate Beck

WaterBridge Infrastructure said it priced an upsized $634 million initial public offering at the top of its range when the company began trading Wednesday with advice by Latham & Watkins LLP and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

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Judge Won't Let Denver Slip Suit Over Bans On Gas Appliances

By Isaac Monterose

A Colorado federal judge partially granted environmentalist group Sierra Club's bid to dismiss a suit filed by a coalition of industry trade groups suing Denver over the city's restrictions on certain natural gas appliances.

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DEALS

3 Firms Advise On I Squared's $800M Entek Stake Purchase

By Al Barbarino

I Squared Capital announced Wednesday it has agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in battery separator maker Entek for $800 million, as part of a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, in a deal steered by three law firms.

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PEOPLE

Bracewell Hires Energy Atty From Baker Botts In DC

By Alison Knezevich

Bracewell LLP said Wednesday that it has brought on a new Washington, D.C.-based partner who advises companies on environmental and energy transition issues and began his career as a scientist.

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Saul Ewing Lands Greenspoon Marder Enviro Atty Trio In LA

By James Mills

Saul Ewing LLP is expanding its environmental team, bringing in a trio of Greenspoon Marder LLP litigators in the firm's Los Angeles office.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Litigation Spending To Keep Growing As Biz Risks Run High

By Jack Karp

Companies are likely to increase their spending on litigation next year, some by over 10%, as legal disputes become more complex, more contentious and more high-stakes, according to a new report out Thursday.

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Ex-Calif. Judge Gets 35 Years For Shooting Wife To Death

By Gina Kim

Former California state court judge Jeffrey M. Ferguson lost his bid for a new trial Wednesday and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for shooting his wife to death at home in a drunken rage, with the presiding judge expressing sympathy for his "extraordinary" son who tried to save his mother's life.

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Feds Want 3 Years For Girardi Son-In-Law's Chicago Contempt

By Lauraann Wood

Tom Girardi's son-in-law should receive a three-year prison sentence for his admitted role in helping the once-celebrated plaintiffs' lawyer steal millions from Lion Air crash victims, federal prosecutors in Chicago argued Wednesday.

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Winston & Strawn Blamed For 'Anti-Woke' Fintech $1.7B Crash

By Lauren Berg

The trustee of bankrupt "anti-woke" financial technology startup GloriFi on Wednesday launched malpractice litigation against Winston & Strawn LLP in Texas bankruptcy court, accusing the firm and one of its managing partners of putting the interests of the company's founder first and costing the business $1.7 billion in valuation.

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7th Circ. Pick Shrugs Off Conservative Group's Opposition

By Courtney Bublé

During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin tapped for the Seventh Circuit, fended off opposition to her nomination from conservative groups, antipathy that the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called a "new low" for the committee.

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House Votes To End DC Judicial Nominations Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 218-211 along party lines on Wednesday to eliminate the commission that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for Washington, D.C.'s local courts.

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Retired Judges Speak Out On 'Threats' To Constitution

By Courtney Bublé

More than 40 retired federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties released an open letter Wednesday, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, saying they sought to underscore the importance of the rule of law at a time when the nation's ideals "are under historic strain."

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Del. Judge's US Atty Application Plan Draws Blanche's Ire

By Lauren Berg

Delaware's chief district judge, a Trump appointee, is seeking applications for the state's U.S. attorney position to prepare for an upcoming vacancy in the interim position, a move that drew the ire of Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday.

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Giuliani Must Pay Attys $1.4M After Missing Bills Claim Fails

By Adrian Cruz

A New York state judge has awarded nearly $1.4 million to Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP in its lawsuit accusing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of racking up unpaid legal bills for the firm's work in various criminal, civil and administrative matters.

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Criminal Restitution Fails Defendants, Victims, Report Says

By Brandon Lowrey

Federal criminal restitution often fails to benefit victims of crime and throws defendants into a "Sisyphean struggle" with debt, with $100 billion in outstanding restitution deemed uncollectable, according to a report released this week by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

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SEC Policy Shift Could Foreclose Some Investor Class Actions

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a policy statement Wednesday that allows the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies as its chief seeks to "make IPOs great again," but Democrats warned the move could shut the door to shareholder class actions.

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Ex-Law Student's Bias Suit In Wrong Forum, 4th Circ. Told

By Patrick Hoff

A Black former student at Washington University School of Law shouldn't be able to revive claims that she was suspended from campus and lost her scholarship after complaining about a professor's race bias because she filed the suit in the wrong state, the law school told the Fourth Circuit.

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Trump Could Swing Fed With This 1 Weird Trick: Ex-Fed Gov.

By Jon Hill

A former top Federal Reserve official told Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday that if President Donald Trump succeeds in quickly ousting Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, it could unlock an obscure mechanism for his allies at the Fed to sway future interest-rate decisions.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Baker Botts

Bracewell LLP

Chapman & Cutler

Cheronis & Parente

Davidoff Hutcher

Donahue Goldberg

Edelson PC

Foley Hoag

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Goodwin Procter

Greenberg Glusker

Greenspoon Marder

Holland & Knight

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Lewis Rice

Paul Hastings

Pillsbury Winthrop

Quinn Emanuel

Saul Ewing

Skadden Arps

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Troutman

Warner Norcross

Winston & Strawn

Wolf Wallenstein

Woods Rogers

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Family Association

American Hotel & Lodging Association

BTI Consulting Group Inc.

CME Group Inc.

Clayco Inc.

Earthjustice

Endeavour Capital

Environmental Defense Fund Inc.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums

Georgia State University

Harvard University

I Squared Capital Advisors LLC

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Johnson Rice & Co. LLC

LinkedIn Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Morgan Stanley

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

National Association of Home Builders

National Propane Gas Association

PG&E Corp.

Pickering Energy Partners

Piper Sandler Cos.

PowerBridge LLC

Restaurant Law Center

Seattle University

Sierra Club

The District of Columbia Bar

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

TotalEnergies SE

Twitter Inc.

UCLA School of Law

Union of Concerned Scientists

University of Southern California

Wells Fargo & Co.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Energy Commission

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Executive Office of the President

Export-Import Bank of the United States

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Election Commission

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

New York Supreme Court, New York County

State of Michigan

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

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

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

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

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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

US Office of Management and Budget

United States District Court for the District of Colorado