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Environmental

  • September 03, 2025

    Feds Seek $140M Fine For Mich. Energy Co. Over Air Pollution

    The federal government on Tuesday advocated for $140 million in penalties for a Michigan energy company the government alleges shares responsibility for air pollution resulting from coke production, while the energy company maintained it tried to comply with the state-issued permit, in briefs filed this week ahead of a bench trial later this month.

  • September 03, 2025

    9th Circ. Saves Tribes' Cultural Superfund Claims Against Teck

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday revived the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's natural resource damages claims against Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. for the company's alleged pollution of the Columbia River.

  • September 03, 2025

    Wash. Court Pressed To Immediately End EV Funding Freeze

    Clean energy advocates have urged a Washington federal judge to wipe out the Trump administration's decision to freeze funding for new electric-vehicle charging infrastructure, saying the government can't be allowed to drag its feet on a pledge to restore funding.

  • September 03, 2025

    EPA Withdraws Slaughterhouse Water Pollution Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday withdrew a Biden-era proposal that would have imposed stricter water discharge regulations on meat and poultry slaughtering, processing and rendering facilities across the country.

  • September 03, 2025

    Calif. Senate Panel OKs Property Tax Break For Tribes

    Native American tribes in California would be eligible for open space exemptions to property taxes under legislation approved by a state Senate panel that's heading for a final vote.

  • September 02, 2025

    DC Circ. Says EPA Can Freeze Climate Grant Funds

    A D.C. Circuit panel vacated an injunction on Tuesday ordering Citibank to relinquish grant funding frozen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, finding green groups are not likely to succeed on the merits of their "essentially contractual" claims.

  • September 02, 2025

    Two Unions Fight Trump Order Ending Labor Rights

    Unions representing thousands of employees of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Weather Service challenged in a lawsuit Tuesday in D.C. federal court an executive order by President Donald Trump ending their collective bargaining agreements. 

  • September 02, 2025

    11th Circ. Affirms Slashing Ex-Braves' $47M Easement Break

    A $47 million conservation easement deduction for a partnership founded by two former Atlanta Braves players was overvalued, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Tuesday, saying none of the partnership's arguments undermined the U.S. Tax Court's finding that the easement property was worth far less than it claimed.

  • September 02, 2025

    Dow Faces Investor Suit Over Tariff-Related Disclosures

    Raw materials supplier Dow Chemical Co. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging its decision to reduce shareholder payouts earlier this year contradicted its earlier claims of its ability to withstand economic uncertainty, including tariffs.

  • September 02, 2025

    Judge Dumps Challenge To Portland Fuel Terminal Ban

    An Oregon federal judge on Tuesday tossed a lawsuit challenging a ban on new oil and gas terminals in Portland, Oregon, agreeing that the state of Montana and fuel industry groups failed to show that the ordinance is unconstitutional.

  • September 02, 2025

    FERC Faces 4th Circ. Heat Over Grid Policy Revamp

    A coalition of utilities and Republican-led states have told the Fourth Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent overhaul of its regional transmission policy exceeds its authority, while consumer and clean energy advocates said that the agency didn't go far enough.

  • September 02, 2025

    Md. Says Liability Shield Doesn't Apply To Dali Ship Manager

    The state of Maryland, injured plaintiffs and other claimants have told a federal judge that the manager of the container ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge last year cannot invoke a nearly two centuries old maritime law to limit its liability for the wreck.

  • September 02, 2025

    Plains Takes Majority Stake In EPIC Crude In $1.57B Deal

    Plains All American Pipeline said Tuesday that a subsidiary has agreed to acquire a 55% non-operated stake in EPIC Crude Holdings LP, owner of the EPIC Crude Oil Pipeline, from subsidiaries of Diamondback Energy and Kinetik Holdings in a deal valued at about $1.57 billion, including roughly $600 million of debt.

  • September 02, 2025

    Texas Mall Settles $7.3M Hailstorm Coverage Dispute

    A Texas shopping center owner told a federal court Tuesday that it has "amicably" settled its dispute with insurers for roughly $7.3 million in hail damage it incurred, roughly three months after it took them to court.

  • September 02, 2025

    Colorado Pipeline Co. Challenges $314M Property Valuation

    Colorado assets of a petroleum pipeline company were wrongly valued by the state for property tax purposes at $314 million, the company said, challenging its valuation for at least the third straight year.

  • August 29, 2025

    Nuke Plant Restarts: Chances Exist, But Challenges Await

    Growing U.S. electricity demand has sparked moves to restart shuttered nuclear power plants in order to help feed that appetite for power, but the recommissioning process is far from simple. Here, attorneys who work on nuclear matters outline to Law360 several considerations that go into bringing a plant out of mothballs.

  • August 29, 2025

    Amazon Can't Scrap Toilet Paper Suit, Consumers Say

    Plaintiffs suing Amazon in a proposed class action that accuses the retail juggernaut of lying to consumers about the environmental impacts of its toilet paper and other paper products said the company's effort to hide behind third-party forestry certifications doesn't justify the suit's dismissal.

  • August 29, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: School Housing, Texas Land, Miami Transit

    Momentum in the student housing sector, limits to foreign ownership of Texas land and incentives in Miami transit zones were among the key developments covered this week in Law360 Real Estate Authority.

  • August 29, 2025

    DC Circ. Backs Biden Gulf Drilling Plan Amid Trump Revamp

    The D.C. Circuit rejected environmental groups' bid to scale back the U.S. Department of the Interior's 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program, finding the plan satisfied all legal requirements.

  • August 29, 2025

    Norwegian Shipping Co. Pleads Guilty To Pollution Charge

    Shipping company V.Ships Norway admitted to illegally dumping oil-contaminated waste in the Atlantic Ocean and was sentenced to pay a $2 million fine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • August 29, 2025

    Trump Admin Yanks $679M In Offshore Wind Projects

    The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday that it is canceling $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest salvo in the Trump administration's attack on wind power. 

  • August 29, 2025

    Hurricane Maria Fraud Suit Against Adjuster Thrown Out

    A Puerto Rico federal court tossed an insurer's lawsuit against a public adjuster alleging it inflated its calculation of damage that a Puerto Rico town suffered from Hurricane Maria in 2017, finding the lawsuit amounts to "overly broad claims of dissatisfaction with the opposing party's conduct during the insurance claim process."

  • August 29, 2025

    NLRB Atty Joins Blank Rome's Labor Group In Philadelphia

    An attorney who spent the first 15 years of his legal career working with National Labor Relations Board has recently moved into private practice and joined Blank Rome LLP's growing labor team.

  • August 29, 2025

    States Say White House Caved In AmeriCorps Cut Fight

    A coalition consisting of Maryland, two dozen other states and D.C. that is challenging the Trump administration's attempts to slash AmeriCorps programs and withhold funds announced Friday the White House has chosen to release nearly $185 million as it faced "a blistering legal defeat."

  • August 28, 2025

    Trump Ends Bargaining Rights For Workers At More Agencies

    President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that purports to remove collective bargaining rights from federal workers at several more agencies, including NASA, the National Weather Service and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a move that one union slammed as "retaliation."

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Air Board Offers Early Hints On Climate Reporting

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    As initial reporting deadlines for California's new climate reporting laws approach, guidance provided by the California Air Resources Board in a virtual public workshop sheds some light on rulemaking to come, and how to prepare for compliance during this period of uncertainty, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Supporting A Trial Team

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    While students often practice as lead trial attorneys in law school, such an opportunity likely won’t arise until a few years into practice, so junior associates should focus on honing skills that are essential to supporting a trial team, including organization, adaptability and humility, says Lucy Zelina at Tucker Ellis.

  • Opinion

    Address Nationwide Injunction Issues With Random Venues

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    Many of the qualms about individual district court judges' authority to issue nationwide injunctions could be solved with a simple legislative solution: handling multiple complaints about the same agency action filed in different district courts by assigning a venue via random selection, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

  • FAR Rewrite May Cloud Key Gov't Contract Doctrine

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    The Trump administration's government procurement overhaul, under which sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation are eliminated by default, is bound to collide with a doctrine that allows courts to read omitted clauses into government contracts if they represent long-standing pillars of federal procurement law, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Attorney To BigLaw

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    When I transitioned to private practice after government service — most recently as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — I learned there are more similarities between the two jobs than many realize, with both disciplines requiring resourcefulness, zealous advocacy and foresight, says Zach Terwilliger at V&E.

  • Opinion

    Aviation Watch: A Supersonic 'Boom' Going Nowhere Fast

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    Legislation recently introduced in Congress to repeal the Federal Aviation Administration's ban on supersonic flight over U.S. territory appears to benefit a single company with an uncertain business plan, and is not truly in the public interest, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Measuring The Impact Of Attorney Gender On Trial Outcomes

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    Preliminary findings from our recent study on how attorney gender might affect case outcomes support the conclusion that there is little in the way of a clear, universal bias against attorneys of a given gender, say Jill Leibold, Olivia Goodman and Alexa Hiley at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • The Ins And Outs Of Consensual Judicial References

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    As parties consider the possibility of judicial reference to resolve complex disputes, it is critical to understand how the process works, why it's gaining traction, and why carefully crafted agreements make all the difference, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    The BigLaw Settlements Are About Risk, Not Profit

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    The nine Am Law 100 firms that settled with the Trump administration likely did so because of the personal risk faced by equity partners in today's billion‑dollar national practices, enabled by an ethics rule primed for modernization, says Adam Forest at Scale.

  • House Bill Tax Tweaks Would Hinder Renewable Projects

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    Provisions in the budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would rapidly phase out clean energy tax credits, constrain renewable energy financing arrangements and impose sweeping restrictions on projects with foreign ties, which may create compliance and supply chain issues for many developers, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • What Gene Findings Mean For Asbestos Mesothelioma Claims

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    Recent advances in genetic research have provided substantial evidence that significant numbers of malignant mesothelioma cases may be caused by inherited mutations rather than asbestos exposure — a finding that could fundamentally change how defendants approach personal injury litigation over mesothelioma, say David Schwartz at Lumanity and Kirk Hartley at LSP Group.

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Oft-Forgotten Evidence Rule Can Be Powerful Trial Tool

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    Rule 608 may be one of the most overlooked provisions in the Federal Rules of Evidence, but as a transformative tool that allows attorneys to attack a witness's character for truthfulness through opinion or reputation testimony, its potential to reshape a case cannot be overstated, says Marian Braccia at Temple University Beasley School of Law.

  • Energy Order Brings Risks For Lenders And Borrowers Alike

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    A recent executive order directing the attorney general to submit a report next month with recommendations for halting enforcement of state laws the administration says are hampering energy resources presents risks for lenders and borrowers using state-generated carbon credits, but proactive steps now can help insulate against adverse consequences, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What's At Stake As Trump Admin Targets Carbon Markets

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    Trading in greenhouse gas emissions and reductions has long been touted as a way to leverage market forces to tackle climate change cost-effectively, and that theory may be put to the test amid momentous progress and fresh challenges, particularly as the Trump administration takes aim at climate initiatives, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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