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Environmental
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August 20, 2025
Ark. Woman Gets Probation After Looting Native Burial Site
An Arkansas woman was sentenced to four years of probation after the U.S. Department of Justice said she excavated a Native American archeological site in the Ozark Mountains and took human remains and Indigenous artifacts.
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August 20, 2025
2nd Circ. Says Section 230 Can't Block EPA Defeat Device Suit
The Second Circuit on Wednesday said makers of software that allegedly enables vehicles to bypass pollution controls can't use a Communications Decency Act provision intended to protect companies from third-party use of their products to dodge a federal lawsuit.
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August 20, 2025
Chemours Says Injunction Appeal Warrants Stay Of CWA Suit
Chemours urged a federal judge to pause a Clean Water Act suit while it appeals a preliminary injunction ordering it to stop its Washington Works plant from discharging excessive amounts of a "forever chemical" into the Ohio River.
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August 20, 2025
5th Circ. Won't Stick BP, Chevron With $11M Well Cleanup Bill
A Fifth Circuit panel has affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a surety company's lawsuit claiming BP and Chevron need to pony up $11 million to pay for offshore decommissioning costs, saying the insurer wasn't entitled to be reimbursed.
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August 19, 2025
Sotera Urges 6th Circ. To Toss Investors' Toxic Gas Suit
Sotera Health Co. urged the Sixth Circuit to affirm the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing it of concealing the carcinogenic nature of a gas used at its sterilization plants, saying "defending yourself in litigation is not securities fraud."
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August 19, 2025
Nonprofits, Union Fight Withholding Of AmeriCorps Funds
A group of nonprofits and a union added claims to their suit in Maryland federal court aiming to stop the Trump administration from dismantling AmeriCorps, accusing the Office of Management and Budget of unlawfully withholding millions of dollars appropriated by Congress for grant programs.
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August 19, 2025
Trump Energy Orders Suit Must Be Sustained, Youths Say
Youths alleging President Donald Trump's energy policy directives harm their future by exacerbating climate change have urged a federal judge to keep their lawsuit alive, saying it "defies reason, science" for the government to claim the actions don't move the climate needle.
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August 19, 2025
2nd Circ.: Judge Erred In Remanding Vermont-3M PFAS Row
The Second Circuit on Tuesday agreed with 3M Co. that a federal judge wrongly sent Vermont's lawsuit against the company over "forever chemicals" contamination back to state court, finding 3M moved the case to federal court in time.
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August 19, 2025
Ute Tribe Says 1880 Act Proves Land Ownership Claim
The Ute Indian Tribe asked the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a lower court decision refusing to hand over ownership of federally managed land, saying a law dating back to 1880 required the U.S. executive branch to "set apart" lands for a new reservation.
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August 19, 2025
Chinese Co. Looks To Enforce $217M Salmon Farming Award
Chinese agribusiness Joyvio Group Co. Ltd. is asking a Florida federal court to enforce a $217 million arbitral award it won following its nearly $1 billion purchase of a Chilean salmon farming business, after it emerged that the previous owners had deliberately inflated production capacity to drive up the price.
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August 19, 2025
Sunnova's $118M Sale Can Proceed Despite Bank's Protest
A Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday declined to undo a $118 million sale of almost all the assets of solar panel business Sunnova Energy International Inc., rejecting a St. Louis-area bank's argument that the debtor failed to disclose that nondebtor assets would be part of the transaction.
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August 19, 2025
Feds Say They'll Rescind Biden-Era Species Protections
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said it will rescind a Biden-era Endangered Species Act rule that automatically places the strongest protections on all plants and animals covered by law.
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August 19, 2025
DOJ Environmental Atty Joins McGuireWoods In DC
A former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer who helped the Biden administration fight for the removal of a 1,000-foot buoy barrier in the Rio Grande and defended EPA guidance on forever chemicals has joined McGuireWoods' office in Washington, D.C.
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August 19, 2025
9th Circuit Pauses Oak Flat Land Transfer Pending Appeals
A Ninth Circuit panel has hit pause on the federal government's scheduled transfer of a centuries-old Indigenous worship site within Arizona's Tonto National Forest to a copper mining company while challenges to a multibillion-dollar proposed project play out in the appellate court.
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August 19, 2025
Black Hills, NorthWestern Merge In $15.4B All-Stock Deal
Utility company Black Hills Corp., advised by Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, on Tuesday announced plans to merge with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP-advised energy and infrastructure company NorthWestern Energy Group Inc. in an all-stock deal with a combined enterprise value of $15.4 billion.
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August 18, 2025
4th Circ. Revives Ethylene Oxide Suit Against Union Carbide
A split Fourth Circuit on Monday revived a West Virginia woman's lawsuit alleging that a Union Carbide Corp.- and Covestro LLC-owned plant exposed nearby residents to ethylene oxide, finding that a lower court erred in siding with the companies.
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August 18, 2025
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Executives and board members of Cencora Corp. tentatively settled a stockholder derivative suit for $111.25 million, VectoIQ board members reached a $6.3 million deal on stockholder claims over electric carmaker Nikola's prospects, and class attorneys who secured a $50 million derivative suit settlement saw their proposed 25% attorney fee cut by almost half. Here's the latest from the Delaware Chancery Court.
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August 18, 2025
Judge Won't Pause Pipeline Suit For Top Court Review
A Michigan judge on Monday said the state attorney general's legal fight over an Enbridge Energy LP pipeline in the Great Lakes can continue, even while the U.S. Supreme Court mulls whether the case belongs in state or federal court.
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August 18, 2025
Tribe, Groups Appeal Oak Flat Land Exchange To 9th Circ.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe and environmental groups have filed a Ninth Circuit appeal looking to overturn an Arizona federal court judge's decision that denied their bid to block the transfer of 2,500 acres to a copper mining company that they say will crater an ancient Indigenous worship site.
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August 18, 2025
GrafTech Investors' Plant Contamination Suit Gets Tossed
An Ohio federal judge threw out a shareholder lawsuit against GrafTech International Ltd. on Monday, ruling that allegations the company hid environmental contamination problems at a Mexican plant amounted to "fraud by hindsight."
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August 18, 2025
$28M ND Pipeline Protest Case Paused Amid Settlement Talks
A federal district court and the Eighth Circuit have paused a $28 million dispute between North Dakota and the United States over failure to control Dakota Access Pipeline protesters after the parties said they were negotiating to settle the case.
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August 18, 2025
Judge Rejects Energy Co.'s Bid To Toss $200M Hemp Suit
AES Clean Energy Development LLC's argument that it was not the party responsible for breaking irrigation lines leading to an alleged $200 million in damages to two hemp growers is a problem to still resolve in a lawsuit against the company, a Colorado federal judge found in denying a motion to dismiss on Monday.
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August 18, 2025
Vt. Says It Has The Authority To Enact Climate Superfund Law
Vermont has urged a federal judge to dismiss lawsuits challenging its recently enacted climate change Superfund law, saying it's a valid exercise of the state's authority to raise revenue and protect its citizens against environmental harms.
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August 18, 2025
AmeriCorps Restores $400M In Slashed Grants, Judge Told
AmeriCorps told a Maryland federal judge Monday that the agency restored around $400 million in funding to nonprofits canceled under the Trump administration in April, saying the government doesn't plan to ax grants before they end.
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August 18, 2025
Texas Specialty Recycling Facility Files For Ch. 11
A Texas company that recycles chemicals used in petroleum refining has filed for Chapter 11 in Texas, blaming equipment failures and unstable prices for the metals it recovers and seeking a sale by October to deal more than $403 million in debt.
Expert Analysis
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Enviro Justice Efforts After Trump's Disparate Impact Order
The Trump administration's recent executive order directing the U.S. Department of Justice to unwind disparate impact regulations may end some Biden-era environmental justice initiatives — but it will not end all efforts, whether by state or federal regulators or private litigants, to address issues in environmentally overburdened communities, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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The Risks Of Trump's Plan To Fast-Track Deregulation
A recent memorandum issued by President Donald Trump directing the repeal of so-called unlawful regulations, and instructing that agencies invoke the good cause exception under the Administrative Procedure Act, signals a potentially far-reaching deregulatory strategy under the guise of legal compliance, say attorneys at GableGotwals.
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Deregulation Memo Presents Risks, Opportunities For Cos.
A recent Trump administration memo providing direction to agencies tasked with rescinding regulations under an earlier executive order — without undergoing the typical notice-and-review process — will likely create much uncertainty for businesses, though they may be able to engage with agencies to shape the regulatory agenda, say attorneys at Blank Rome.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Discovery
The discovery process and the rules that govern it are often absent from law school curricula, but developing a solid grasp of the particulars can give any new attorney a leg up in their practice, says Jordan Davies at Knowles Gallant.
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What New Study Means For Recycling Compliance In Calif.
Companies must review the California recycling agency's new study to understand its criteria for assessing claims of product and packaging recyclability under a law that takes effect next year, and then decide whether the risks of making such claims in the state outweigh the benefits, say attorneys at Keller & Heckman.
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Opinion
Proposals Against Phillips 66 Threaten Corporate Law
Activist investor Elliott Investment Management's latest attempted tactic — initiating a high-stakes proxy contest against Phillips 66 — goes too far and would cause the company to both violate Delaware law and avoid the legal exception to the shareholder proposal process, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.
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Balancing Deep-Sea Mining Executive Order, Int'l Agreements
President Donald Trump's recent executive order directing exploration and exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources appears to conflict with the evolving international framework regulating such activities, so companies and investors should proceed with care and keep possible future legal challenges in mind, say attorneys at Dentons.
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Mitigating Import Risks Around Southeast Asian Solar Cells
The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent final determinations in its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into solar cells produced in certain Southeast Asian countries make it important for U.S. purchasers to consider risk mitigation strategies, including modifying supply chains and contractually assigning import responsibilities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Arbitral Ruling In EU Fisheries Clash Clarifies Post-Brexit Pact
The Permanent Court of Arbitration's recent ruling marks a pivotal moment in the evolving jurisprudence surrounding the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, concluded between the U.K. and the EU after Brexit, and sets an important precedent for interpretation and enforcement of trade and environment clauses in cross-border disputes, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.
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Series
Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.
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Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook
The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.
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4 Ways To Leverage A Jury's Underdog Perceptions
Counsel should consider how common factors that speak to their client's size, power, past challenges and alignment with jurors can be presented to try and paint their client as a sympathetic underdog, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.
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Why Hiring Former Jurors As Consultants Can Be Risky
The defense team's decision to hire former juror Victoria George in the high-profile retrial of Karen Read shines a spotlight on this controversial strategy, which raises important legal, ethical and tactical questions despite not being explicitly prohibited, says Nikoleta Despodova at ND Litigation.
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What To Watch For As High Court Mulls NRC's Powers
If successful, Texas’ challenges to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority — recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and currently pending before a Texas federal court — may have serious adverse consequences for aspiring NRC licensees, including potential nuclear power plant operators, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw
While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.