Environmental Law

Patton Boggs and Squire Sanders reportedly could vote on a merger proposal this week

Partners at Patton Boggs and Squire Sanders could vote on a proposed merger as early as this week. Reuters and Wall Street Journal say unnamed sources familiar with the matter told them that the combined entity would result in an approximately-1,700 lawyer firm that would be known as Squire Patton…

May 19, 2014 6:56 PM CDT

Patton Boggs withdraws from hard-fought Chevron environmental case, will pay company $15M

In the latest development in a massive Ecuador environmental case that has put lawyers who won a $9.5 billion verdict for the plaintiffs under unusual pressure, Patton Boggs has agreed to withdraw from the case and pay $15 million to Chevron Corp. Although Patton Boggs was not lead counsel in…

May 7, 2014 4:35 PM CDT

BP cries foul, says crafty lawyers and claimants collected $500M in comp unrelated to oil spill

In a written settlement agreement concerning the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with a 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, BP agreed to a compensation formula to reimburse businesses. But now BP is unhappy about language that is being interpreted not only by plaintiffs lawyers…

May 5, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Airlines and World Trade Center leaseholder don’t have to pay cleanup costs for 9/11 attacks

An appellate court has upheld a decision shielding American Airlines, United Airlines and the World Trade Center leaseholder from paying environmental cleanup costs relating to the 9/11 attacks in New York City. According to Reuters, a unanimous three-judge panel for the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held…

May 2, 2014 9:36 PM CDT

A ‘cringeworthy blunder’ by Scalia? New corrected opinion is issued after profs notice mistake

An error in a dissent by Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday did not go unnoticed—or uncorrected. The error was in Scalia’s dissent to a U.S. Supreme Court decision siding with the Environmental Protection Agency in its defense of the cross-state air pollution rule, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog,…

Apr 30, 2014 6:42 PM CDT

SCOTUS backs EPA rule tackling problem of cross-state pollution

The U.S. Supreme Court has backed the Environmental Protection Agency in its interpretation of a “Good Neighbor” provision in the Clean Air Act. In a 6-2 opinion (PDF), the court said the EPA’s cross-state air pollution rule is a reasonable interpretation of the provision, which is designed to tackle the…

Apr 29, 2014 4:07 PM CDT

Does Sarbanes-Oxley apply to destruction of fish evidence? SCOTUS to decide

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley law barring destruction of objects in a criminal probe applies to a fisherman accused of tossing overboard fish deemed too small by a conservation official. Fishing captain John Yates is appealing his conviction under the law,…

Apr 29, 2014 11:46 AM CDT

Anti-fracking lawyer wins international prize and $175,000

A former commercial real estate lawyer-turned environmental activist who came up with a novel legal theory to slow and stymie the advancement of fracking in New York has won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, which includes a grant of $175,000. Helen Slottje won the North America category for the international…

Apr 28, 2014 10:58 PM CDT

Jury awards nearly $3M to family over fracking pollution

In what is believed to be the first jury verdict finding damages from fracking, a Texas family has been awarded $2.95 million from a natural gas company that drilled 20 wells within two miles of their 40-acre ranch, the Los Angeles Times reports. Tests indicated the air around their home…

Apr 24, 2014 3:05 PM CDT

Osprey so far prevails in battle to build nest in front of traffic cam

Transportation officials in Maryland are racing against the clock and Mother Nature as they struggle to remove an osprey nest that has repeatedly been constructed on an elevated platform directly in front of a traffic camera. The bird is a federally protected species, but state officials were told by the…

Apr 23, 2014 4:30 PM CDT

Chevron can sue Patton Boggs over law firm effort to collect $9.5B verdict, federal judge rules

In the latest salvo in a hard-fought international environmental case, a federal judge in New York has OK’d a request by Chevron Corp. to sue a law firm representing the oil company’s opponent in its efforts to collect a $9.5 billion judgment awarded by a court in Ecuador. Although Patton…

Mar 31, 2014 9:24 PM CDT

Fracking company owner pleads guilty to dumping waste in Ohio river

The former owner of a Youngstown, Ohio, oil-and-gas drilling business who ordered an employee to pump tens of thousands of gallons of fracking waste into a river pleaded guilty today in federal court in Cleveland, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Benedict Lupo faces up to three years in prison, and…

Mar 24, 2014 8:13 PM CDT

Trial judge reopens gate for Michigan exotic swine, which some say is delicious

Michiganders may once again be able to own wild boars after a trial judge’s ruling Monday that found a law banning “exotic swine breeds” to be unconstitutional. The animals in question include Eurasian or Russian wild boars and razorback hogs, the Associated Press reports. In 2010, the Department of National…

Mar 24, 2014 5:55 PM CDT

Federal judge rules for Chevron in civil-racketeer case, bans collection of $9B enviro award in US

In the latest blow to the plaintiffs and their lawyers in hard-fought litigation against Chevron Corp. over environmental damage in Ecuador, a federal district court judge in New York has issued a blistering ruling in an unusual civil racketeering case. It blocks their ability to collect, here in the U.S.,…

Mar 4, 2014 9:41 PM CST

7 lawyers exit Downey Brand to form new firm focusing on energy and land-use

Seven lawyers have exited one of the largest law firms in Sacramento, Calif., to form a new boutique. Known as Mitchell Chadwick, the fledgling firm has former Downey Brand partners Patrick Mitchell and G. Braiden Chadwick at the helm. They focus their practice on land use and oil, gas and…

Feb 4, 2014 4:30 PM CST