Environmental Law

Four Firms Adding Office Space, Lawyers in Chicago

Breaking away from reports of attorney layoffs, this week we spoke to four law firms taking advantage of the recent spate of law firm mergers and downsizing to hire pools of lateral attorneys—hopefully with big books of clients—and expand niche practices in Chicago. “There’s two seasons in Chicago: winter and…

Jan 29, 2009 10:17 PM CST

Law Prof, Nominated for Regulatory Czar, Advocated ‘Senior Death Discount’

Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, nominated to become regulatory czar in the Obama administration, supports a cost-benefit analysis that has ruffled liberal feathers when advocated by Republicans. Sunstein is “dedicated to calculating the dollar value of every regulation,” the Los Angeles Times reports. He has advocated a “senior death discount”…

Jan 27, 2009 1:51 PM CST

Racing Unknown, a 32-Year-Old Lawyer, Speeds Into Marathon Spotlight

A few years ago, while working for a Washington, D.C., law firm, attorney Kelly Jaske began running recreationally with some colleagues. They were much faster than she was, but her competitive drive helped the Harvard Law School graduate start catching up, reports the Oregonian. In 2007, she moved to Portland,…

Jan 22, 2009 5:59 PM CST

Pro Se Teen Argues for Injunction in Florida Environmental Case

Mathew Poling not only hasn’t graduated from law school, he hasn’t even graduated from college. But the 18-year-old freshman at the University of Florida was sitting alone at the plaintiff’s counsel table in Pinellas County Circuit Court in Clearwater yesterday as defense counsel prepared to argue against him that Circuit…

Jan 8, 2009 8:52 PM CST

FDIC to Pay Texas Financier $10M to Settle Legal Defense Claim

Ending a legal battle that began after the 1988 collapse of a Texas savings and loan indirectly controlled by financier Charles Hurwitz, the FDIC has agreed to pay him $10 million. The award is intended to cover his defense costs in earlier litigation involving both the thrift’s failure and, a…

Dec 17, 2008 9:40 PM CST

DOJ Legal Opinion Says Pentagon Must Obey EPA Cleanup Orders

A Justice Department legal opinion tells the Pentagon that it must clean up three sites as ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the opinion by deputy assistant attorney general Steven Bradbury. The Dec. 1 opinion said the Defense Department did not have legal…

Dec 5, 2008 12:11 PM CST

Supreme Court Mulls Meaning of ‘Best’ in Environmental Case

U.S. Supreme Court justices debated the meaning of “best” with quirky examples yesterday as they considered the requirements of a phrase in the Clean Water Act. The statute requires power plant cooling systems to use the “best technology available” to minimize environmental harm, the New York Times reports. The Environmental…

Dec 3, 2008 12:35 PM CST

Supreme Court Rules for Navy in Suit Claiming Sonar Harmed Whales

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against environmental groups seeking to limit the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises to protect whales near the California coast. The 5-4 decision said the Navy needs to conduct realistic training, and federal courts had abused their discretion by ordering limits on sonar…

Nov 12, 2008 3:25 PM CST

Obama Mulls 200 Changes He Could Make Using Executive Authority

Barack Obama’s lawyer-laden transition team has prepared a list of 200 possible regulatory and policy changes he could quickly adopt using his executive authority. They include hot-button issues such as funding for stem cell research and abortion counseling. Obama has already indicated he plans to reverse a Bush administration limit…

Nov 10, 2008 12:34 PM CST

2nd Circuit OKs Suit Over Alleged Union Carbide Water Pollution in Bhopal, India

Nearly 25 years after a catastrophic accident in Bhopal, India, killed thousands of people, a federal appeals court in the U.S. has reinstated a 2004 lawsuit concerning those allegedly exposed to toxic drinking water and contaminated soil after the 1984 gas leak at a Union Carbide Corp. pesticide plant there.…

Nov 4, 2008 8:00 PM CST

Hit and Miss

Your September cover story, “Midcareer Malaise,” hit me right between the eyes. I have been an attorney for almost 20 years and have found myself struggling to stay interested in my career. Last spring, in an effort to fight this condition, I studied for and took the Louisiana bar exam. I am glad I did so because I found myself returning to things I was once very interested in.

Nov 2, 2008 3:25 AM CST

Whales Plaintiffs May Face Long Odds in High Court, Prof Says

A Georgetown law professor says environmental plaintiffs have not fared well in the U.S. Supreme Court when citing the National Environmental Policy Act, and plaintiffs who claim Navy sonar harms whales may be no different. The professor, Lisa Heinzerling, told the New York Times that plaintiffs have lost all 15…

Oct 9, 2008 4:01 PM CDT

Supreme Court Hears Whales Case Today

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case that pits the preservation of whales against the president’s powers in wartime. The administration contends the president has the power to override environmental laws cited by a federal appeals court in a ruling requiring the Navy to limit its…

Oct 8, 2008 3:46 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Doomsday Lawsuit for Lack of Jurisdiction

A federal judge in Honolulu has tossed a lawsuit that had contended a Swiss particle accelerator could produce a black hole and swallow the Earth. U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ruled the court had no jurisdiction in the case, the New York Times reports. The first test of the device…

Oct 2, 2008 3:53 PM CDT

Supreme Court to Decide Superfund Liability for Landlord, Chemical Maker

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a chemical maker and a landlord are responsible for cleanup costs of a site contaminated by a company that leased the land. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled Shell Oil Co. was liable for making and…

Oct 1, 2008 3:46 PM CDT