Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
Discussion of administrative law usually doesn’t happen at the dinner table. But a series of recent US Supreme Court decisions may have changed this introducing talk of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the...more
Climate change litigation continues in the headlines, this time with an Oregon federal court evaluating claims by 21 children that the federal government violated their constitutional right to a habitable environment. In...more
In a 51-page published opinion filed January 5, 2024, and resolving consolidated appeals, the Third District Court of Appeal rejected baseline, piecemealing/segmentation, impact analysis, project description, alternatives...more
A coalition of environmental groups filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against the State of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, and Division of Water Rights (the Agencies), alleging...more
One might not expect that a climate-change case filed by a group of children could succeed. This week, a Montana state court decision in this summer’s hottest climate-focused case, Held v. State of Montana, finding in...more
California courts have long recognized the state’s duty to protect its tidelands, navigable waterways, and submerged lands (i.e., the land below the high tideline) under the common law public trust doctrine. However,...more
The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations filed a December 1st Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief; Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate (“Complaint”) against the City of Bakersfield, California, and...more
In Armstrong v. Sec’y Energy & Envtl. Affairs, SJC-13210 (Mass. July 12, 2022), the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) invalidated the April 2018 Boston Planning and Development Agency’s Municipal Harbor Plan for the Harbor Garage...more
In this April 2021 blog post we discussed the Superior Court’s decision in Armstrong vs. Theoharides. Since then the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) took the case on direct appellate review and earlier this week the SJC issued...more
In a recent decision in Armstrong v. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs (July 12, 2022), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) struck down a key part of the state’s Chapter 91 waterways regulations...more
The Iowa Supreme Court has done it again. By a narrowly divided vote, it has snuffed out on procedural grounds litigation challenging the agricultural nutrient pollution of the Raccoon River. Originally published on the...more
Climate change litigation has become a global phenomenon, as scientists, agencies, and the general public increasingly associate wildfires, droughts, flooding, hurricanes, heat waves and other events with changing climate. ...more
On June 23rd, California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) filed the lawsuit California Coastkeeper Alliance v. County of Sonoma (Case No. SCV-268718) in Sonoma County Superior Court. According to CCKA’s website, the suit was filed...more
The Public Trust Doctrine holds that when a municipality acquires land for an expressly public purpose, it cannot later sell or otherwise alienate the use of that land for private use without the State Legislature’s approval...more
In Chernaik v. Brown, the Oregon Supreme Court rejected claims by young climate activists that the public trust doctrine compelled government action to combat climate change. The lawsuit was part of a broader local and...more
On November 13, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (“That woman from Michigan!”) issued a notice to Enbridge Energy that by May 2021 it must cease transport of oil through twin pipelines that traverse the Straits of Mackinac....more
On October 22, 2020, the Oregon Supreme Court rejected claims by youth climate activists seeking to expand the state’s public trust doctrine to address climate change. The court ruled that the state did not have an...more
The Real Estate Report, produced by our Real Estate lawyers, covers important commercial real estate trends and developments....more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Standing: Holder failed to prove standing to enforce note either at inception or at time of judgment because it failed to prove it had possession of original note and accompanying...more
Sea Level Rise is a critical issue facing public agencies and property owners throughout the U.S. In California alone, this phenomenon could impact thousands of residences and businesses, dozens of wastewater treatment...more
Fifteen youth from across the country, through their parents and litigation guardians, have joined forces in a lawsuit against the federal government over climate change, filed Friday in Federal Court in Vancouver. The case,...more
Thanks to all of you who were able to attend Nossaman’s Coastal Law Conference last week. If you missed the event, I provided an update on sea-level rise, managed retreat, and potential eminent domain / regulatory takings...more
A recent ruling by the Appellate Division, Second Department, Matter of Coney Island Boardwalk Community Gardens v City of New York, concerned the fate of a parcel of land located at the Coney Island boardwalk. That parcel...more
Years in the making, the first global report on the Environmental Rule of Law (ERL) was issued by the United Nations Environment Program and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in January 2019. The report is a...more
"You’re asking us to do a lot of new stuff, aren’t you?" Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Juliana v. United States, June 4, 2019. It has been a busy month for climate change...more