The Federal Claims Court held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' construction, expansions, operation, and failure to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) caused subsequent storm surge that was exacerbated by a "funnel effect" during Hurricane Katrina and subsequent hurricanes and s...

The D.C. Circuit held that an American corporation owned by Chinese nationals was deprived of its constitutionally protected property interests without due process of law when President Obama issued an order blocking on national security grounds the corporation's windfarm project located near a U.S....

A district court held that a doctor lacks standing to challenge a Pennsylvania law that prohibits doctors from disclosing the mixture of chemical fluids used during hydraulic fracturing when treating patients for chemical exposure. Doctors have a professional and ethical obligation to communicate cr...

The Ninth Circuit, following a reversal and remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, held that a USDA marketing order under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 requiring raisin producers to participate in a raisin reserve program does not violate the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against tak...

The D.C. Circuit held that the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) "conflict materials" rule violates the First Amendment. SEC issued the rule in 2012 pursuant to §1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires SEC to issue regulations requiring firms...

A district court upheld the constitutionality of a New York county's solid waste flow control ordinance that directs all solid waste generated within the county to designated publicly owned but privately operated processing facilities. Solid waste companies alleged that, by preventing non-designated...

The Federal Claims Court awarded a Florida developer $4 million after finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of the developer's §404 permit request to dredge and fill a five-acre plot of land effected a compensable taking. The Federal Circuit had previously ruled on appeal that the f...

The North Dakota Supreme Court held that the state owns the mineral interests under the shore zone of the Missouri River, which cuts through the oil-rich Bakken Shale region. Under the equal footing doctrine, the state's title to the beds of navigable waters extends from high watermark to high water...

The Federal Circuit, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' temporary deviations from the water release rates set forth in an operating plan for the Clearwater Dam that caused increased flooding in Arkansas' Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management A...

A district court dismissed residents' lawsuit against a city for allowing a metals finishing plant to use and store acids and other dangerous chemicals. The residents' only factual allegation against the city is that it zoned the property at issue as a commercial or industrial use area and allowed t...