As the EU intensifies its focus on ESG, the new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) is poised to enforce stricter environmental accountability across corporate operations. This directive, along with recent EU court rulings, underscores the critical need for companies to strengthen their environmental due diligence to avoid significant legal and financial penalties. For a
Keith Bradly, Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP Partner and Co-Chair of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice, authored an article for Bloomberg Law discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in SEC v. Jarkesy. The Court found that when the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks civil penalties for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment affords a
On June 28, 2024, in a 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine, a decades-old precedent that largely pressed federal courts to defer to federal agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes under their jurisdiction. The opportunities, the challenges, and the uncertainty will grow for a long time before the dust settles
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday 5 September, the Court of Appeal reinstated the position as to when a party can assert Legal Professional Privilege, specifically Litigation Privilege, related to an investigation into circumstances that may lead a regulator to commence criminal proceedings.
The case centred on documents produced by solicitors and forensic accountants who
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) published its controversial final “walkaround” rule on April 1, 2024. The final rule clarifies the rights of employees to authorize a representative – employee or non-employee – to accompany an OSHA compliance officer (CSHO) during an inspection of their workplace. This can include a
On February 28, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published a news release regarding the voluntary market phase-out of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in grease-proofing substances used on food packaging. The FDA stated that the completion of this phase-out “eliminates the primary source of dietary exposure to PFAS from authorized food contact uses.”
Fishermen in the small town of Cape May, New Jersey, are at the epicenter of a legal challenge that could reshape the landscape of agency authority. The fishermen are challenging the entrenched “Chevron” doctrine, which for years has afforded deference to government agencies with respect to reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes. Once again, the US
The most anticipated developments for 2024 in UK chemicals regulation are the long-awaited publication of the UK’s Chemicals Strategy, and a consultation on the UK government’s alternative transitional registration model (ATRm). In November 2023, a policy paper was issued outlining the government’s high-level plans for ATRm, but the questions and details for stakeholders are still
On December 2, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the pre-publication version of its Final Rule for standards of performance in the Oil and Natural Gas sector. The original proposed rule, published on November 15, 2021, sought to strengthen methane standards for new sources (New Source Performance Standards or NSPS), establish nationwide
Our team at Squire Patton Boggs monitors environmental justice (EJ) developments and provides periodic updates regarding environmental justice topics. Recently, US EPA released draft revisions to its Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis (EJ Technical Guidance), and US EPA is currently seeking public comments through January 15, 2024.