Civil Law

Michigan AG Solicits Attorney Help for Climate Change Litigation

In recent months, much of the discussion of ESG issues has focused on the impact of the ESG backlash.  However, the predominance of the backlash movement in the current ESG discussion does not mean that interest in addressing ESG-related concerns has disappeared; in certain circles at least, ESG concerns remain on the agenda. The most interesting recent development along these lines is the May 9, 2024, issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, … Read the rest

Civil Law

Smith v Fonterra: A Climate Change Litigation Development

The Supreme Court of New Zealand recently overturned strike-out decisions to allow climate change claims (involving a new climate tort) to proceed to trial.

Background

In 2022, Michael Smith, a Māori tribal elder and the climate change spokesman for the Iwi Chairs Forum, a national forum of tribal leaders, brought proceedings against seven corporate defendants, alleging that they were collectively responsible for one-third of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020-2021.

Mr Smith sought a declaration that the seven defendants … Read the rest

Civil Law

The Value and Significance of the Rare Earth Antitrust Litigation

–At the Juncture of the Supreme Court Judgment

At the onset of 2024, AnJie Broad’s antitrust team secured a pivotal second instance judgment from the Supreme People’s Court of China (“the Supreme Court”) in the rare earth antitrust litigation. The ruling completely overturned the first instance judgement rendered by the first instance court Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court (“the Ningbo Court”), holding that the conducts of AnJie Broad’s client Hitachi Metals did not constitute abuse of market … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices to review novel bankruptcy maneuver in public harms litigation

Justices to review novel bankruptcy maneuver in public harms litigation

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Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy deal, which will reach the Supreme Court for oral argument on Monday, is just one of many examples of recent unorthodox civil procedure maneuvers in public harms litigation. From the Catholic Diocese and Boy Scouts in their respective abuse cases to Johnson & Johnson’s talc litigation, 3M’s earplug case, and Revlon’s hair straightener case, corporations are turning to bankruptcy court over the traditional civil litigation process. Bankruptcy and its special powers are being used to compensate … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices debate propriety of litigation in trial courts while defendants are on appeal seeking arbitration

Justices debate propriety of litigation in trial courts while defendants are on appeal seeking arbitration

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If anything is clear after Tuesday’s argument in Coinbase v. Bielski, it is that the justices are not going to agree on the answer. The case asks what a trial court should do if it denies a defendant’s motion for arbitration. The Federal Arbitration Act gives the defendant the right to an immediate (“interlocutory”) appeal, but it says nothing about a stay of litigation in the district court. So in these cases (proposed class actions against Coinbase, a … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Litigation continues over public charge immigration rule

Litigation continues over public charge immigration rule

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The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.

Last term, the court dismissed as improvidently granted, or “DIG”ed, a case brought by Republican-controlled states challenging the government’s repeal of a Trump-era immigration policy known as the “public charge” rule. In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that the court’s DIG did not reflect “the appropriate resolution … Read the rest

Civil Law

Prosecutorial Civil Public Interest Litigation of Antitrust Case Under the New China’s Anti-Monopoly Law

Preface

The revised Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China (“New AML”) entered into force on August 1, 2022. The New AML introduces in the second paragraph of Article 60 that “where the monopolistic conduct of an undertaking damages social and public interest, the people’s procuratorate at or above the level of city with subordinate districts may file a public interest civil lawsuit with the people’s courts”, thereby clarifying for the first time the application of civil … Read the rest