Archives: Legal

2025 Year in Review of Environmental Blog Posts

As 2025 draws to a close, environmental law once again proved to be less about ideology and more about adaptation. The environmental issues that resonated most this year, from political, cultural to economic, reflected in our Top 10 most read blog posts, were those that sat squarely at the intersection of regulation, innovation, and market … Continue Reading

Reliance Letters: An Essential Part of Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments

By Stuart Kaplow on February 9, 2025 Posted in Environmental, Legal

Reliance letters are an indispensable tool in the due diligence process… Continue Reading

US Imposes Duties on Southeast Asia Solar Panel Makers Evading China Tariffs

By Stuart Kaplow on September 3, 2023 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, ESG, Federal, Legal, Solar Panel

To appreciate the scope of the issue, those countries account for nearly 80% of all U.S. solar panel supplies.… Continue Reading

Launch of the Nature Crime Alliance

By Stuart Kaplow on August 27, 2023 Posted in Legal, Sustainability

Justice for ecosystems, species, and people exploited by nature crime networks.… Continue Reading

Courts Asked to Compel Government Action on Climate Change

By Stuart Kaplow on June 18, 2023 Posted in Climate Change, Environmental, Legal, State

The judicial branch will supplant the executive and legislative branches, in driving greenhouse gas and the larger global warming policy… Continue Reading

PFOA Contamination is Found in 49 States

By Stuart Kaplow on November 17, 2019 Posted in Environmental, Legal

Two weeks ago, New York Attorney General Letitia James commenced a civil suit against the nation’s largest chemical manufacturers and several firefighting foam makers for what the complaint alleges is contamination of water supplies across the state with PFOAs, averring strict liability for public nuisance, strict products liability for defective products, strict products liability for … Continue Reading

A Day in the Life of a Green Building Attorney

By Stuart Kaplow on December 18, 2016 Posted in Green Building, Legal, Sustainability

This blog post is not as epic as A Day in the Life, the last song on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album that Rolling Stone magazine ranked as the greatest Beatles song ever. But rather, this responds to a question I was recently asked when speaking at a law school forum on … Continue Reading

The Defamation Case Against Greenpeace

By Stuart Kaplow on March 27, 2016 Posted in Environmental, Legal, Sustainability

If you have not been following the defamation case against Greenpeace, with a key ruling expected from a Canadian court in the coming days, now is the time to come up to speed. The case is Resolute Forest Products Inc., et al v. 2471256 Canada Inc. d/b/a GreenPeace Canada, et al, pending in the Ontario … Continue Reading

Wipe Out Zika Virus Carrying Mosquitoes with Pesticides

By Stuart Kaplow on March 20, 2016 Posted in Environmental, Green Building, LEED, Legal, Sustainability

“Mosquito borne diseases are among the world’s leading causes of illness and death today. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million clinical cases each year are attributable to mosquito borne illnesses. Despite great strides over the last 50 years, mosquito borne illnesses continue to pose significant risks to parts of the population … Continue Reading

Lawyers’ Opinion Matters in Green Building Transactions

By Stuart Kaplow on July 12, 2015 Posted in LEED, Legal

This law firm is increasingly called upon to give legal opinions that a green building is LEED certified, certifiable or otherwise 'really' a green building. ... We also receive requests to give opinions of counsel that a project is ICC 700 'certifiable' or ASHRAE 189.1 compliant or complies with Enterprise Green Communities criteria; commonly associated with qualifying for governmental incentives. Committing that a project will be LEED certifiable versus certified by GBCI increases certainty and lowers risk.… Continue Reading

Marijuana Smoking is Allowed in LEED Buildings

By Stuart Kaplow on April 30, 2014 Posted in LEED, Legal

You can smoke marijuana in a LEED certified building assuming it is otherwise legally permissible in the jurisdiction to do so, but ...… Continue Reading

Green Building Law Update

The Intersection of Real Estate, Science, and Law