Much has been written lately about companies’ unwillingness to invest or create new jobs in California. 2010 was the first census in which California did not add a member of Congress. Other states, including Texas, are seeing large influxes of new jobs and people. Some have suggested that California law (as passed by the legislature and as made by the courts) contributes to a negative business climate that discourages investment and job creation. This panel will look at California laws involving employment issues, tort liability, and environmental regulation and compare California’s approach to those of other states, including Texas to determine whether the law has become an impediment to job creation in California. This panel was featured at the Sixth Annual Western Conference on January 28, 2012. Featuring Mr. William J. Emanuel of Littler Mendelson PC; Mr. Jed Kolko of Trulia; Mr. H. Scott Leviant of Spiro Moss LLP; Mr. David A. Schwarz of Irell & Manella LLP; Ms. Kate Comerford Todd of the National Chamber Litigation Center; and Judge Carlos T. Bea of the  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as the moderator. Introduction by Mr. Leonard A. Leo, Executive Vice President of The Federalist Society.

In May 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule setting standards for motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. By creating these standards, EPA is implicitly regulating fuel economy. Because the rule also obligates EPA to regulate greenhouse gases from stationary sources, the agency is now determining national policy on climate change. EPA has asserted that it is simply implementing the Clean Air Act. But the Clean Air Act was neither designed nor intended to regulate greenhouse gases, and it provides no authority to regulate fuel economy... [Read more!]

In many segments of the environmental community, the notion of touching the ESA is akin to skinning baby harp seals alive. So it is with some boldness that Jonathan Adler, a Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, has pulled together a collection of essays centered around proposals to reform the ESA. [Read more!]

The Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group hosted this panel on "Property Rights: The Forgotten Spark of the Arab Spring" on Saturday, November 12, 2011, during the 2011 National Lawyers Convention. The panel featured Mr. Hernando de Soto of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy; Prof. Steven J. Eagle of George Mason University School of Law; Prof. John D. Echeverria of Vermont Law School; Prof. Donald J. Kochan of Chapman University School of Law; and Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit as the moderator.