Cleveland Law Library Weblog

The Cleveland Law Library's Open House is This Friday, 9/9/16-Special Noon Program on 'Green' Working and Living

The Cleveland Law Library is hosting its annual Open House this Friday from 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Staff will provide tours of our facility and provide information about our services, collections and databases. Everyone who stops by will have a chance to spin our prize wheel. We are also headlining this year's Open House with  program on "Practical Tips for Working and Living Greener." This program is free and open to everyone from 12:00-1:00 p.m. 

Law Firm Sustainability Network Strives to Help Firms Work Greener

About 50 law firms have created a nationwide Law Firm Sustainability Network to help lawyers and firms work greener. Although it was formally incorporated in November, law.com reports that the Network has been working hard since 2011 by "holding webinars, developing best practices and partnering with sister groups in other countries to share ideas, network and develop guidelines and industry standards." Big ticket items the Network focuses on include travel, office practices, and the use of paper and energy. Examples of its recommendations and practices include: "using recycled paper and making sure it gets recycled again; buying carbon offsets against their air travel; replacing travel with video-conferencing; replacing light fixtures and setting thermostats higher or lower, depending on the season." Read more.

Two Ohio Federal Courthouses in Cleveland and Youngstown Have Been Recognized for Energy Savings

Court News Ohio reports that 2 federal courthouses in Ohio were recently recognized in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s 2012 Energy Star National Building Competition. "The Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse in Cleveland and the Nathanial R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Youngstown were among seven federal courthouses that reduced their energy consumption by more than 20 percent and saved taxpayers more than $615,500." Although the Cleveland Courthouse was constructed in 1910, it recently saved a lot energy by "replacing light bulbs with low wattage fluorescent bulbs, reducing air handler run times, and adding occupancy sensors in courtrooms."

Cleveland Law Library "Green Certified" for 2010-2012

For the second time, our library, the Cleveland Law Library Association, has been "Green Certified" by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Our certification is effective for the next 2 years for the biennial period from 2010-2012. In addition to historical practices we employed that predated now-popular nationwide "green" initiatives, we have instituted many new policies over the last few years to reduce our energy consumption and use of paper products. We also recycle our e-wastes and constantly challenge ourselves by conducting informal "green" audits to see where we can continue to make our library a greener place to work and research.

More Law Firms Going "Green"

An article on Cleveland.com chronicles the recent efforts of law firms that are taking the ABA's challenge to go "green." Apparently,�lawyers each generate about 100,000 sheets of paper�per year, second only to the publishing industry in our production of print copy. Some of the easy efforts firms have taken to counter-act this�waste�include printing on both sides, printing on paper made from Koala food (eucalyptus trees), delivering client copies on CDs, and�posting key documents to firm intranets. Although many smaller firms are probably doing the same things, some of the leaders in the "green" movement in the legal field appear to be Porter Wright, Thompson Hine, Squire Sanders & Dempsey & Jones Day.

Garfield Hts. Shopping Center Sued for Alleged EPA Violations

At the request of the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Attorney General has sued the owners of the Garfield Hts. Shopping Center for alleged EPA violations. According to a joint press release from the OEPA and AG offices, the Shopping Center was built over the site of 2 former landfills with provisos and conditions imposed by the OEPA related to solid waste (including landfill gas) and water pollution. The complaint, which was filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court (Case No. CV-08-664197 on the civil docket), seeks injunctive relief and civil penalties, including daily fines of $10,000, and alleges the following violations:  "improper construction of the solid waste cap, improper installation of engineered components at constructed buildings, failure to control leachate that has caused the leachate to infiltrate through unauthorized, unlined collection ponds and through uncapped exposed waste, and failure to control the migration of landfill gas."

Fernald Uranium Plant Settlement Almost Completed

The Ohio EPA and federal government have reached a proposed $13.75 million dollar settlement to restore the natural resources at the former Fernald, Ohio uranium plant. According to the EPA's press release, this settlement would end 22 years of litigation over damages to the site and grondwater below from uranium leakage at the plant. The notice also indicated that the funds will be used "to protect and improve surface water, ground water and ecological resources as well as to reimburse some of Ohio’s costs in assessing the damages to the natural resources." In addition, the goal of surface restoration at the site "is to help return the property to scientific estimates of the pre-settlement habitats." Apparently, the federal DOE has already spent over $14.4 million dollars on soil and water clean-up, as well as another $4.4 million on general site clean-up. Click here to read the proposed decree and browse a history of the Fernald site,

Dann Has Been Busy Filing Environmental Cases

LegalNewsline.com reports that Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has been very busy in his first 6 months in office, filing almost 60 environmental cases. Click here for a  list of all of the suits. According to legalnewsline, many of these cases had been languishing for years, and Dann was running up against a 5-year deadline that would have capped the civil penalties the state could ultimately collect.

Legal Specialty in Global Warming

A Plain Dealer article examines the new legal specialty of global warming law.  The speciality was fueled by a recent Supreme Court decision which held that the EPA may regulate greenhouse gas emissions. See Massachusetts v. EPA (Apr. 2, 2007), Case No. 05-1120.   Cleveland law firm McMahon DeGulis specializes in this area, and advises clients on federal, state and local regulations regarding carbon pollution.  There are many other legal issues involved, such as how the risks associated with climate change can be insured.

Lawyers specializing in this new area can help answer legal questions concerning carbon "credits".  At the Chicago Climate Exchange, businesses can buy and sell greenhouse gas units.  Companies that are under their quota of carbon pollution may sell these credits, and companies that have exceeded their quota can buy them.  Countries who have adopted the Kyoto Protocol require companies that have exceeded their standards to buy carbon offsets.  The United States may adopt this "cap and trade" system.  There are many legal issues involved in carbon trading, such as what kind of property rights attach to a credit. 

See Global-Warming Threat Can Pose Legal Risks, and Firms See a Niche by Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer, May 16, 2007;  What's at Issue, The Plain Dealer, May 16, 2007. 

Summit County Holds Residency Ban Constitutional

Summit County judge Jane Bond upheld S.B. 82, which prohibits cities from requiring their employees to live within city limits.  The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas also held the statute did not violate home rule provisions of the Ohio Constitution:  See our prior post: Read the Cuyahoga Common Pleas Decision Regarding City Residency Requirements.  The City of Akron appealed the Summit County decision to the Ninth District.  See Akron Appeals Worker Residency Ruling, Akron Beacon Journal, Apr. 4, 2007.

The opinion is City of Akron v. State of Ohio (March 30, 2007), Summit County Common Pleas Case Nos. CV2006-05-2759, CV2006-05-2797.  The appeals court case number is CA-23660.  The documents filed in the common pleas case and the appeal can be viewed at the Summit County Clerk of Courts case search.