A hero to neither the left nor the right, he joined in decisions that partisans on both sides alternately loved and loathed. His writing could be overwrought and unclear. He was the one justice I probably wouldn't recognize if I saw him walking down the street. But oh, I think I will miss him very much indeed. With Kennedy on the bench, liberals at least felt they had a shot at coming out on top (even if this term, he sided with his conservative brethren in every 5-4 decision). Jenna GreeneAny conceivable replacement—don't get me wrong, the people on Trump's Supreme Court list are certainly respected judges—seems unlikely to break ranks with the conservative wing on issues like abortion, gay rights, the death penalty and affirmative action. My colleagues who cover the Supreme Court, Tony Mauro and Marcia Coyle, have led ALM's coverage in producing a terrific package of stories looking at Kennedy's career, his legacy and his possible successors. “Filling Kennedy's seat likely will mobilize an enormous political battle not experienced since the Supreme Court nomination and defeat of Judge Robert Bork in 1987, a defeat that eventually led to Kennedy's nomination,” they wrote . As for Kennedy's jurisprudence, much of it was animated by “his strong belief in liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause and his concern for the dignity of the individual,” they continued. Kennedy once said that “the easiest cases were the technical ones, those that required him to apply the tools he learned in law school: how to read a statute, how to apply the rules of evidence,” they noted. “The most difficult ones, he added, involve 'defining the components of human liberty.'” For more, see: Nomination Adversaries Gear Up Quickly After Kennedy's Retirement News John Roberts, the New 'Swing' Vote? Not Likely. Try, Perhaps, 'Median.' Obergefell, Fisher & More: Anthony Kennedy's Top 10 Opinions 'The Constitution Doesn't Belong to a Bunch of Judges and Lawyers': Quotable Kennedy

Shout-Out: McGuireWoods Wins $28M Superfund Fight

A team from McGuireWoods won a $28 million award on behalf of copper mining giant Asarco in a fight over the cost of cleaning up a Superfund site in Montana. Since 1888, Asarco and its predecessors have been smelting lead at a facility in East Helena, Montana—a process that according to U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen caused “significant groundwater contamination.” Asarco already shelled out $114 million to the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Montana to clean arsenic from groundwater in the area. But the company also felt it should not be responsible for the entire cleanup cost. From 1927 to 1972, Anaconda Copper Mining Company—now part of Atlantic Richfield—operated a zinc fuming plant on land leased from Asarco adjacent to the smelting complex, where it extracted zinc by heating slag to 2,000 degrees in its coal-fired blast furnaces. Asarco sued Atlantic Richfield in 2012, arguing that its zinc operation contributed to the groundwater contamination. Therefore, it should pay for part of the cleanup. Atlantic Richfield, represented by Davis Graham & Stubbs and Boone Karlberg, agreed its operations might have caused pollution, but denied contributing any arsenic to the groundwater. The court in 2014 dismissed Asarco's suit, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded the case last year. Christensen held a bench trial from May 29 to June 7, and on Tuesday, the judge sided with Asarco. “Asarco produced substantial and convincing evidence establishing that these Anaconda releases resulted in the migration of arsenic into the groundwater,” Christensen ruled . McGuireWoods partner Gregory Evans, who led the trial team, said that the court's judgment “provides a very good example for companies eager to do what is right for the environment and for communities. It demonstrates that our primary federal environmental law—CERCLA—works as designed, encouraging companies to settle environmental liabilities, quickly putting needed resources into environmental cleanup, allowing settling parties to pursue contribution later.”

Pro Bono Heroes, Take a Bow

The American Lawyer on Wednesday released its annual Pro Bono Scorecard. Once again, Jenner & Block topped the list, followed by Covington & Burling; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler and Hughes Hubbard & Reed. At Jenner, 100 percent of lawyers in the U.S. worked more than 20 pro bono hours in 2017, for an eye-popping average of 168 hours per lawyer. Covington wasn't far behind, with an average of 156 hours per lawyer (although only 76 percent of lawyers logged more than 20 hours). Dechert came in first for international pro bono, for work performed by non-U.S. lawyers, followed by Paul Hastings and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. As for sheer number of pro bono hours, Latham & Watkins billed the most, at 190,500 hours among 1,730 lawyers. Read the full report here .

Lateral Watch

Proskauer snagged litigation partner Jonathan Weiss from Kirkland & Ellis in Los Angeles. A commercial litigator with a wide-ranging practice, Weiss has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust, class action, financial services and securities suits. He previously won a $110 million jury verdict in Arizona in a real estate development dispute. "We are pleased to welcome Jonathan to Proskauer. His broad commercial litigation practice and proven track record in the courtroom strategically enhances our offerings to clients," said Timothy Mungovan, chair of Proskauer's litigation department, in a news release.

What I'm Reading

Apple and Samsung Call a Truce in Long-Running Smartphone War Besides the dollars at stake, the case was seen as a battle over a reputation for innovation, and a bellwether for the value of design patents in the high-tech world. Camper Struck By Falling Tree Settles for Record $47.5M The payout—the largest personal injury settlement for a single plaintiff in California—comes after a 12-year-old boy lost his leg when the tree fell on him while he slept. Case Over Fatal Phila. Food Truck Explosion Resolved in $160M Pretrial Accord Another record—the largest global pretrial personal injury settlement in Pennsylvania history—stems from a fatal 2014 explosion that killed two women and left 11 others injured. Jones Day Says Bias Suit Breached Partnership Pact; Ogletree Plaintiffs Reload Again “The filing of the complaint violates the partnership agreement signed by the former partner in multiple respects. … Given the high likelihood of harm, it is essential for the complaint to be sealed as soon as possible.” Norton Rose Fulbright Faces $1.2M Asset Seizure in Venezuelan Dispute The firm, which lists 27 attorneys in Caracas on its website, is one of a small number of international players remaining in the country, amid political turbulence and economic calamity. US Appeals Court Won't Force Former GC to Testify at Grand Jury The lawyer, and other employees of the company, provided prosecutors information that otherwise was protected by attorney-client and work-product privileges.