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Columbia Falls Aluminum Company, LLC v. Atlantic Richfield Company

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 21-36042 · judgment January 31, 2023


Certiorari denied · October 2, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 12% cert probability (95% interval 8%–17%)

Before the decision, about 2.9× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a Ninth Circuit decision below, and a circuit split argued in the petition, and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

Whether a district court’s equitable allocation of environmental response costs pursuant to Section 113(f)(1) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f)(1), is properly reviewed on appeal only for clear error, as the Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits have held, or for abuse of discretion, as the First, Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and D.C. Circuits have held.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Gregory George Garre
Latham & Watkins LLP

For respondent
Jonathan William Rauchway
Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 02 2023
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 30 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/26/2023.
  3. Aug 29 2023
    Reply of petitioner Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., LLC filed. (Distributed)
  4. Aug 11 2023
    Brief of respondent Atlantic Richfield Company in opposition filed.
  5. Jul 03 2023
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 14, 2023.
  6. Jun 29 2023
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 13, 2023 to August 14, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Jun 12 2023
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 13, 2023)