Reflections on a Year of Victories

In the first week of this year, from the fifth floor of our Santa Monica office, we witnessed the Pacific Palisades engulfed by a man-made fire that was propelled by once-in-a-century wind conditions, signs of the velocity of climate change related extreme weather. We are so thankful that members of the ClientEarth community who were impacted are safe and healthy today. It was a stark reminder though of how fragile our way of life is to the threats of climate change. Our work may be systemic change, but it is also tangible and personal. And if we don’t work more urgently, we will all be fighting for our homes soon enough.

The climate crisis hit home in LA and so did the national crisis. For months now LA communities have been reeling from the disruptive and often violent tactics by ICE against immigrants; families have been torn apart by raids at schools, stores, sporting events, and even places of worship. At ClientEarth we are lawyers, we are nonprofit professionals and also parents, neighbors, and citizens. We have volunteered across Los Angeles, showing up for community members in ways that make us proud.

It’s in our DNA as an organization to foster a culture of active, engaged citizenship. And how fortunate we are that when we set ourselves to work, we can show our supporters and donors something rare: a strategy designed to meet this moment. We can demonstrate the durability and salience of ClientEarth’s unique approach to social change in the public interest—an approach laser-focused on environmental corporate accountability. We choose  to commence legal actions in jurisdictions with immediate need of relief and pursue the most impactful, replicable legal pathways. These strategies succeeded despite vigorous backlash against the environmental movement and the growing hostility of federal courts.

Just one example of our community coalition building and legal casework arises from Colorado where we are working with ranchers whose lands are marred by methane leaking orphaned wells, abandoned by oil and gas companies. An issue that is not about left or right, just wrong.

In February 2024, ClientEarth USA filed McCormick et al. v. HRM Resources LLC et al., one of the first U.S. class action lawsuits targeting oil companies for fraudulently transferring their wells to get rid of asset retirement obligation (ARO) liabilities. The case alleges HRM sold low and non-producing wells overburdened with ARO liability to an undercapitalized company that became insolvent soon after it acquired the wells—a scheme designed to evade cleanup costs, leaving communities and ecosystems to bear the burden. It was a bold legal theory that withstood legal challenges and has now put the fossil fuel industry on notice, raised the interest of public officials and private plaintiff firms, and galvanized climate law organizations who have been looking for positive momentum in the face of an onslaught of government backlash.

In January 2025, a week after the start of the Palisades fire, the Court rejected the defendants’ motions to dismiss the lawsuit, proving the strength of plaintiffs’ arguments in McCormick and clearing the first major obstacle. This October the Court granted class certification, transforming this fight from a local grievance into collective action by approximately 100 landowners.  This ruling raises the stakes, sets legal precedent, and affirms the viability of similar cases nationwide.

Next year, we will be bringing cases in other jurisdictions across the country that advance additional theories of liability against some of the worst industry offenders.

Our lawyers, legal fellows, experts, and partners have worked tirelessly to uncover the hidden, fraudulent practices of fossil fuel companies and their shell partners. Through careful research, we surfaced factual evidence and legal claims strong enough to withstand court scrutiny and the adversarial power of highly paid corporate lawyers and consultants. Over the last two years, we have held to a simple truth: the future will be livable because it is lawful. Ethical behavior begins with responsible behavior. Without accountability, no system—political, financial, or natural—can endure.

As the year comes to a close, we want to share our gratitude for your investment in audacious legal innovation that has established important precedent. Your investment gave ranchers and other ordinary landowners in Colorado a path to justice and inspired many to believe in the power of corporate accountability.

In a time when the political divide only widens when we discuss the climate crisis, an unlikely partnership between a California based nonprofit and rural Coloradans is rebuilding trust—proving that we can come together for justice as the basis for the future for our country and the environment.

At ClientEarth, we are hopeful because we use the law to clear a path for corporations toward accountability, profitability, and a planet in balance with thriving communities.

Thank you for standing with us and with each other.

Gratefully,

Setareh Homayoni
Attorney, ClientEarth Americas