During 2011, five of nine large solar projects approved the prior year by state and federal regulators in time to qualify for federal loan guarantees became entangled in environmental impact litigation.

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The language of judges is often dense, cluttered with hedges and annoyingly obtuse when it comes to the real impact of litigation.

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That drives up the cost of litigation and has a financial impact on the business community, which relies on efficiently functioning courts in order to do business.

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The crossbench peer argued that deficiencies in the law result in high litigation costs and have a negative impact on families.

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In addition to encouraging more litigation, the two rulings are likely to have a big impact on workplaces throughout America as employers adopt ever more draconian anti-harassment policies to shield themselves from suits.

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Still, while there is a magnifying glass on the first case, one lawyer familiar with such litigation says, it is the first several cases, taken together, that could have a big impact on whether Merck eventually decides to settle--and winds up paying tens of billions of dollars to do so.

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