Changes in environmental law, policy, and public opinion dramatically impact business success and brand credibility. From proactively shaping policy to rapidly responding to litigation or enforcement threats, we leverage an unrivaled global platform to help you advance business objectives in the face of a dynamic regulatory, political, and legal landscape.
Key stakeholders are focused on environmental risks and opportunities like never before. That’s why we serve as strategic partners looking beyond day-to-day issues to anticipate and navigate evolving trends, politics, and agendas – always with your long-term goals in mind. From business-critical operations and compliance to defending novel or aggressive litigation and enforcement actions, we find pathways to advance commercial objectives while balancing and mitigating risk.
The federal, state and local environmental rules that impact your business span chemical substances, air, water, solid and hazardous waste, pesticides, community right-to-know, and myriad other areas. We can help you identify where regulations intersect with your operations and craft proactive, sustainable strategies to mitigate litigation and enforcement risk. And to keep you ahead of the curve on emerging issues, we have developed unique, multi-disciplinary Task Forces to track, anticipate, and advise on cutting-edge issues related to PFAS and emerging contaminants, plastics, environmental justice, ESG, and State AG Enforcement trends.
“The environmental practice is excellent and they interact with all groups at the firm.”
The Legal 500
Our deep bench of environmental lawyers features former regulators, prosecutors, and government agency officials – including a former EPA Chief of Staff – who can translate their nuanced understanding of policy and administrative operations into strategies tailored to your business. Combined with our hands-on, industry leading experience at every stage of the decision-making process, we can address nearly any environmental concern, including:
Regulatory counseling
Our team has deep ties to state and federal law makers, actively monitoring laws across the globe and engaging with regulators on their implementation. We ultimately help clients shape modern federal environmental law by participating in notice-and-comment rulemakings, the resulting appellate litigation, and advocacy with the agencies.
Litigation & enforcement
When the stakes are high, our experience defending groundbreaking complex environmental litigation and enforcement actions offers peace of mind. Our seasoned environmental litigators vigorously defend actions arising under any of the federal environmental statutes, including CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, CAA, TSCA, FIFRA, and ESA as well as the state equivalents. Our team is also experienced in defending against cutting edge litigation emanating from key states like California, Maine, New York and others.
Compliance & auditing
From single-issue audits and programs to multi-media audits and programs encompassing all aspects of environmental health and safety, create and manage environmental audit and compliance programs tailored to your business.
Transactional support
Environmental issues can arise from the transfer and financing of businesses and real estate worldwide. To support your most strategic transactions, we help investors, buyers, sellers, and lenders perform environmental diligence, negotiate the allocation of environmental liabilities and advise on insurance major coverage cases and issues involving environmental liability and remediation costs.
From assessment and action to accountability and reporting, we can add value to your ESG efforts wherever you may be in your ESG lifecycle. Whether you’re in the early stages of identifying ESG goals and needs or defending litigation and enforcement actions, our team can work hand-in-hand to identify where you want to be and help you get there. Our forward-looking solutions help navigate ESG issues in a way that seizes opportunities and maximizes long-term value.
Awards and recognition
Experience
Representing a major oil company defendant in mass tort actions involving hundreds of plaintiff properties allegedly contaminated by a 26,000-gallon underground piping leak. The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed virtually all damages awards. Cases resulted in landmark rulings on fraud, emotional distress, medical monitoring, and nature of property damages in environmental cases.
Representing leading tire manufacturers in first-of-its-kind litigation over alleged environmental impacts of a key anti-degradation chemical found in all tire formulations and many other products.
Representing a major oil company in multiple CERCLA cleanup and cost-recovery litigation and RCRA cleanup actions, including regulatory interface and long-term remediation processes, related to soil and groundwater contamination.
Representing a major ship repair and maintenance company in multiple CERCLA cleanup and cost-recovery litigations related to soil, groundwater, and sediment contamination at multiple industrial port facilities; interfacing with municipal parties and government regulators.
Representing an electric energy company in obtaining discharge permit after prevailing in lengthy administrative trial on "best technology available" for cooling water intake structures, and then subsequent successful appellate litigation.
Representing an association of electric generating companies in the United States Supreme Court and United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on challenges to federal Clean Air Act regulations.
Representing a "super major" oil company on international litigation concerning oil and gas hydraulic hydrofracking/horizontal drilling.
Representing an international energy company in obtaining reversal of jury verdicts of $1.65 billion in a widely-publicized gasoline spill case.
Representing a Fortune 50 company as co-national counsel in its silica and asbestos litigations.
Representing an American multinational conglomerate in the largest mass tort litigation they have encountered, involving Omniscan, a contrast dye used in MRI scanning. More than 700 cases are currently pending throughout the U.S.
Advising a leading manufacturer of consumer goods on the legal obligations under the Supply Chain Sourcing Obligations Act, in particular with regard to the implementation of the obligations into an existing compliance management system.
Successfully challenging on judicial review an environmental prohibition notice which would have put the company on which it was served out of business.
Advising a public agency operating a vessel in the Caribbean on an incident involving an oil spillage in international waters which might have impacted sensitive environmental receptors in a number of different neighboring jurisdictions. We advised the agency on how to report how the incident occurred, and the actions taken in response, in order to meet any potential regulatory enforcement action. We were also able to place appropriate lawyers in the relevant Latin-American and other jurisdictions on standby, using staff from our own offices, and those of relationship firms, to provide for the event of any such regulatory action materializing.
Representing a major oil company in lawsuits involving multiple retail service stations. Claims were asserted under California Proposition 65, California Fish & Game Code, and California Business & Professions Code Section 17200.
Advising the city of Antwerp, the biggest city in Flanders as well the economic powerhouse of Belgium and the second biggest city overall in Belgium. We support the city of Antwerp in connection with a number of urban planning and development projects and environmental matters. We provide advice and assistance to the City of Antwerp under an overarching agreement, dealing with complex legal questions as well as policy issues.
Representing an oil company in CERCLA and Polanco Act lawsuits involving distribution terminals and retail facilities.
Advising a multi-national food ingredient manufacturer in relation to the contamination of Xanthan gum with ethylene oxide. It had been supplying Xanthan gum to its customers which it had obtained from various suppliers. This ingredient is used in a wide range of consumer products including soup and ice cream. In addition to advising on the position in the UK, we also coordinated advice from 31 different countries on the local law position. The client needed to obtain our advice on short notice so that it was able to plan for export of the product.
Representing major power producing companies on permitting, planning, government relations, government initiatives, and potential litigation associated with climate change matters.
Regulatory advice to a manufacturer of process control equipment in the acquisition of a manufacturer of chemicals and equipment, in particular on EHS issues. In addition to advising on German law, we also coordinate worldwide input on EHS issues arising from the transaction (including from China, Spain and the US), and advised on and implemented the transaction's investment control registration of the transaction.
Representing electric utility companies before public service commissions and regulatory agencies to obtain approval for the construction and siting of natural gas, nuclear, coal, and renewable energy-powered electric-generating facilities.
Representing paper manufacturer in the privatization of a municipal solid waste management facility.
Lead environmental counsel for all environmental issues facing a multinational technology company’s UK, EU, Middle East and Asia Pacific operations. Our work has involved analyzing all proposals for amendments to global environmental laws, working out their potential impacts on all aspects of our client’s business, preparing reports on these points for senior personnel and helping to develop advocacy positions for their public policy teams to engage in dialogue with the European Commission, Parliament and others on these proposals.
Assisting a global client with a 48-jurisdiction environmental legal compliance mandate, ensuring consistency of reporting and coverage and developing a risk matrix against which to determine priorities and next steps.
Negotiating a remediation strategy for a large portfolio of filling stations, many of which were contaminated.
Advising a multinational consumer goods company to comply with forthcoming requirements under UK legislation which is due to be enacted under the Environment Act 2021. The new “Forest Risk Rules” will prohibit the client from using certain commodities (such as palm oil) which have not been obtained in compliance with local laws, and will include a specific requirement for the client to implement a due diligence system to identify asses and mitigate the risk of non-compliance.
Negotiating with the UK Government on behalf of a major industry sector on the terms and conditions of an energy tax rebate, to be given in return for accepting emissions reductions targets.
Advising a German car manufacturer on potential upcoming lawsuits by environmental associations in connection with climate protection against the background of several judgements
Advising a multinational company on a creative regeneration project for the site of a former large process chemical plant.
Advising a global technology company on numerous legal compliance aspects of its global ink and toner cartridge collection, re-use and recycling program.
Defending chemical company in an enforcement action concerning discharges to publicly owned treatment works.
Defending a power company in response to alleged Clean Water Act violations at three sites in Maryland and negotiating a global settlement with regulators and citizen interveners.
Advising on emission reduction purchase and project development agreements between parties for the development of a range of landfill projects in South Africa.
Representation of championship golf course owners in the permitting of the course, including wetlands and discharge matters.
Representation of a large fuel terminal facility in connection with all environmental permitting, including Clean Air Act (Title V) permitting.
Representation of an international chemical company on shale gas development matters.
Advising on crisis management issues for a major corporation involving an employee at a plant decommissioning service.
Representation of a NASDAQ-listed-South African based technology company that is the subject of a joint investigation regarding allegations of bribery and corruption by the SEC and DOJ into potential violations of the FCPA and securities laws.
Advising in relation to a major fire at a fuel depot and an explosion at an oil refinery, both major environmental and health and safety incidents.
Conducting a strategic health and safety review for a major industrial multinational company, with particular emphasis on the creation of a suite of appropriate document and on demonstration that board responsibilities had been fulfilled’.
American steel industry is expanding; automakers join to build EV charging network; coalition calls for improved Build America, Buy America guidance; EPA proposes more reporting of pollution-emitting “point sources.”
Bolivia announces it has world’s largest lithium reserves; Interior to hold first-ever Gulf of Mexico wind energy lease sale; formaldehyde; wind turbines; advanced recycling; more.
EPA aims to phase out major dry-cleaning chemical, House bill would block rule requiring federal contractors to disclose climate risk, President withdraws nominee for permanent head of NHTSA.
Companies relying on plastic (read: essentially every business) should carefully consider EPA’s draft Plastic Pollution Strategy, as it will influence the direction of federal plastics regulation for many years.
