Andrew Cooper

Transactional

• Represented private equity clients in acquisitions and dispositions of portfolio companies valued at up to and more than US$1 billion in transaction size.
• Defended multiple developers and owners in litigation and negotiations with government agencies related to environmental enforcement actions in multiple venues.
• Assisted a variety of property owners in taking their contaminated properties through voluntary cleanup programs and in pursuing historical insurance claims on behalf of the owner/developer of the contaminated site.
• Worked with property owners/developers, manufacturers, holding companies, buyers, sellers, borrowers and lenders in addressing potential environmental liability issues in a wide variety of transactions that ranged from due diligence to structuring the deal to negotiating post-closing conditions.
• Provided environmental counseling to a Fortune 500 lender over the course of financing two portfolios with more than 250 gas stations/convenience stores.
• Handled numerous post-closing matters on contracts, such as indemnification claims, escrow issues and insurance matters.

Compliance

• Directed power plant permitting, including meeting regulators, ensuring compliance and overseeing the complex process, as well as assisted in developing an auditing and compliance program for a client with nearly fifty far-flung facilities.
• Coordinated with local counsel in multiple locations in a successful effort to transfer numerous environmental permits. 
• Assisted a variety of property owners in taking their contaminated properties through voluntary cleanup programs and in pursuing historical insurance claims on behalf of the owner/developer of the contaminated site.

Litigation

• Represented a federal government agency in complex multi-party negotiations tied to a US$600 million Superfund site where the agency was a potentially responsible party.
• Served as counsel to a state government involved in a significant Superfund matter.
• Prosecuted two Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution actions against predecessor entities on behalf of two New York utilities, including oral arguments, drafting, negotiations, expert coordination, depositions and strategy. Successfully tried a multi-week bench trial.
• Served as second chair in an oral argument before the Second Circuit for an appeal in a third CERCLA claim, after litigation in the Southern District of New York.
• Defended the diminution of a property value claim (due to alleged contamination) before the Connecticut state court.
• Prosecuted a diminution of property value claim (due to contamination) in the Washington, DC federal court.
• Participated in all aspects of a month-long CERCLA trial in the Washington, DC federal court.
• Defended a multimillion-dollar contamination claim in Nebraska federal bankruptcy court proceeding.
• Negotiated with insurance carriers on behalf of policyholders seeking recovery on environmental claims and defended penalty proceedings in numerous contexts, ranging from Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) to California Proposition 65.