Lathrop GPM has a long track record of success in the entire range of issues that falls under the umbrella of environmental law. We have a Band 1 Chambers-ranked environmental practice with “soup to nuts” capability to handle the full spectrum of environmental law issues, ranging from regulatory advice and compliance counseling to due diligence for transactions, investigations/response to agency inquiries and enforcement, PRP searches and remediation coordination, litigation/toxic tort defense, and cost-recovery litigation and insurance recovery. 

Lathrop GPM attorneys have exceptional environmental law experience and have served as state attorneys general and held leadership positions at state and federal environmental regulatory agencies. We frequently analyze insurance coverage and contracts, interpret current and emerging environmental legislation and advise on the pros and cons of legal actions. We also have a deep bench of Superfund lawyers with extensive experience managing contaminated sites across the country at every state and level of complexity.

Our core areas of focus includes:

Our environmental law work brings us before federal and state regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, state departments of natural resources and environmental protection and local governmental authorities. We work with clients around the country on environmental due diligence and compliance, and we help clients navigate all aspects environmental regulation and permitting under statutes including the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act and state-law counterparts.

We have experience handling the complex insurance recovery matters for companies and owners of real property. Our experience in the area of environmental law includes interpretation of qualified pollution exclusions from state to state, making claims, negotiating settlements and trying to maximize recovery through litigation. We work to limit client liability for latent or accidental contamination by negotiating and upholding their rights within insurance agreements and contracts.

Experience

  • Represented clients in numerous toxic-tort actions nationwide, and winning summary judgments and voluntary dismissals of a large group of high-profile, hexavalent chromium exposure class actions, mass actions and individual suits.
  • Recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from insurers on behalf of environmental insurance policyholders, through coverage litigation, bad-faith lawsuits and claims involving more than 450 sites and the laws of more than 40 states; includes assisting a cement manufacturer with the pursuit of environmental and other long-tail liability claims under historic general liability policies insured by London market insurers.
  • Represent clients facing financial exposure at up to multibillion-dollar federal and state Superfund sites and closed landfills in 28 states, managing all aspects of the accompanying legal issues including litigation, regulatory compliance, insurance and technical oversight.

  • Assist clients and technical consultants in preparation of Natural Environmental Policy Act Environmental Impact Statements for projects including an intermodal rail facility which is among the largest intermodal facilities in the world. This environmental law work includes 404 permitting and mitigation issues with the Corps of Engineers, United States EPA and local governments.
  • Provide a large waste management company with ongoing regulatory compliance advice and enforcement response in multiple cities across the United States, including significant work in California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
  • Assisted major pesticide manufacturer and formulator with plant environmental issues including wastewater, storm water and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act matters. We also negotiated National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits, including storm water for manufacturing facilities.
  • Represent major international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services in a multibillion-dollar clean-up and natural resource damage matter for the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.
  • Represent a developer in all environmental aspects of the purchase of a former nuclear weapons component manufacturing facility from the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Meet the Team

Primary Contacts