James A. Vroman is a partner in Jenner & Block's Chicago office. Mr. Vroman has been practicing law since 1977 and since 1986 has concentrated his practice on environmental law and toxic tort defense.
Mr. Vroman has extensive experience in a wide variety of environmental matters and toxic tort matters. For example, he has represented litigation clients in CERCLA cost-recovery actions, both as plaintiffs and defendants. In these matters he has encountered issues ranging from environmental stigma to technical impracticability to human health and environmental exposure risks. He has defended clients in RCRA, Clean Water Act and TSCA enforcement actions and in Superfund proceedings initiated by the EPA under 106, 107 and 122 of CERCLA.
Mr. Vroman also has represented clients in dispute resolution proceedings involving allocation issues before mediators and arbitrators. He has counseled transactional clients on environmental considerations in corporate and real estate matters and has supervised environmental due diligence efforts for significant acquisitions and divestitures. Mr. Vroman also has extensive experience in counseling clients remediating or marketing brownfield properties.
Mr. Vroman graduated from the University of Illinois in 1970. After service in the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Vroman obtained his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law. He is a member of the Order of the Coif and was articles editor of the University of Illinois Law Forum (law review). He is a member of the bar of Illinois, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and several federal district courts. He is a member of the American Bar Association and a member of the ABA's sections of environment, energy and resources and tort and insurance practice. He is also a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.
Patricia L. Boye-Williams is an associate in Jenner & Block's Chicago office. She is a member of the Firm's Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law, Climate and Clean Technology Law and the Insurance Litigation and Counseling Practice Groups.
Ms. Boye-Williams practices primarily in the area of environmental law. In her litigation practice, Ms. Boye-Williams has defended potentially responsible parties in cost recovery and remedial actions brought under CERCLA, RCRA, and comparable state environmental statutes; represented parties seeking to remediate distressed brownfields; and represented policyholders in environmental insurance coverage disputes. Her recent insurance coverage work includes counseling clients on insurance coverage issues, such as notifying insurers of environmental claims; researching, locating, and analyzing insurance policies; and developing strategies for obtaining insurance recovery. Her regulatory experience includes counseling clients on environmental permitting issues, voluntary clean up programs and other remediation issues, and various federal and state regulations affecting disposal of hazardous wastes, including electronics equipment. Ms. Boye-Williams' transactional experience includes assisting clients with environmental due diligence matters.
Ms. Boye-Williams has written articles regarding the effects of bankruptcy on environmental claims. In particular, she co-authored the 2004 Supplement to Environmental Law in Illinois, Chapter 12: Managing Environmental Claims in Bankruptcy, published by Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. While in law school, she authored Commercial Speech: Trying to Find a New Definition in Light of Modern Day Image Advertising by Commercial Speakers.
Ms. Boye-Williams is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association, as well as the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, & Resources Law. Ms. Boye-Williams also serves on the Chicago-Kent College of Law Alumni Council of the Program for Environmental and Energy Law. While a law student, Ms. Boye-Williams was an extern to the Honorable Blanche Manning, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She also served as Vice President of the Chicago-Kent College of Law Environmental Law Society and the Executive Notes and Comments Editor of Chicago-Kent Law Review.
Ms. Boye-Williams graduated from Cornell University in 1998 with a bachelors of science in Natural Resources. In 2003, Ms. Boye-Williams graduated with high honors from Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law with a certificate from the college's Program of Environmental and Energy Law and is a member of the Order of the Coif. She is a member of the Illinois Bar and admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and the Western District of Michigan.
Michael R. Strong is an associate in Jenner & Block's Chicago office. Mr. Strong is a member of the firm's Environmental, Energy, and Natural Resources Department and Climate and Clean Technology Practices.
Mr. Strong earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 2007. During law school, Mr. Strong served as an associate editor for the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review and as a student attorney in the general clinic. Mr. Strong graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 2004, receiving a dual degree in Government (with Honors) and Mathematics.
Mr. Strong is a member of the Illinois bar.