Environmental Law Overview for New Attorneys
2/14/2008 2:05:36 PM EST
So you want to practice Environmental Law?
Posted by AME3bg
Interested in practicing in the Environmental Law field? Here’s what you have to look forward to…
 
Types of Firms Practicing Environmental Law
 
Small Law Perspective: Environmental law is a secondary market for firms with 1 to 20 attorneys. However, real estate is the number one area of law that the public turns to attorneys to handle, and environmental law is playing an increasing role in real estate law. There are also solo practitioners who specialize in environmental law and make their living by being consulted in compliance, transaction, and litigation matters. There are a number of small environmental boutique firms. Many can be identified as they are members of the environmental law network (www.elon.com), an association of such boutique firms. 

Large Law and National Law Perspective: Due to the large amounts of money at stake and the complexity of environmental law, this is a specialty generally found in large law firms or in-house law departments. Many large firms have practice groups devoted to environmental law. The growing public demand to improve environmental conditions from global to local levels is causing a flurry of environmental law activities. And this trend is likely to increase. Litigation is increasing at all levels. For example, two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the Clean Water Act and wetlands environmental law issues were decided in 2006, and in April 2007 the Supreme Court decided the landmark case of (holding that greenhouse gases are pollutants and that EPA has authority to regulate them), which is spurring a great deal of administrative and judicial activity. Moreover, environmental litigation and enforcement actions generally involve arcane laws and regulations and devastating monetary liability. Larger law firms and organizations are thus best poised to handle such matters. In addition, they need to counsel their corporate clients to stay in compliance with environmental laws. Thus, they must keep abreast of the increasing flow of federal, state and local legislation, regulations, court and administrative decisions involving environmental controls.

 
In-House Counsel Perspective: Many corporations have in-house attorneys dedicated in whole or in part to environmental law matters. Among the specialties of law practiced by the 60,000 corporate attorneys whose biographies appear in Martindale-Hubbell, environmental/energy law ranks fourth (behind only corporate, contract and litigation practice). This is understandable as many properties that have been developed for commercial uses and most properties that have been developed for industrial uses have environmental problems. These arise in the operations that occur or have occurred on these sites as well as in transactions involving these properties.
 
Agencies: There are numerous federal government agencies that are significantly involved in environmental law. For example, virtually every cabinet level U.S. Department contains Bureaus, Offices, Agencies and Services that are heavily involved in environmental law matters.
 
Typical Tasks Performed By Environmental Law Attorneys
  • Counseling on the environmental implications in the purchase or sale of real estate or acquisition or merger of a business and involvement in those transactions;
  • Counseling on business issues that arise with environmental implications, such as sending a product into interstate or international commerce and involvement in those transactions;
  • Counseling on the treatment, storage and disposal of industrial wastes and by-products and involvement in those transactions;
  • Handling environmental law matters pending before administrative agencies and litigating such matters in the courts;
  • Handling environmental impact reviews;
  • Litigating citizen suits for damages;
  • Litigating joint tortfeasor cost recovery actions;
  • Defending clients charged with environmental crimes;
  • Handling applications and negotiations concerning environmental permits;
  • Providing legal counseling on design, implementation and monitoring of permitting and regulatory compliance programs; and
  • Counseling corporate clients on the complex legal issues and opportunities arising from concerns about climate change and other energy-related matters (hot topic).  
Types of Legal Content Typically Relied Upon by Environmental Law Attorneys 
  • Federal and state statutes and regulations (e.g., U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations).
  • Federal and state court decisions.
  • Federal and state agency decisions (e.g., EPA decisions, state environmental department and agencies).
  • Agency (e.g., EPA, and state environmental department and agency) policy and guidance documents.
  • Environmental site records of the federal, state, and local governments, including Records of Decisions (“RODs”).
  • International treaties and agreements.
  • Analytical materials (e.g., Grad, Treatise on Environmental Law).
  • Sample clauses and forms (e.g., EPA model agreements).
  • Environmental reporters (e.g., BNA Daily Environment Report, BNA State Environment Daily, Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Law Reporter).
  • Environmental law reviews & journals (e.g., lexis.com collection of environmental law reviews, available in a group file (ENVLR) and as individual sources).
  • Legal news (e.g., Mealey’s Litigation Reports on pollution liability, asbestos, lead, mold and emerging toxic torts).

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