Katten’s Environmental Litigation Practice offers streamlined and cost-effective case management. We help clients mitigate the environmental and financial risks associated with undetected, uninsured or undisclosed environmental liabilities, and we have experience with every major federal environmental statute and several state law counterparts, as well as a number of international treaties. We provide counsel in connection with civil and criminal environmental enforcement defense, general regulatory compliance, internal investigations, government information requests and grand jury subpoena demands, search warrants, administrative rulemakings, mergers and acquisitions, permitting, cost recovery, toxic torts, citizens’ suits, and the design and implementation of environmental management systems.
Katten’s Environmental Litigation Practice offers streamlined and cost-effective case management. We help clients mitigate the environmental and financial risks associated with undetected, uninsured or undisclosed environmental liabilities, and we have experience with every major federal environmental statute and several state law counterparts, as well as a number of international treaties. We provide counsel in connection with civil and criminal environmental enforcement defense, general regulatory compliance, internal investigations, government information requests and grand jury subpoena demands, search warrants, administrative rulemakings, mergers and acquisitions, permitting, cost recovery, toxic torts, citizens’ suits, and the design and implementation of environmental management systems.
Our clients, however, expect—and receive—something more.
Personal attention. We build productive working relationships with clients through personal attentiveness and responsiveness.
Client awareness. Part of doing our job is to know and understand client needs and expectations in connection with any given matter, including concerns and challenges that extend beyond it.
Knowing what works. Our attorneys’ past experiences, which include significant positions in government agencies, facilitate the path to resolution. We never forget that each case and set of circumstances are unique, and our advice and counsel reflect that awareness.
We have represented a wide array of Fortune 500 companies in numerous sectors, including chemical, energy, finance, utility, homebuilding, construction, pipeline, shipping and technology, as well as individuals, including corporate executives.
Prepared for anything
While many times litigation can be prevented or limited, our clients expect counsel who can handle their cases through every phase of administrative, civil and criminal proceedings. Our attorneys have been involved in some of the nation’s leading cases, including the representation of large manufacturing companies and energy utilities in enforcement actions and multimillion-dollar cost-recovery cases.
Our environmental litigators are a part of one of the top litigation practices in the country, with some 200 trial attorneys nationwide. The practice has earned recognition in
Chambers USA,
Lawdragon 500, Martindale Hubbell and the
Law360 Litigation Almanac, and the 2009 edition of
Benchmark: A Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys named Katten a leading firm in white collar crime litigation. Our practitioners include a former Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section at the U.S. Department of Justice and 10 former Assistant U.S. Attorneys, who work alongside scores of seasoned private litigators.
Internal Investigations/Rapid Response
Katten routinely conducts extensive internal investigations for clients across a wide spectrum of industries and areas of law. In the environmental arena, our attorneys are prepared to launch and direct internal investigations and evidence preservation initiatives under the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Clean Air Act, among other worker safety and environmental regimes—whether the investigation was triggered by a release to the environment, a whistleblower, a citizen complaint, an internal audit finding, a search warrant, a grand jury subpoena or otherwise. Drawing upon a deep bench of former prosecutors, environmental attorneys, and forensic and subject matter consultants, Katten is uniquely situated among its peer firms to respond immediately and comprehensively to environmental and worker safety concerns, enabling our clients to make informed and timely decisions.
A solid core of knowledge
Our clients seek environmental lawyers who have the depth of experience to know how to evaluate the matter before them, and who can quickly discern the issues and areas that should be addressed. Representative areas of our practice include the following:
- Clean Water Act
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
- Comprehensive Environmental Response and Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
- Clean Air Act
- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
- Environmental Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA)
- Pollution Prevention Act of 1990
- Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)