Environmental Law

Shook, Hardy & Bacon has successfully handled environmental and toxic tort cases in state and federal courts throughout the country, as well as before administrative tribunals in more than a dozen states. The SHB Environmental Law Practice offers cutting-edge litigation and compliance expertise relevant to all aspects of federal environmental, transportation, and health and safety statutes. Strategic problem solvers who win tough cases, SHB attorneys bring their experience to bear on some of the most challenging environmental law issues of the day. Their mission – to get clients back to business as soon as possible – reflects the firm’s commitment to providing sophisticated and cost-effective services that meet a full range of legal needs.

The SHB Environmental Law Practice delivers superior results in all phases of litigation, from preliminary injunction and summary judgment to trial and appeal. This practice has managed private cost recovery actions under CERCLA; civil and environmental actions instituted by government agencies; and private party environmental litigation; in addition to negotiating settlements in complex multiparty cases. Conversant in the many scientific issues affecting this area of law, SHB environmental attorneys have represented clients in multiple industries, including chemical, petroleum, utility, agricultural, food, airline, automotive, mining, cement, shipping, pharmaceutical, ethanol, and paper. Moreover, this comprehensive experience takes advantage of the firm’s state-of-the-art case management technology, which allows clients with national environmental concerns to achieve significant cost-savings. By consolidating the efforts of outside counsel and developing a Web-based extranet to house case information, SHB offers substantial reductions in overall legal fees; greater case management efficiency; enhanced data for financial reserves; and consistent representation across numerous venues.

The SHB Environmental Law Practice also emphasizes the importance of taking preventative measures to avoid expensive litigation. Attorneys in this group focus on compliance counseling under statutes such as CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Oil Pollution Act, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. They regularly advise clients with regard to environmental risk; permitting requirements; property transfers, site development and cleanup; regulatory standards; and government enforcement actions. To keep companies up-to-date on these issues, SHB publishes a weekly newsletter that analyzes industry trends and reports on relevant legislative and regulatory developments, key judicial decisions, and the latest scientific literature. This forward-thinking approach has enabled SHB environmental law practitioners to anticipate legal sea changes and their potential effect on business interests.