Joe is an attorney in the Environmental and Toxic Tort and Exposure Litigation Practice group. He has advised and represented clients across a spectrum of industries and environmental legal challenges.
Joe’s representation has included helping clients in various industries resolve environmental litigation that has included federal and state agencies and laws, such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Clean Air Act, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as well as litigation concerning groundwater at a Missouri Superfund site. Joe also counsels clients concerning regulatory compliance, enforcement defense, and litigation strategy related to federal environmental and resource protection statutes.
Before becoming a managing associate at his previous law firm, Joe worked as a pro bono fellow providing representation to Catholic Charities across their legal network. He has also worked in the role of public counsel for individuals facing bankruptcy, wrote an amici curiae involving a First Amendment U.S. Supreme Court case, and worked on an immigration matter related to protection under the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He continues to be actively involved in pro bono cases.
Joe graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law where he was an executive editor for the Virginia Environmental Law Journal. He also worked as a summer intern in the Natural Resources Section of the California Department of Justice in the Office of the Attorney General in Los Angeles. There he drafted a complaint to recover state agency fire suppression costs in California Superior Court.
Representative Matters
Represented the first U.S. commercial scale offshore wind development project in multiple concurrent federal district court lawsuits, challenging federal agency environmental review and permitting.
Represented a Fortune 50 company in ongoing settlement negotiations with U.S. Department of Justice to resolve alleged Clean Air Act and FIFRA violations.
Represented a potentially responsible party (PRP) at a Missouri Superfund site with ongoing groundwater monitoring pursuant to administrative order with EPA Region 7 and state laws. This included coordinating with expert consultants, co-counsel, and client in-house legal counsel to provide legal and technical project management and providing strategic counseling regarding relationship management with other-site PRP.
Advised more than 10 multinational pesticide registrants, manufacturers, and e-commerce retailers on FIFRA compliance obligations regarding pesticide registration and labeling, including counseling on emergent issues related to surface and air disinfectant claims under EPA’s COVID-19 pandemic guidance.
Presentations
Emerging Trends in PFAS Litigation, Client Presentation, October 2024.
EPA Future Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication: SEC v. Jarkesy, ABA SEER’s Enforcement & Litigation Webinar, June 7, 2024.
PFAS: A Rundown of Regulations and an Analysis of EPA’s PFAS Roadmap, Midwest Environmental Compliance Conference, September 26, 2023 (with Andrea Collier).