Every industry faces unique environmental circumstances and regulations. Hydraulic fracturing, climate change, global water shortages and sustainable development are just a few of the topics expected to crowd regulatory agendas in the coming decade. And from REACH in the European Union to California’s Green Chemistry initiative, the public focus on exposure issues, fortified by increasingly sophisticated detection and measuring technologies, is mounting.
At Shook, Hardy & Bacon, our mission is simple: to help companies resolve the most challenging environmental law issues of the day and to do it in a way that minimizes the impact on their business. Our clients hail from diverse industries—including chemical, petroleum, utility, agricultural, airline, automotive, mining, cement, shipping, food, railroad, pharmaceutical, ethanol, and paper—but share the benefits of our multipronged approach to environmental counseling.
To this end, we offer front-line risk management, litigation and compliance experience under all federal environmental, transportation, and health and safety statutes, and our commitment to state-of-the-art case management technology allows our clients to achieve significant cost savings through national coordination and planning. When called upon, we can explain what we know in ways that persuade regulators and legislators, in addition to challenging costly, burdensome and illegal environmental regulations in state and federal courts. We also submit comments on proposed regulations to clarify their potential effects on business and determine whether they are capable of achieving stated goals.
Shook lawyers have successfully litigated, arbitrated, negotiated or resolved compliance issues involving a host of substances and alleged exposures. Our environmental counseling embraces this expertise as we look beyond immediate regulatory hurdles and also consider the toxic tort implications of our clients’ activities and regulatory strategies at a site.
