ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION: DESCRIPTION

Environmental litigation requires a mix of statutory and regulatory knowledge, the ability to present complex regulatory and scientific issues to lay people and procedural expertise. McKenna Long & Aldridge brings these aspects together for excellent results.

McKenna Long & Aldridge represents clients in a wide variety of administrative and judicial enforcement proceedings. We routinely help our clients negotiate quick, quiet and low cost settlements. When favorable settlements cannot be achieved, the combination of our environmental experience, litigation skills, and trial experience provides our clients with the tools for success.

Our litigation record is impressive. We often have obtained dismissal of claims or substantially reduced penalties. We have effectively defended many Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement actions. We have won many of the leading Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) cases concerning reporting requirements, including under the Pre-Manufacture Notification (PMN) program. We have represented companies in numerous pesticide enforcement cases and cancellation proceedings.

The firm's environmental litigation practice includes cost recovery and contribution actions under the "superfund" law and its state equivalents. The firm's lawyers have extensive experience in both complex multi-party cases and simple two party cases. We have represented single parties and acted as coordinating counsel for joint defense groups of potentially responsible parties. The firm has unique experience pursuing contribution from the U.S. for costs of remediation.

State governments have increased their focus on the natural resource damage provisions in the "Superfund" law and its state equivalents to require additional remediation or additional money. Early negotiation of a settlement may avoid multi-billion dollar claims for natural resource damages. We have negotiated settlements and represented parties in natural resource damages litigation in which the damage claims have ranged from a few million to five billion dollars.

Often claims under natural resource damage provisions in federal and state statutes are joined with claims under state tort law. We have litigated such cases and developed strategies to reduce the damage claims before trial. Our experience in environmental tort cases has provided our lawyers with the pretrial skills to address these expert-intensive cases and to present the complex scientific issues to lay juries.

Criminal prosecution may result from environmental violations. Together with our Fraud and False Claims and Qui Tam practice group, a large number of our lawyers are experienced in criminal investigations, including former assistant U.S. attorneys and U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors. Government contractors that fail to comply with environmental laws and regulations may be sued for violations of the False Claims Act. Our mix of government contract and environmental skills allow an efficient defense.

We represent corporations and individuals in environmental criminal matters at the federal, state and local levels. We also help our clients understand the trends in enforcement and the basis for recent criminal actions and provide guidance in assessing potential vulnerabilities. We have negotiated successful plea agreements resulting in reduced charges, dismissed counts and misdemeanor pleas. We obtained dismissal of the first criminal prosecution brought under the California Oil Spill Prevention Act.