The Legal 500

Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s environmental lawyers are ‘real experts and provide excellent value’. On the regulatory side, the firm provides substantial experience in matters such as solid and hazardous waste management, wastewater and air permitting, rulemaking, standard-setting, environmental site investigation and cleanup, release reporting and compliance auditing. With regards to transactional work, it represents buyers, sellers, lending institutions and venture capital firms. It is involved in all environmental aspects of corporate transactions, including due diligence investigations, contract negotiations, and permit transfers, compliance counselling and long-range planning. The firm represented Solutia both in connection with its bankruptcy reorganization and successful emergence from Chapter 11, and also with regard to a broad range of bankruptcy-related and transactional environmental issues arising following emergence. Most significantly, it represented the client with regard to environmental issues associated with Solutia’s successful challenge to an attempted abandonment of environmentally sensitive assets by Lyondell in its own bankruptcy and related settlement negotiations and implementation issues. Other work included representing Tronox, formerly the chemical manufacturing business of Kerr McGee, on an ongoing basis in connection with environmental issues associated with its Chapter 11 cases, including the sale of operating assets and interim and final settlement arrangements with the US and multiple state jurisdictions. It is representing Chemtura, a diversified chemical manufacturing company with a complex corporate history, on environmental issues associated with its Chapter 11 cases including designing and implementing a nation-wide communication, liability valuation and settlement initiative. The firm also represents Berry Plastics, a plastics packaging company, on both compliance and enforcement-related matters, and mergers and acquisitions. Clients include Flying J, Readers Digest, Dura Automotive, TOUSA, Hawaiian Telecom, Muzak, Sun-Times and Visteon. Washington DC-based Walter Lohmann is the key contact and is ‘dedicated, responsive, smart, and truly takes ownership of major and complex projects’. Associate Tara Bahn is ‘responsive on tight notice, intelligent and a delight to work with’.

Latham & Watkins LLP’s ‘strong’ environment regulatory and transactional team is ‘undoubtedly one of the best’ and ‘belongs in the top tier’. The firm is present nationwide, although it is as ‘an unbeatable force’ and ‘particularly active’ in California. The firm advises national and regional multi-sector industry coalitions on emerging federal, state and regional climate change and on emission reduction credit legislation and regulation. The firm also has significant weight advising energy clients on the full spectrum of environmental transactional work, and is currently representing Edison Mission Energy in the development of the Walnut Creek and Sun Valley Power Plants. The firm is advising on the challenging issue of how to obtain emission reduction credits, including offsets, for Edison Mission Energy, and additionally advises the client on a range of work including traditional permitting issues and energy storage. It is representing Competitive Power Ventures in all aspect of permitting regarding the development of the CPV Sentinel Project, a peaking power plant to be located in Riverside County, California. It is also advising Colton Renewable Energy Center on the permitting of Colton, California green-waste facility that uses biomass to produce electric power with a near-zero carbon footprint. The firm has been instructed on all aspects of permitting concerning the development of GWF Energy’s Tracy Combined Cycle Power Plant and modification of the facility into a 314 MW combined cycle facility, and is advising the City of Vernon, California, in its acquisition of 30,000 acres of wind resources in Kern County and the development of the 297 MW Red Rock Wind Project on 12,000 acres including transmission and permitting matters with the California Independent System Operator, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and various federal, state and local agencies. Other highlights included representing 8minutenergy in connection with its financing entitlement requests and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NAPA) compliance for the development of several photovoltaic solar energy facilities in Imperial County, California. Clients include Arizona Public Service; City of Vernon, California; Iberdrola Renewables; and Pacific Gas & Electric. Los Angeles-based Robert Wyman heads the environmental group and Washington DC-based Janice Schneider is ‘intelligent and handles regulatory matters flawlessly’.

Sidley Austin LLP’s clients find the firm ‘knowledgeable, practical and efficient – its advice never sounds like a law school legal memo’. The practice ‘bills at a fairly high rate, however the lawyers’ efficiency creates outstanding value for clients’. The firm advises a broad range of clients, from ski resorts to power plants, on transactional and regulatory matters. It recently represented Marathon Petroleum, negotiating a settlement agreement with the Sierra Club, which along with several other environmental groups had opposed the client’s $1.9bn expansion of its Detroit refinery. The environmental groups stated their intent to challenge the construction permit issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), however, the firm successfully negotiated the settlement agreement on terms beneficial to its client, allowing the expansion project to proceed uninterrupted. The firm also advised Marathon regarding permitting strategy and negotiations with the MDEQ over the terms of the permit. Other highlights included advising a major Chinese entity in connection with the possible acquisition of petroleum infrastructure assets in California and Texas, and overseeing environmental due diligence and risk identification and management. ExxonMobil and TransCanada have retained the firm to represent the Alaska Pipeline Project (APP) in the US, which is proposing to license and construct a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska into Western Canada. In addition to commercial and FERC regulatory issues, it is advising the APP with respect to FERC’s environmental review of the proposed project and the other environmental approvals and permits necessary to construct and operate the pipeline in Alaska. The firm is also advising on Clean Air Act (CAA) regulatory matters and has been retained by leading trade associations and companies to comment on significant EPA national rulemakings including the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, and further represents the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Chemistry Counsel and other groups and companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron on other CAA rulemakings. Washington DC-based David Buente, Chicago-based Robert Olian and Judith Praitis in Los Angeles, lead the team. Chicaco-based Laura Leonard ‘excels in her knowledge but also in her ability to balance and judge the business needs of the operation against the environmental risk’.

The ‘excellent’ lawyers at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. are ‘effective’ and have a ‘deep understanding of environmental regulatory matters’ and have ‘great knowledge and experience’. The firm has an ‘unparalleled reputation in Washington DC’ and has regional offices from coast-to-coast. The firm covers the full spectrum of environmental matters including CAA, Toxic and Harmful Substances (TSCA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), water, climate change, waste management, transactional and land use issues. Previous work has included representing corporations, industry associations and municipal water systems in preparing technical comments on health-based standards related to the Surface Water Treatment Rule, the Disinfection Byproducts Rule and other major National Primary Drinking Water Regulation rulemakings. Washington DC-based Benjamin Wilson is also the firm’s managing partner. Washington DC-based Paul Hagen is recommended and represents clients on environmental measures governing product design, pollution control, and resource protection measures in the chemicals, electronics and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Bingham McCutchen LLP makes an ‘effort to understand business and business objectives’ and the team ‘provides practical, solution-oriented advice based upon a deep understanding of the relevant legal requirements and the client’s unique needs’. Although the firm ‘can be expensive’, clients also say that ‘it’s worth the big price tag’. It is advising on a number of regulatory issues, including approval of an extensive planned community on San Francisco Bay which includes a National Football League stadium; federal and state permitting for two of the largest solar energy facilities in the country;expansion of a major drinking water reservoir; obtaining the first the first federal air permit that includes limits on emissions of greenhouse gasses and negotiating power purchase and transmission agreements for over 800 MW of power. The firm is highly regarded by its clients for land use work (‘its land use attorneys are among the best’). It recently assisted Goodrich with a complex land exchange with the Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista that facilitated relocation of Goodrich’s aircraft manufacturing plant and the redevelopment of the Chula Vista Bayfront. The exchange involved removal of properties from the public trust, CEQA, redevelopment law, tax increment financing, environmental remediation, and required the approval of the California State Lands Commission, the California Coastal Commission and the Governor. It also represents the Oakland Athletics baseball team on with the preparation and implementation of a strategy to secure land use approvals for a new baseball park in San Jose through a City Council or citizen-sponsored initiative. Los Angeles-based Rick Rothman, Washington DC-based Michael Wigmore and San Francisco-based Barbara Schussman, who ‘proves many times over that she is without peer in her areas of expertise’, lead the team. Washington DC-based Edward Strohbehn is ‘extremely thoughtful and evaluates matters carefully and thoroughly’.

The New York-based team at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is a ‘major player’ in the environmental transactional space, and is especially known for advising clients in oil and gas, utilities and power generation, coal, chemical, wind, solar, other renewables and real estate development. On the climate side, it advises clients on trading greenhouse gas emissions offsets, crafting disclosure related to climate change issues for companies in affected industries, and providing regulatory advice in connection with emissions trading and related derivative products. It recently advised Noble Group, a market leader in managing the global supply chain of agricultural, energy, metals and mining resources, on its acquisition of Sempra Energy Solutions from Sempra Energy and The Royal Bank of Scotland, for approximately $317m in cash plus the assumption of approximately $265m in debt. It is also advising Cosan S A Indústria e Comércio, the largest grower and processor of sugarcane in the world and the largest ethanol producer in Brazil, on the formation in Brazil of a $12bn joint venture with Shell International Petroleum Company for the production of ethanol, sugar and power, and supply, distribution and retail of transportation fuels. Other highlights included advising Symantec, provider of storage and systems management solutions, on its $1.28bn cash acquisition of the authentication and identity security business of VeriSign, a provider of internet infrastructure services to various networks worldwide. Clients also include Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Metalmark Capital, General Motors, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Murphy Oil. Co-head Betty Huber is well known for her experience in acquisitions coupled with knowledge of environmental issues in the context of bankruptcy. Co-head Loyti Cheng has knowledge in environment-related corporate transactions.

Clients state that the team at Hunton & Williams LLP is ‘very good’ and provides ‘extremely effective’ advice. The firm has a strong reputation with energy and utility companies, which has put the group at the forefront of environmental matters in the US. In addition, it works closely with the firm’s energy and project finance teams. The group advises on regulatory and transactional matters, and has particular expertise in the CAA and Clean Water Act (CWA) issues. Other areas in which the firm specializes include RCRA, hazardous waste management, endangered species acts and wetland work. The firm has an impressive track record and it served as sole environmental counsel to parties to the second largest IPO in US history on environmental disclosure in securities filings, and advised a related purchaser on environmental risk associated with the acquisition. Bill Brownell and Kevin Finto are recommended.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s environmental group handles financings, underwritings and mergers and acquisitions nationally and internationally across all industries. The firm also provides day-to-day counseling on environmental management and corporate governance issues, environmental issues of interest to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, shareholder relations involving environmental matters and environmental litigation. It represented World Fuel Services, a leading global fuel logistics company, principally engaged in the marketing, sale and distribution of marine, aviation and land fuel products and related services on a world-wide basis, in connection with its $200m registered offering of common stock. It is also representing Universal Health Services on its agreement to acquire Psychiatric Solutions Inc (PSI) for approximately $2bn plus the assumption of $1.1bn in PSI debt. Other highlights included representing IBM on several transactions including its agreement to acquire Netezza, a publicly held company based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, in a cash transaction at a price of $27 per share (a net price of approximately $1.7bn, after adjusting for cash). The firm also represented Bristol-Myers Squibb in connection with its $2.4bn acquisition of Medarex. Jeffrey Smith leads the team which also includes associates Matthew Morreale and Annmarie Terraciano.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP’s environmental work includes domestic and international mergers, acquisitions, project financings and initial public offerings, including the evaluation and management of environmental liabilities and compliance matters, negotiation of environmental contract provisions, agreements and disclosures, and performance of due diligence audits. With regards to emission trading, the firm prepares contracts for the sale of greenhouse gas emission credits in the US and under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The firm has advised Bottle Rock Power, First Solar, DKRW Advance Fuels and other companies on the NEPA and environmental permitting portions of the Department of Environment loan guarantee and grant process. Highlights also included advising Amazon Conservation Association on carbon finance and Greenhouse Gas Protocol issues arising in connection with projects to reduce emissions from deforestation in the Americas. It is also acting for Calera, a leading carbon capture and sequestration company, on domestic and international climate change policy and regulatory matters. Other highlights included advising Coca-Cola on domestic and international Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) matters, as well as on a series of transactional matters including its agreement to acquire the North American bottling business of Coca-Cola Enterprises. Clients include US Airways, JPMorgan, Hydro-Quebec and RRI Energy. Don Frost leads the Washington DC-based team which also includes Henry Eisenberg, William Thomas and Elizabeth Malone.

Van Ness Feldman, P.C ‘deserves recognition’ and provides ‘good regulatory advice’. The firm advises on issues related to air pollution control, climate change and hazardous waste issues. It draws on its highly recognized energy expertise and is especially well known for its representation of clients in the energy space and advising on renewable energy development and compliance obligations. It also provides advice and counseling to clients in the automotive and recreational marine industries. The firm acted for a multinational oil company on the environmental and regulatory interests involved in accessing the possible oil reserves on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This issue has international implications as other competitors, including Russian and Norwegian companies, which have interests in the Arctic OCS and are moving forward with accessing the oil reserves without conducting the environmental due diligence the US requires. It recently advised the Coal Utilization Research Council (CURC), a coalition focused on federal policy related to energy production using coal, on federal funding and policies affecting clean coal technologies, and carbon capture and sequestration. Highlights also included assisting Air Products and Chemicals in filing comments on EPA’s CAA rulemakings. In addition, the firm worked with the company in analyzing how its technologies and facilities would be affected by certain CAA rules and it then used its contacts with the EPA to organize meetings between representatives at the company and key EPA decision makers to discuss policy changes. Other clients include American Electric Power, California Department of Water Resources, Coalition for Emission Reduction Projects, Kinder Morgan, Transmission Developers and Toyota North America. Washington DC-based Richard Penna heads the team. Robert Nordhaus, who handles environmental regulation, CAA and climate change matters, and Steven Richardson, who handles administrative law, Endangered Species Act (ESA), CAA and NEPA work, are recommended.

Clients state that Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is ‘great in all aspects’ and ‘compares very favorably on both quality and value for services provided’. The team handles the environmental aspects of corporate transactions including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financings, restructurings, liquidations, as well as special projects involving real estate, infrastructure development, public disclosure and loan guarantees. The firm represents Motors Liquidation Company’s in-house environmental counsel on day-to-day environmental issues including those involving permitting, regulatory reporting requirements and other compliance issues. In addition, the firm has represented the client, then General Motors, in all aspects of environmental law since Motors Liquidation Company filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Specifically, the firm has assisted the client estimate current environmental liabilities at each of its more than 90 owned sites in an effort to negotiate and enter into a historic global settlement of those liabilities with the US and various state governments. Highlights also included acting for Lindsay Goldberg in its acquisition of PSC, a provider of hazardous waste treatment and disposal services, industrial cleaning, environmental, remediation, and transportation services. The transaction involved investigating environmental conditions at more than 100 sites, including 15 hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities located throughout the US. The environmental team coordinated the due diligence process, worked with the buyer to ensure that it understood the environmental risks, and negotiated contract terms. Active clients also include American Securities Capital Partners, Crow Holdings, Darling International, General Electric and its affiliates, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Seacor Holdings. Washington DC-based David Berz heads the team and comes highly recommended by clients. Washington DC-based Annemargaret Connolly is also recommended and is particularly active in transactional matters.

Fulbright & Jaworski LLP advises a range of clients on transactional and regulatory matters including Union Pacific Railroad, Rowan Companies, Shell Oil and Rex Energy. The team also assists the firm’s corporate, real estate, and trust and estate attorneys with the environmental aspects of mergers and acquisitions and problems that arise from management of contaminated properties. It advised Samsung Austin Semiconductor on an air permit for a design centre, which would result in a $3.6bn investment in its Austin facility provided that the client could obtain approval for the design center under the existing air permit within a few weeks. The firm was able to develop a proposal that provided the needed flexibility for the design center, concurrent with changes authorized for the existing fabrication lines and within the framework of the existing air program. It also obtained approval of the revised air permit within the time allowed for the Austin facility to win the bid. The firm is also representing SandRidge Energy in an air contamination matter. Houston-based Eva Fromm O’Brien leads the team, which also includes Ausin-based Patricia Braddock and Houston-based Heather Corken, who is recommended for regulatory matters.

Morrison & Foerster LLP’s ‘strong’ California-based practice is ‘excellent in regulatory matters’, and is currently representing the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in petitioning the California Air Resources Board to extend the deadlines for compliance with new regulations requiring construction contractors to replace or retrofit their equipment. Its work for AGC has uncovered significant errors in the regulator’s emissions estimates and caused the agency to rethink its approach to the regulation. Other work included advising New United Motor Manufacturing on the environmental issues associated with the closure of its automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, which included environmental remediation issues and strategic plans for the reuse of the property, and negotiations with Tesla Motors on its acquisition of the plant. On the transactional side, the team advised NUMMI on the environmental issues associated with the closure of its automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, including on the environmental remediation issues and strategic plans for the reuse of the property, and negotiated with Tesla Motors on its acquisition of the plant. Robert Falk and Christopher Carr head the team from the San Francisco branch, which also includes Michael Steel. The firm has environmental partners in its Walnut Creek, Los Angeles and San Diego offices.

The environmental team at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is ‘responsive, has good industry knowledge and although it is expensive, it is well worth every penny’. The team provides environmental advice in commercial transactions, including risk analysis, negotiations and the development of protective transaction structures and efficient indemnity and cost-sharing arrangements. It advises clients on ways to minimize environmental risks including advice concerning environmental law requirements, structuring transactions and relationships with corporate affiliates to avoid alter ego and successor liability, preparing environmental policy statements and compliance programs, and obtaining reimbursement for losses under applicable indemnities and insurance policies. It also conducts negotiations with regulatory authorities to resolve environmental issues. The firm recently represented Dynegy, first in a proposed sale to an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, and subsequently to Ichan Enterprises, in a tender offer followed by a merger. The transaction involved the negotiation of complex environmental concerns, including environmental liability covenants and emission allowances for an environmentally sensitive business owning gas, coal and oil fired generation facilities. The firm also represented a client on the sale of a large portfolio of specialized residential facilities, which involved the resolution of various environmental liability issues arising from potential historical contamination at brownfield properties. New York-based Matthew Brennan leads the team and is regarded for his support to the firm’s project finance, corporate, M&A, real estate, securities and finance groups, in evaluating environmental liabilities and risks, in structuring transactions to minimize risk and in negotiating the allocation of environmental risk between parties in transactions.

With ‘excellent capabilities in Texas’, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. ‘provides a very good service’ and is ‘an able player for transactional and regulatory matters relating to environment’. The group has a strong reputation for securing key permits for development projects, including air permits in Texas and other states for power plants and other industrial establishments, water supply and wastewater discharge permits, and approvals for multi-state projects including pipelines and power transmission lines. It is also regarded for advising clients on structuring transactions to minimize or reduce environmental risks. It represented private equity firm Paine & Partners on environmental matters relating to its acquisition of three oilfield service companies. The acquisition involved the assessment of environmental conditions and an evaluation of environmental compliance at a large number of oilfield waste disposal facilities in five states; an evaluation of the expandability, estimated future service life, and potential remediation and closure costs at each facility; an analysis of the permitting at each facility and advice regarding the transferability of each permit; and representation of the client in negotiations with each seller, a consortium of lenders, and environmental insurance providers. Houston-based Robert Schick and Carol Dinkins lead the team.