Latham & Watkins LLP

Tom Lee provides environmental counseling on a broad spectrum of transactions and regulatory matters.

Tom brings a commercial approach to complex environmental issues across a range of industries, including:

• Aerospace, defense, and government services
• Energy and infrastructure
• Financial institutions
• Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
• Retail and consumer products
• Food and agriculture
• Chemicals

Tom represents clients in all aspects of chemical regulation, with a recent focus on state and federal regulation of PFAS, and defends clients in enforcement actions under the Clean Air Act, California Air District rules, California Air Resource Board regulations, California’s Proposition 65, California’s Green Chemistry Initiative, and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

He also advises clients on the chemical regulatory aspects of complex corporate transactions, helping clients understand the current and anticipated regulatory impacts to consumer product sales and supply chains.

Tom regularly helps real estate buyers and sellers navigate environmental conditions and related liabilities, with a particular focus on brownfield acquisition and redevelopment. He guides clients through every stage of their highest-stakes transactions, from initial due diligence to contract drafting, closing, and post-closing remediation and regulatory closure, all with an eye toward balancing costs and environmental risks.

He draws on an up-to-the-minute understanding of evolving regulatory frameworks to advise clients on compliance issues, working with companies to conduct facility audits, prepare and submit permit applications, and correct non-compliant conditions.

A recognized thought leader, Tom frequently writes and speaks on a range of environmental regulatory issues.

Before joining Latham, he served as an office managing partner at another leading law firm.