Christopher L. Bell > Greenberg Traurig LLP > Houston, United States > Lawyer Profile
Greenberg Traurig LLP Offices
1000 LOUISIANA STREET
SUITE 1700
HOUSTON, TX 77002
TEXAS
United States
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Christopher L. Bell
Work Department
Environmental
Position
Shareholder
Career
Chris Bell represents clients in civil and criminal enforcement and investigations, litigation, compliance counseling, emergency incident response, and legislative and regulatory advocacy (including appellate challenges to rulemakings) under all of the major environmental, health, safety and natural resource laws. His enforcement experience includes internal investigations, responding to grand jury investigations and agency information requests, and negotiating consent, probation, and debarment agreements. He is currently the EPA Independent Monitor overseeing the nation’s largest investor-owned energy company’s compliance with complex debarment and probation agreements arising from the resolution of a criminal enforcement case brought under the Clean Water Act.
Chris assists buyers, sellers, investors and financial institutions on the environmental aspects of transactions, including conducting due diligence, negotiating the environmental provisions of transactional documents, and identifying and executing insurance-based risk management opportunities. His transactional experience has included upstream, midstream and downstream energy projects, alternative energy projects, and transactions in the manufacturing, logistics, consumer products and chemicals sectors.
He helps clients evaluate and implement compliance and ethics programs (e.g., under the Sentencing Guidelines), and environmental, health and safety management systems (including based on ISO 14001). Chris advises clients on sustainable development, climate change, product and chemical stewardship and regulation, and value chain management. He recently served on an independent committee advising the senior management of a Fortune 50 company on its global sustainability strategy and reporting.
He is also experienced with international matters, including compliance with product and chemical regulations in the EU and Asia, and the international transportation of raw materials and waste. For over twenty years he has represented industry in the development of international standards, including ISO standards on EMS (ISO 14001), auditing, life cycle assessment, sustainable development, nanotechnology, and anti-bribery management systems (ISO 37001).
Chris spent a year seconded to a major multinational corporation as in-house counsel, and has worked with clients in many sectors, including power generation and distribution, natural gas, alternative energy, transportation, chemicals, oil exploration and production, life sciences, natural resources, defense, electronics, communications, real estate, consumer products, retail sales, and general manufacturing.
Capabilities
Environmental
Environmental & Toxic Tort Litigation
Energy & Natural Resources
Nanotechnology
Federal Regulatory & Administrative Law
Corporate Governance & Compliance
Languages
English
Education
- J.D., magna cum laude, University of Michigan Law School, 1985
- Order of the Coif
- B.A., Michigan State University, 1981
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Labor and employment > Immigration
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Labor and employment > Immigration
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Real estate > Real estate
Firm Rankings
- Healthcare > Health insurers
- Labor and employment > Immigration
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Energy > Energy regulation: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Labor and employment > Labor-management relations
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Finance > Project finance
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Healthcare > Service providers
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Transport > Aviation and air travel: litigation and regulation
- Government > Government contracts
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)