Our environmental practice consists of an interdisciplinary team of qualified attorneys, paralegals and investigators specializing in regulatory environmental issues, litigation, land use and real estate, insurance and governmental policy and practice. We work closely with those in our Corporate Finance and Real Estate practice groups in negotiating environmental provisions in transactional documents and allocating environmental risks and liability relating to transfer of interests in real property.

Many of our attorneys have prior training and experience in a variety of technical backgrounds, such as public health, industrial hygiene and toxicology, chemistry and engineering. We have a substantial state-level environmental practice counseling clients in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and the Eastern United States.

Our environmental attorneys are strategically located in many of our offices. For example, our Chicago office has an active practice before the Region V headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and provides legal services in the Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana areas. Our Lansing office is involved on a regular basis in environmental legislation and rulemaking activities, while lawyers in our Grand Rapids office provide legal services on matters in Western Michigan and Indiana.

We advise clients in all major areas of environmental law, including:

• Air quality
• Water quality
• CERCLA/Superfund issues
• Contaminated property liability
• Environmental permitting and compliance enforcement
• Environmental litigation
• Hazardous and solid waste
• Land use planning
• Real estate
• Toxic chemicals/toxic torts
• Wetlands

We are one of a select group of law firms nationwide that has been involved in environmental coverage litigation and insurance coverage litigation over allegedly defective products. We have been asked to participate in the Joint Task Force of the American Bar Association, composed of counsel for the insurers and counsel for the insureds, both outside counsel and in-house counsel, to attempt to achieve a protocol sanctioned by the American Bar Association to implement solutions to the costly problems in the environmental area.

In addition, attorneys in our Government Policy Practice counsel a diverse client base on regulations, laws and policies affecting the government and natural resources and their management. They assist with regulation and policy drafting and interpretation at both the state and federal level, and present testimony and other key information to legislative committees addressing legislation of interest to our clients. Our environmental attorneys routinely work with this group in achieving client goals.

For more information about our Environmental practice, please contact:
Grant Gilezan, Leader 313-568-6789