McGuireWoods partner Gregory Evans, a nationally renowned litigator with more than 25 years of federal and state trial experience, is among five lawyers Law360 selected as 2017 Environmental MVPs. The legal newswire’s annual MVP Awards recognize lawyers worldwide who achieved hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.
Evans, who represents elite brands in complex commercial litigation, has served as lead counsel to copper mining giant Asarco LLC in federal appellate courts across the country since the company emerged from the largest environmental bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2009.
Facing environmental claims related to more than 100 environmental sites in 19 states, Asarco settled all of the government’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act claims for a fraction of the $9 billion the government initially demanded. Since then, Evans has represented Asarco in recovering millions from parties that contributed to the pollution at sites Asarco paid to clean up. In 2017, Evans argued and won favorable CERCLA decisions in the 9th and 10th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as a favorable decision in December that concluded a four-week trial in the U.S. District Court in Boise, Idaho.
“What Asarco has accomplished is remarkable,” said Evans. “These cases have created a body of law that encourages companies to voluntarily settle environmental claims early while allowing contribution claims to be pursued later — a benefit to the settling company and to human health and the environment.”
Evans’ accomplished litigation boutique, Integer Law Corporation, merged with McGuireWoods in 2015 to form the firm’s downtown Los Angeles office, where he served as its first office managing partner. Active in community and pro bono service, he sits on the boards of directors for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund Property Management Corporation, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Constitutional Rights Foundation and the YMCA of San Francisco; the advisory council of the University of Notre Dame Institute for Latino Studies; and the board of trustees for Catholic Charities of Los Angeles.