Environmental Litigation

The team comprises a nationwide bench of first-chair trial attorneys and former federal prosecutors who leverage experience from both sides of civil and criminal litigation to defend clients in government investigations and enforcement actions.

Our lawyers have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for Superfund sites where liability is disputed, prevailed in the first case under a new state environmental justice statute, successfully defended against some of the largest, most complicated nuisance litigation in the nation, and are representing the Chapter 11 plan administrator and the reorganized debtor in the largest environmental Chapter 11 filing in history.

We lead vast and overlapping discovery, navigate novel legal theories, defeat class certification, and manage difficult facts. Drawing on our astute understanding of government policies and procedures, our lawyers work closely with EPA and DOJ staff and counsel to negotiate responses to investigations and enforcement actions.

While our team of litigation lawyers is prepared to mount an aggressive defense at trial and before federal and state regulatory agencies, we also work to protect and maintain our clients’ reputations by advocating for swift resolutions out of court. Our environmental litigators work closely with renowned strategic communications, public relations and government relations advisors at our affiliate, McGuireWoods Consulting, to manage high-profile publicity that often surrounds environmental incidents so clients’ perspectives on important issues are heard and understood.

How We Help

McGuireWoods’ Environmental Litigation Practice Group partners with clients through strategic and cost-effective negotiations and litigation. We resolve issues with regulatory agencies and other interested parties through negotiation and stand ready to fight claims in court when necessary.

Our multidisciplinary team combines sector-specific litigation experience with broad business and industry knowledge to craft scientifically sound and persuasive legal arguments that advance our clients’ interests.

Our lawyers draw on the team’s collective experience in handling a range of environmental disputes involving:

• permit appeals;
• rule challenges;
• cost recovery claims;
• contribution actions;
• citizen suits; and
• toxic torts.

Clients call on McGuireWoods to handle environmental enforcement and litigation matters, including: 

CERCLA Environmental Cost Recovery and Contribution Litigation: McGuireWoods has an exemplary record of achievement in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution and cost recovery actions in U.S. District Courts and Courts of Appeal involving Superfund sites throughout the country. Our litigators have recovered or saved clients hundreds of millions of dollars at sites where liability is disputed but equitable allocations must be made. When potentially responsible parties cannot agree, we take the case to trial. In the past five years, the team has tried and appealed numerous CERCLA contribution cases to successful conclusion.

Challenges to Regulations and Agency Actions: Leveraging McGuireWoods’ regulatory know-how and experience with administrative litigation and practical clerkship experience of team appellate litigators, to represent clients in Administrative Procedure Act litigation. Our broad environmental regulatory know-how positions the team to effectively prepare comments on proposed regulations, challenge unlawful regulations in court and defend favorable agency decision-making from others’ attacks. 

Citizen Suits: McGuireWoods defends chemical, solid waste management, agricultural and other companies around the country against citizen suit claims under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. Our experienced environmental lawyers advocate for how the multitude of environmental laws, regulations and guidance documents should be interpreted and applied.

Class Actions: McGuireWoods represents agricultural, automotive, solid waste management, manufacturing and other companies in environmental class actions. The firm has a strong record of obtaining dismissal of claims at the early stages of litigation, defeating class certification motions after commencement of discovery, winning on summary judgment at the close of discovery and obtaining favorable verdicts at trial in some of the country’s largest, high-stakes cases.

Environmental Enforcement: We defend clients in government investigations and enforcement actions brought under all federal and many state environmental, safety and health statutes — responding to civil information requests and subpoenas, advising on criminal investigations, and defending against government enforcement actions in federal or state court or before administrative agencies.

Environmental Justice: McGuireWoods has tackled environmental justice problems since President Clinton’s 1994 executive order directed the federal government to address disproportionately high environmental impacts on minority and low-income populations. Our work includes responding to federal rulemaking actions, representing industry in proceedings that raise environmental justice considerations and working with affected communities to foster improved understanding. Recent federal and state environmental justice policies are impacting cleanup and response activities in new and consequential directions. The team offers deep environmental justice experience, working with communities, companies, municipal clients and trade organizations to understand, address and resolve environmental justice issues.

Fraudulent Transfer and Bankruptcy-Related Environmental Litigation: Leading some of the most complex and high-stakes bankruptcy cases in the country, McGuireWoods handles matters in which channeling injunctions are used to direct environmental claims to litigation trusts. While our experienced bankruptcy litigators handle bet-the-company matters through trial and appeal in any court across the country, the team offers practical solutions where a consensual approach best serves clients’ interests. The firm’s success in contested matters, fraudulent transfer litigation and lender liability claims is a result of the firm’s collective knowledge, judgment and the ability to quickly structure a deep and experienced team. Our lawyers anticipate where company subsidiaries are impacted by significant financial cleanup obligations and litigate to seek financial recovery. Team lawyers maintain longstanding, productive working relationships with the EPA, DOJ and state agencies and officials to establish productive resolutions for the parties involved.

Insurance Recovery: McGuireWoods’ environmental litigators partner with firm insurance recovery lawyers to provide risk mitigation and other strategic considerations in instances where clients face declined coverage. The insurance recovery team litigates large insurance-coverage actions in state and federal courts nationwide and advise on every aspect of insurance coverage and recoveries, as well as arbitration and litigation of coverage matters on behalf of policyholder clients.

Land Use Litigation: The firm advises commercial, industrial and infrastructure project developers in the appeals of both favorable and negative zoning decisions made by localities and permit issuances and denials by regulatory authorities. We engage with “not in my back yard” public opponents and other interested parties to hear their concerns and why they oppose a project, and to explain clients’ goals and objectives. Our lawyers also enlist strategic communications support from public affairs subsidiary McGuireWoods Consulting to help clients successfully navigate project development hurdles.

Mass Tort Litigation: McGuireWoods defends against claims arising from alleged exposure to toxic substances such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), asbestos, lead, silica, latex, mold, tobacco, benzene, solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals. We also defend consolidated cases municipalities file in California, New Jersey, Ohio and other states. The firm has a national reputation for navigating the legal complexities of these cases while developing defense strategies focused on the client’s risks and business needs — including coordinating and managing large-scale defense efforts involving hundreds of cases pending in different jurisdictions, defending emotionally charged severe injury and death cases, and litigating complex medical and scientific issues. 

Natural Resource Damages Claims: McGuireWoods represents public and privately held companies in negotiating NRD assessments and claims with state and federal agencies and trustees. The firm resolves clients’ potential NRD liability claims, with a focus on contaminated sediment sites in rivers, bays and estuaries containing substances such as PCBs, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins/furans and mercury. Firm lawyers also address NRD liabilities arising from contaminated groundwater, wetlands and soils, where sediment and groundwater sites typically raise complex legal, technical, economic and political issues associated with remediation and NRD.

Public and Private Nuisance Litigation: The team defends numerous clients in the transportation, utility, chemical, automotive, solid waste and agricultural industries against public and private nuisance cases, including some of the largest, most complicated mass tort and class action nuisance suits in the nation.

Representative Experience

• Chapter 11 plan administrator and the reorganized debtor in the largest environmental Chapter 11 filing in history, involving distributions of more than $3.4 billion to creditors;
• Fortune 100 chemical manufacturer as national coordinating counsel for in multiple state and federal jurisdictions in public and private nuisance suits seeking billions of dollars;
• International animal agriculture company as trial and appellate counsel in several sets of high-dollar nuisance cases involving hundreds of plaintiffs in several states;
• Fortune 200 utility as trial and appellate counsel for in multiple multibillion-dollar nuisance cases alleging environmental contamination due to global warming and fly ash residue; and
• Supermarket chain in first case under a new state environmental justice statute representing an important precedent against environmental justice challenges to agency permitting decisions and a related Freedom of Information Act administrative appeal requesting wrongfully withheld, critical documents from EPA’s Office of Civil Rights.

Download a copy of our team brochure.