Environmental

Preparing for and getting through the unexpected: That's what our crisis management / disaster recovery team helps clients do. No one wants to experience a catastrophic event, particularly when it results in massive disruption of operations, injuries or even death. Unfortunately, catastrophic events do happen. Our experienced team consists of lawyers from multiple practice areas, including environmental and OSHA lawyers. We advise clients before, during and after crisis events — from emergency response and communications planning to boots on the ground in the aftermath of a catastrophic event.

Our team has experience conducting round table discussions with key client personnel at the planning stage, to identify internal responsibilities and chains of command to utilize in crisis events. We also advise regarding regulatory issues applicable to crisis situations such as evacuations and emergency response. When clients find themselves dealing with the unexpected, we are there in whatever capacity the situation calls for — from telephone advice and reporting to regulators to in-the-field management of investigators and doing what it takes to resume operations.

Representative Engagements / Experience:

• Our multidisciplinary team of over a dozen lawyers spent, in some cases, every day over a month assisting a client's subsidiary in the aftermath of a three-fatality methane gas explosion. The environmental and OSHA lawyers on the team managed the regulatory reporting and weeks-long investigations, coordinated inspections and evidence recovery, recovered useable product, facilitated recovery of employee personal belongings (including cars impacted by explosion debris) and oversaw all regulatory aspects of demolition and reconstruction.
  
  
• Assisting clients in dealing with reportable spills and releases, particularly as they relate to adverse impacts to the environment and the potential for exposure to employees, neighbors and customers.