Legal Elite 2023: Environmental Law Q&A

Title: Partner

Other legal specialties: I have been practicing environmental law since joining the Environmental Protection Agency in 1972. It’s the sole field in which I have specialized over the years.

Education: Bachelor’s degree and law degree, Louisiana State University

Family: I have been happily married to my wife, Linda, for 52 years. We have two children, Owen, a therapist in Malibu, and Mary, a surge officer in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Career mentors: Judge Richard Cudahy, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit

Hobbies: Literature, travel

First legal job: Defense counsel in the U.S. Army at Fort Belvoir

Bingeworthy TV show: “Band of Brothers”

When did you know you wanted to be an attorney? During my third year of engineering

What do you love most about environmental law? The collegiality of environmental attorneys working together to accomplish a common goal while representing private parties involved in Superfund cases

What’s the most challenging thing about environmental law right now? In the field of Superfund, achieving an agreement among the various parties on how to allocate the damages/cleanup costs among the parties

Check out the rest of the 2023 Legal Elite.