David R. Gillay is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg's Environmental Department. Before joining the department in 2001, he obtained an advanced environmental engineering degree and practiced as an environmental consultant on various projects across the country.
David's legal practice primarily concentrates on the following subjects: underground storage tank regulation, including Indiana's Excess Liability Trust Fund; Brownfields projects; remediation projects dealing with soil, surface water and groundwater contamination under a wide variety of regulatory programs; assessing and managing the vapor intrusion pathway in real estate transactions and redevelopment activities; cost-recovery claims against owners and operators for contamination, including evaluating other mechanisms to fund investigatory and cleanup activities; environmental due diligence including Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, Phase II subsurface investigations, and evaluating remedial cost estimates; and managing environmental liability in business transactions. His work includes business and compliance counseling, voluntary clean-ups, risk-based decision making under Indiana's Risk-Integrated System of Closure and federal guidance documents, and litigation before state and federal courts and agencies.
David worked as an engineer/project manager with various consulting firms from the mid-1990s to 2001. Most recently, he was project manager for IT Corporation's Engineering and Construction Group and worked in the following areas: remediation of industrial sites with chlorinated solvents and metals contamination; leaking underground storage tank clean-ups; contract and claim management on a multimillion dollar Superfund clean-up project in Monticello, Utah; environmental compliance audits; and due diligence involving phase I and II investigations in property transfers, mergers and acquisitions.
David frequently writes and speaks, having participated in a variety of private associations, client and continuing legal and business education seminars. David also participates in government work groups that develop policies on various technical aspects of risk-based clean-ups. David is counsel of record for the Midwestern States Environmental Consultants Association (MSECA). MSECA works closely with governmental regulators on technical matters related to the characterization, clean-up, and closure of contaminated properties.
Since 2011, David has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of environmental law. David has also been listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business since 2016.
He received a B.S. in civil engineering in 1995 and a M.S. in environmental engineering in 1996 from Michigan State University. He received his J.D. with honors in 2001 from the University of Tulsa College of Law, where he was a senior staff member on the Tulsa Law Journal and a member of Phi Delta Phi.
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