Best Lawyers in America for Environmental Law
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State
E. Chase Dressman is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Energy Law, Environmental Law and Litigation - Environmental. E. Chase, who practices law in Cincinnati, Ohio, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which E. Chase is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Curtis B. Toll represents developers and corporations in connection with the acquisition, development, transfer, financing and sale of environmentally contaminated real estate. He focuses his practice on complex project redevelopments, environmental liability transfers, and the management and mitigation of environmental risk. Curt structures, negotiates and manuscripts various specialized environmental contracts and insurance products, including cost cap, pollution legal liability and integra...
Lisa M. McKnight is one of six founding lawyers of Salmon, Lewis & Weldon, P.L.C., specializing in natural resources law, environmental law, Indian law, and water rights litigation. Ms. McKnight’s practice focuses on environmental matters, particularly litigation and administrative agency proceedings under the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and other federal laws affecting the use of land, water and other natural resources. From the inception of her l...
Andy has more than 25 years experience in general environmental counseling and regulatory compliance, natural resource permitting, and land use permitting. He has served for more than 25 years as general counsel and has provided environmental law services on special projects to Maine municipalities. Andy is the Chair of the Environmental & Land Use and Municipal Law & Finance practice groups at Eaton Peabody. His practice concentrates on environmental compliance counseling, and repres...
John Voorhees is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Administrative / Regulatory Law, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Environmental Law and Litigation - Health Care. John, who practices law in Denver, Colorado, has been recognized since 2015. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Steve Kostka, senior counsel with the firm's Environment, Energy & Resources practice, has represented clients in a broad range of cases involving the California Environmental Quality Act, the Planning and Zoning Law, and other state and federal environmental and land use statutes. He also has extensive experience counseling public agencies and private clients on land use, CEQA and NEPA compliance issues. Steve is a co-author of Practice Under the California Environmental Quality Act. Thi...
Area of Emphasis Joe Reinhart is a shareholder and former co-chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Group of Babst Calland. He is also a member of the Firm’s Environmental Group. His environmental practice focuses on areas of environmental law that concern oil and gas well development, chemical plant operations, coal mining and non-coal mining. In addition, Mr. Reinhart’s practice includes the application of state and federal laws governing the disposal of produced waters and o...
Wyatt Kendall focuses his practice on brownfield redevelopment and urban renewal projects and routinely advises local and national industrial, multi-family, mixed-use, and retail clients on the acquisition, development, disposition, management, and financing of properties with significant environmental issues and properties within urban and industrial areas across the country. He also represents corporate and lending clients on environmental issues in the context of a host of corporate transa...
Jonathan Spergel is the immediate past managing partner of Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox LLP in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the environmental and energy law firm with which he started his legal career in 1993. He handles a wide variety of environmental legal issues, including the environmental aspects of commercial transactions and brownfields sites, environmental insurance procurement and coverage issues, public funding opportunities, regulatory compliance counseling, and litigation for comm...
Sherry Young is a founder and President of the firm. She heads the firm's Environmental Practice Group, and assists clients on federal and state environmental matters, real estate transactions, and business and finance transactions. Sherry focuses her practice on environmental law, including environmental compliance, permits and approvals, and real estate transactions involving contaminated properties. She has extensive experience in negotiating with state and federal regulators, and has achi...
Bryan is a partner at the firm and has experience in counseling and representing clients on a range of environmental and energy matters. Bryan’s practice has focused on regulatory compliance and transactional matters, particularly in the areas of air and water quality, redevelopment, sustainability, permitting, energy efficiency and renewable energy development. Over the last several years, Bryan has primarily worked with complex regulated industries, notably including petroleum refinin...
Lynn Slade serves clients’ needs addressing Federal Indian law and Native American law, energy, natural resources, environmental law, project development, complex litigation and transactions for over 30 years. In his Indian law practice, Lynn advises and counsels natural resource and energy developers, financial institutions, utilities, and other businesses in transactions and project development, including extensive involvement with renewable energy projects. He also leads litigation t...
Max Zygmont has a broad-based litigation, enforcement defense, and compliance counseling practice. He combines strength in core environmental programs with a firm grasp of emerging environmental issues. Max routinely advises clients regarding the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Superfund. Max's work in these areas has taken place at both the state and federal levels and in all contexts, from transactions and permi...
Brenda L. Clayton is a partner at Kelly Hart whose practice sits at the intersection of environmental, energy, and appellate law. Based in Austin, she guides clients through complex state and federal regulatory frameworks governing waste, water, and natural resources. Brenda’s environmental practice spans high-stakes litigation—including CERCLA actions and federal citizen suits—as well as compliance counseling under major statutory frameworks like RCRA and the Clean Water Ac...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.