Environmental

As concern about the human impact on the environment grows, so too do the reach and complexity of the laws that regulate emissions to the environment and other environmentally-sensitive activities. Today, businesses face an intricate web of interconnected federal and state regulations, international treaties, and common law that continue to accumulate — and can profoundly impact the success of a business venture. Paul, Weiss’s environmental lawyers have been there since the beginning. We offer the deep, decades-long experience, knowledge and insightful counsel necessary to promote our clients’ success, whether transactional compliance, regulatory disputes or major environmental litigation.

Jump to:  Why Paul, Weiss? | Our Practice | Clients | Industries | Representative Engagements

Why Paul, Weiss?

Clients choose Paul, Weiss for environmental advice and representation because we excel at handling every aspect of environmental law. They also choose us because we treat our client’s reputations and interests as paramount.

With an environmental practice that spans both transactional work and litigation, we have handled some of the most important environmental matters companies have faced. From credit arrangements to corporate reorganizations, and from large-scale mergers to securities offerings, we help clients in many industries understand issues relating to compliance with environmental law. Our long experience managing headline-grabbing environmental litigation has taught us how to help clients ethically respond to some of the most sensitive issues that often accompany environmental disputes. We help clients effectively manage the business and legal risks of environmental matters, always mindful of the long-term impact of any proposed strategy.

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Our Practice

Corporate and Finance  Paul, Weiss’s environmental lawyers form interdisciplinary teams with members of the  firm’s other departments to successfully navigate environmental issues that arise in strategic transactions, including financings, insurance coverage, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, other strategic partnerships, purchase of raw materials, equipment and services, and employment and labor agreements.

We have advised numerous buyers, sellers, lenders, borrowers, investors, issuers of securities and investment bankers on the nature and extent of environmental risks of contemplated business transactions. Our work extends to domestic and international transactions with a special focus on clients in the financial, industrial and natural resources industries.

Land and Natural Resources  Our Environmental Practice Group has extensive experience under the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and similar state statutes as well as experience under local land use planning ordinances. We have worked on various environmental regulatory matters, including matters under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Maritime Act.

Litigation  Our Environmental Practice Group collaborates with our world-class Litigation Department to represent clients in major lawsuits involving complicated environmental issues. We have represented clients in environmental administrative proceedings and litigation under a number of federal and related state laws and regulations, including:

• Clean Air Act
• Clean Water Act
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) 
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Multiparty suits, class actions and complex litigations as well as civil and criminal matters related to insurance, bankruptcy, property laws and personal injury are all within our Environmental Practice Group’s purview. While part of our counseling skill lies in helping our clients avoid litigation, all the resources of our full-service firm are brought to bear to protect our clients’ long-term interests.

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Our Clients

Our lawyers have addressed and resolved a range of client concerns regarding a host of environmental issues. Representative matters have included work for:

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Carnival CI Capital Exxon Mobil Kohlberg KPS Capital

Oak Hill Capital Partners Oaktree Capital Management Sumitomo Verizon Viacom

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Industries

Our practice knowledge and experience with domestic and international transactions spans the following environmental sectors:

Automotive Chemical Coal Manufacturing industries Mining Oil and gas

Paper products Rubber Steel Telecommunications Wood products

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Representative Engagements

Our practice has worked diligently to provide the necessary and appropriate solutions to our clients’ environmental business issues. Significant matters have included:

Litigation

Exxon Mobil
We represented Exxon Mobil in a major environmental dispute relating to natural resource damage.

Parties Involved in the Tronox Chemical Chapter 11 Proceedings
We represented various parties involved in the chapter 11 proceedings of Tronox Chemical.

Parties Involved in the AbitibiBowater Chapter 11 Proceedings
We represented various parties involved in the chapter 11 proceedings of AbitibiBowater.

Viacom
We represented Viacom in an environmental insurance coverage action that involved coverage claims against more than 80 insurers at more than 45 sites across the country.

Corporate

Bicent Power Company LLC
We represented Bicent Power Company LLC, an affiliate of Beowulf Energy and Natural Gas Partners, in connection with an agreement to acquire Northwestern Corp.'s 30 percent interest in Colstrip Unit 4, a 740 MW coal-fired facility, for $404 million in cash.

Cenovus Energy Inc.,
We represented Cenovus Energy Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of EnCana Corporation, in connection with Rule 144A/Regulation S offering of $3.5 billion of senior notes.

Husky Energy Inc.
We represented Husky Energy Inc. in connection with a public offering of $1.5 billion of debt securities.

Russell Hobbs, Inc.
We represented Russell Hobbs, Inc. in the completion of a transaction with Spectrum Brands, Inc. which brings Russell Hobbs' network of well-respected family of small appliance brands into Spectrum's portfolio to form a new global consumer products company with an estimated $3 billion in annual revenues.

Wellspring Capital Management
We represented Wellspring Capital Management on its $122 million acquisition of OMNI Energy Services Corp, a leading provider of environmental services to the domestic oil and gas industry.