Environmental Law

Worldwide environmental issues are growing in scale and scope, making them a daily concern for most businesses. 

The Environmental Practice Group at O’Melveny provides the highest caliber of service available to address these environmental issues drawing on the strength of the Firm’s Energy Natural Resources and Environment (ENRE) Practice. Embodying a wealth of experience on environmental matters, and drawing knowledge from governmental service and work in related scientific and engineering disciplines, we are an interdisciplinary group of transactions, litigation, and regulatory practitioners working out of O’Melveny’s 16 offices worldwide. 

We provide global transactional diligence and documentation support with experience in virtually every industrial, commercial, and real estate sector, including consideration of emerging worldwide regulatory issues such as greenhouse gas restrictions. We have a unique capability in integrating our litigation and enforcement knowledge into transactional diligence, as well as conducting due diligence reviews involving large-scale industrial commercial transactions for private equity clients. Recent work includes reviews for clients Apollo Management, L.P., American Capital Strategies, CCMP (formerly JP Morgan), and The Jean Coutu Group. Deploying a team including litigators, environmental consultants, toxicologists, local law specialists, insurance advisors, and actuaries, we have provided diligence and documentation over five continents for Apollo in a series of transactions comprising the roll-up of Borden Chemicals, and businesses of Shell Resins, Arkema GmbH, Orica, Azko Nobel, Rhodia S.A., and Eastman Chemicals to form Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc., the world’s largest producer of thermosetting resins.

When companies are charged with violation of environmental laws, we are skilled at providing creative and effective defense, often taking into consideration claims in multiple jurisdictions. We are experienced in defending civil and criminal suits and proceedings, citizen suits, class actions and mass torts, natural resource damage (NRD) claims, and siting challenges. Our toxic tort teams have provided defense as coordinating counsel on asbestos, chemical exposure, and welding rod litigation claims, framing and implementing nationwide defense and settlement strategies. We have served as litigation lead on some of the largest NRD matters to date, including our ongoing, high-profile representation of ExxonMobil in matters relating to the Valdez oil spill of 1989.

Key Facts