1891 — The Forest Reserve Law empowers the President to reserve public lands that are covered by timber or undergrowth, expanding the nation’s woodland sanctuaries amid growing concern over development and proving that balance between mankind and nature is a fickle prospect.
We use a problem-solving approach to resolve clients’ environmental compliance issues, to evaluate and resolve environmental aspects of business transactions, and to resolve disputes with others. The unique character of our group facilitates our approach — most of our environmental lawyers have degrees and work experience in engineering, hazardous waste management and/or biology.
We are Michigan’s most experienced lawyers in dealing with environmental issues in lending transactions, and advise more than 80 Michigan banks on environmental issues and banking policies. As leaders in dealing with Brownfield issues, our expertise includes all aspects of urban redevelopment, from condemnation to cleanup and redevelopment. We have obtained grants, tax benefits and other incentives for clients involved in Brownfield redevelopment.
Our environmental attorneys secure permits, help clients satisfy regulatory requirements and litigate issues that cannot be resolved without suit. We represent corporations in the environmental aspects of mergers and acquisitions. In tackling disputes involving cutting-edge legal issues, we have taken several to the Michigan and federal courts of appeals and the supreme courts. Our effectiveness is enhanced by working relationships with regulatory officials and support from dozens of specialists in related practice areas.
Other services include:
We have worked with a national retail owner/developer to obtain the first tax credits approved for a functionally obsolete property in the City of Southfield under Michigan’s Brownfield laws.
Our team represented a professional sports franchise in the development of its new stadium and negotiated a flexible, developer-friendly process with the MDEQ to facilitate redevelopment of the stadium area.
On behalf of a client at a multi-party Superfund site, we intervened to steer a series of technical and remedial disputes away from almost-certain litigation to a process where all issues have been addressed. The process yielded a productive relationship, including forgiveness of about $1 million in government cost recovery claims.
We obtained federal appellate and Supreme Court rulings that insulate private shareholders from cleanup liability associated with the corporation whose stock they own.
We have both brought and defended class action and other lawsuits asserting statutory, trespass, and negligence claims by citizen groups. We also diverted a potential citizen suit into a cooperative planning process to resolve a complex urban water pollution problem.
A Tier 1 automotive supplier utilized our counsel in evaluating and negotiating environmental risk allocations relating to its acquisition of a large manufacturing company with multiple plant sites.
We have represented Superfund steering committees in cost recovery actions against multiple parties.