Environmental Litigation
Why Attend?
This advanced course of study, now in its 35th year, provides a unique opportunity for private and public-sector environmental lawyers to refine their litigation skills by understanding better how litigation problems, substantive environmental law, and science relate to each other.
This year the course focuses on:
The containment of litigation costs
The enforcement initiatives of the Obama Administration
The problems inherent in electronic and digital data
The litigation issues arising from global warming
This practical course in environmental advocacy concentrates on the advanced skills necessary to prevail before administrative and judicial forums in the various environmental litigations including CERCLA, NEPA, and the judicial review of agency action.
During 19 hours of instruction, the course uses specifically-prepared materials, lectures, and faculty demonstrations. The faculty is drawn from some of the principal constituencies involved in environmental disputes: private firms representing plaintiffs or defendants; the EPA, Justice Department, and state attorney general; public-interest groups; and environmental scientists. It also includes one sitting and one former U.S. Magistrate Judge. The faculty members who appear as expert witnesses in the demonstrations also provide valuable insights on the relationship between lawyers and technical consultants and witnesses.
A hallmark of this program over the years has been the way the audience and the faculty have interacted, not just informally but especially during program sessions. Clinical discussions allow registrants to explore their particular litigation problems with faculty members on an informal basis. Time is reserved throughout the program for the faculty to address registrants’ questions and to assist them in any other ways that might render the course more productive for their practices.
What You Will Learn
The course starts with an analysis of standing and concludes with a discussion of settlement techniques, and along the way it discusses the use of demonstrative evidence, discovery problems and the examination of experts. The course does not concentrate on substantive law; rather the procedural problems in all environmental litigation, both public and private, receive attention in the context of discovery, expert proof, and citizen suit litigation. For example, the admission of expert testimony under Daubert and its progeny is reviewed both in a procedural context and in the proof of specific subjects such as in the simulation of a trial involving the siting of an alternative energy facility.
In addition to the problems inherent in plenary litigation, difficult issues continue to arise under NEPA and other informal agency decisions, such as those arising under federal and state wetland laws. The procedural and associated issues relating to these actions receive attention throughout the program. Ethical issues, some of which are unique to environmental litigation, are explored from a practical litigation standpoint.
This year’s other special topics include:
the discovery of electronically stored data
spoliation
the manipulation of scientific data
litigation issues arising from global warming
enforcement trends
hazardous substance litigation including arranger liability and proving equitable shares
Planning Chair
Daniel Riesel, Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C., New York (also on faculty)
Faculty
Bonnie Allyn Barnett, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Philadelphia
Mark A. Chertok, Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C., New York
Yueh-ru Chu, Assistant Attorney General, Environmental Protection Bureau, New York Office of the Attorney General, New York
John C. Cruden, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Ronald J. Hedges, Ronald J. Hedges LLC, Hackensack, New Jersey; former U.S. Magistrate Judge
Peter Hsiao, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Los Angeles
Ralph E. Huddleston, Jr., Senior Vice President, Carpenter Environmental Associates, Inc., Monroe, New York
William J. Jackson, Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs, PC, Houston
Edward Lloyd, Evan M. Frankel Clinical Professor in Environmental Law, Columbia Law School, New York
Sharon M. Mattox, Vison & Elkins LLP, Houston
Catherine R. McCabe, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
Vickie Patton, Deputy General Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund, Boulder, Colorado
Anthony Z. Roisman, National Legal Scholars Law Firm, P.C., Lyme, New Hampshire
Craig B. Shaffer, U.S. Magistrate Judge, Denver
Paul “Skip” Spaulding, III, Farella Braun + Martel LLP, San Francisco
Donald W. Stever, K&L Gates LLP, New York
Stephen T. Washburn, Chief Executive Officer, ENVIRON International Corporation, Emeryville, California
Kenneth J. Withers, Director, Judicial Education and Content, The Sedona Conference, Phoenix
ALI-ABA Staff Attorney: Amy S. Weinberg, Assistant Director, Office of Courses of Study
Register Now!
Boulder, CO: $1299 Add to Cart or Webcast: $999 Add to Cart
Full-time employees of federal, state and local governments and government agencies
Live Course: $649.50 Add to Cart
Live Webcast: $499.50 Add to Cart
Lawyers practicing 5 years or less
Live Course: $649.50 Add to Cart
Live Webcast: $999 Add to Cart
Program Schedule
All times below are Mountain Daylight. Video webcasts are live and without time delay. For assistance in time zone conversion, go to www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010
8:00 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast, Wolf Law Building
8:55 a.m. Administrative Remarks - ALI-ABA Staff
WEBCAST SEGMENT A
9:00 a.m. Introductory Remarks and Course Overview
9:15 a.m. Jurisdiction, Standing, Ripeness, and Judicial Review of Agency Action - Messrs. Riesel and Spaulding
Standing – pleading and proof; review of agency action based on the record and evidence outside the record; privilege and privilege logs; judicial review of guidance documents and the role of final agency action; deference to administrative agencies and the scope of review
10:15 a.m. Networking and Refreshment Break
10:30 a.m. Evidentiary Issues Relating to Technical Data - Messrs. Stever, Washburn, and Withers
Introduction and exclusion of demonstrative exhibits; admission and exclusion of technical reports and laboratory data; groundwater and other models; controlling costs associated with demonstrative exhibits; hearsay issues in electronic evidence; foundations for digital data
11:45 a.m. Clinical Discussions
12:30 p.m. Lunch Break
WEBCAST SEGMENT B
1:45 p.m. Discovery in Environmental Litigation - Judge Hedges and Messrs. Riesel and Withers
Electronic discovery; data preservation and the "litigation hold" doctrine; managing the costs of discovery; spoliation (electronic and otherwise); establishment, maintenance, and waiver of privilege, including Fed.R.Evid. 502 (waiver of privilege); discovery of environmental audit information; discovery of experts
3:00 p.m. Networking and Refreshment Break
3:15 p.m. Effective Advocacy in Air, Water, and Hazardous Waste Litigation - Judge Hedges and Messrs. Spaulding and Stever
Preparation for trial from the pretrial order to opening; a discussion by leading environmental litigators on effective and efficient litigation; controlling litigation costs in a down economy
4:15 p.m. Faculty Demonstration: Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction - Judge Hedges and Messrs. Spaulding and Stever
5:00 p.m. Adjournment for the Day; Networking Reception for Registrants and Faculty (beer and wine will be served)
THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast and Networking Session
WEBCAST SEGMENT C
8:30 a.m. Experts in Environmental Litigation - Messrs. Hsiao, Riesel, Roisman,
Daubert and its progeny; selection of experts; preparation for testimony; direct and cross examination
10:00 a.m. Networking and Refreshment Break
10:15 a.m. Faculty Demonstration: Deposition of an Expert - Messrs. Hsiao, Roisman, and Washburn
10:45 a.m. Clinical Discussions
11:15 a.m. Current and Emerging Enforcement Trends and Responses Thereto - Mr. Hsiao and Ms. McCabe
12:15 p.m. Lunch Break
WEBCAST SEGMENT D
1:30 p.m. NEPA Litigation - Messrs. Chertok, Hsiao, and Spaulding
Developments in the common law of NEPA; proof outside of the NEPA "record"; timing and finality; stays and injunctions; interaction with ESA and other statutes
2:30 p.m. Networking Break
2:45 p.m. Hazardous Substance Litigation - Ms. Barnett; Judges Hedges and Shaffer; and Messrs. Cruden and Riesel
Government initiatives; life after Burlington Northern; apportionment and arranger liability; actions for response costs and contribution; contribution protection; multiparty case management and alternatives to trials; cost containment
5:15 p.m. Adjournment for the Day
FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2010
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast and Networking Session
WEBCAST SEGMENT E
8:30 a.m. Citizen Suits and Defenses Against Them - Mr. Chertok; Mss. Chu and Patton; and Professor Lloyd
Imminent and substantial endangerment suits; emerging cases under the Clean Air Act; the shifting of attorneys' fees; tactical issues to be considered by members of the regulated community
9:30 a.m. Networking and Refreshment Break
9:45 a.m. Faculty Demonstration: Trial of an Alternate Energy Siting Case - Judge Shaffer; Messrs. Jackson and Roisman
11:30 a.m. Lunch Break
WEBCAST SEGMENT F
12:45 p.m. Natural Resources Damage Litigation - Ms. Mattox and Messrs. Cruden and Jackson
Proof of damage; defenses and strategies
1:45 p.m. Networking and Refreshment Break
2:00 p.m. Global Warming Litigation and the Needed Skills - Mss. Barnett, Chu, and Patton
Litigation involving the Clean Air Act, NEPA, and under state and federal common laws
3:00 p.m. Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Environmental Litigation - Ms. Mattox and Mr. Withers
4:00 p.m. Adjournment
Total 60-minute hours of instruction: 19, including one hour of ethics
Suggested Prerequisite: Substantial experience in legal practice in subject matter
Educational Objective: Maintenance of professional competence as a practitioner; provision of information on recent legal developments; development of proficiency in performance of intricate and complex legal tasks within a narrow area.
Level of Instruction: Advanced
Here's what registrants have said about this course:
“This is my 4th Environmental Litigation course in the past 20 years…As usual, written materials are excellent; venue was wonderful; breakfast and snacks great.” - 2009 registrant
“All of the practical demonstrations were very well presented and very helpful, not only for newer, younger attorneys, but also to reinforce and supplement what older attorneys know or should know. Also the practical demonstrations are helpful for general litigation, not limited to the environmental law subject matter, and I especially appreciated that. Overall, thanks for the course.” - 2009 registrant
“Overall, this course was excellent.” - 2009 registrant
“Faculty demonstration on day 1 was excellent! It is a great learning experience to see how experienced environmental litigators handle these issues. The demonstrations also effectively applied the things discussed during the day.” - 2009 registrant
“Great course!” – Scott Walters, US Army Legal Services Agency, Arlington, VA, 2009 registrant
“I was pleased with this course. I thought it accomplished updating purpose very well, covering the areas I wanted. The materials were very good and their being available online is great. Virtually all the speakers were outstanding.” - 2009 registrant
Times
All times listed in the above-Program Schedule are Mountain Daylight. Note that the video webcast is live and without time delay.
