Fielding practitioners across Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington DC, Alston & Bird LLP is well-equipped to defend a spread of mass torts, citizen suits, class actions and government enforcement matters before state and federal courts; its workload also encompasses mandates falling under the CAA, CWA, CERCLA, RCRA, NEPA and ESA. Over in San Francisco, Greg Christianson deals with environmental damages claims and defends federal and state enforcement actions, Atlanta’s Meaghan Boyd is known by companies facing lawsuits arising from environmental damages and contamination claims, while Clay Massey, also in Atlanta, has experience handling mass tort environmental claims and land use claims. Jeffrey Dintzer, of the Los Angeles office, is another name to note, he is a go-to for clients within the energy, manufacturing and oil and gas sectors seeking assistance with high-stakes administrative proceedings.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Great team, and top notch service’
‘Clay Massey is a star. Also supported by a talented team, including Maya Grasse. Excellent.’
‘Environmental litigation is a super specialized practice of the law. ’
Key clients
- Chevron U.S.A, Inc.
- Five Point Holdings
- Heritage Field El Toro
- Schnitzer Steel Industries
- Georgia Power Company
- Union Carbide Corporation
- Westlake Chemical
- Ascend Elements
- Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company LLC
- IsoNova Technologies
- Vulcan Materials Company
Work highlights
- Representing Schnitzer Steel and MMGL in connection with sediment contamination at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site, one of the largest Superfund sites in the country, located on a ten-mile stretch of the Willamette River that runs through the Industrial section of Portland, Oregon.
- Serving as lead trial counsel to Sterigenics on a number of matters, including the high-profile environmental tort litigation by hundreds of plaintiffs against Sterigenics claiming ethylene oxide emissions from its Atlanta cause them to develop cancer or their properties to lose value; Sterigenics’ federal court litigation against Cobb County, Georgia over the county’s prior closure of Sterigenics’ Atlanta sterilization facility; and defending Sterigenics against public nuisance and negligence claims brough by the New Mexico Attorney General over Sterigenics’ New Mexico facility’s ethylene oxide emissions.
- Secured a victory in California Supreme Court for Chevron U.S.A., along with certain business partners and royalty owners, in a challenge to a countywide ballot initiative that, if implemented, would have shut down all operations at the state’s eighth-largest oil field.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Greg Christianson, Meaghan Boyd