Two words define our Environmental Group: reputation and results. We’ve earned both. The success of Preti Flaherty's large and diversified environmental practices can be seen in the wide range of clients from across the country that rely on us for environmental problem-solving, risk management and litigation. We represent Fortune 500 companies, large, mid-size and small manufacturers, development companies, trade and other associations, PRP groups, municipalities and government agencies, as well as individuals. Our clients’ environmental challenges are all different, but they all come to us because we stay ahead of the fast pace of change in environmental regulation and legislation, and we provide creative, comprehensive, and cost-effective solutions.

Led by a former senior enforcement official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and backed by highly qualified environmental attorneys, including two former EPA regional and headquarters attorneys, and a former EHS manager for a major paper manufacturing company, Preti Flaherty’s Environmental Group brings substantial insight and experience to issues involving air, water and stormwater, solid/hazardous waste, waste management, chemical regulation, and land use controls.

Our extensive environmental experience includes:

  • Litigating federal, state and local administrative and judicial proceedings
  • Defending class action and multiparty toxic tort suits
  • Negotiating and litigating Superfund cost recovery, remediation and natural resource damages cases
  • Pursuing federal, state and local permit applications and managing the permitting process
  • Undertaking permit and licensing appeals for construction and development
  • Counseling on compliance with environmental and land use statutes and regulations
  • Defending administrative and judicial regulatory enforcement proceedings
  • Assisting developers and municipalities in Brownfields redevelopment
  • Advising on environmental due diligence and risk management in real estate and commercial transactions
  • Counseling on toxics use, emerging contaminants (e.g. PFAS), pollution prevention and community right-to-know issues
  • Undertaking compliance audits
  • Advising on air regulation, climate strategy and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

The lawyers you want on your side.

Companies facing environmental challenges ask for our attorneys by name. They trust that when Preti Flaherty’s team is involved in the case, they’re getting the best possible counsel. We guide our clients through sophisticated and often-unfamiliar territory in a clear, practical, and understanding way. With three former government enforcement lawyers that have more than one hundred years combined experience and a deep bench to support them, we’ve built an extremely accomplished, knowledgeable and capable team. We’re called on to address big issues on serious matters, and we’re always ready for the next challenge. 

Additional information on the firm's environmental due diligence and risk management experience can be viewed here.

Firm Highlights

News

Preti Flaherty Attorneys Selected for Inclusion in 2023 Super Lawyers

Fourteen Preti Flaherty attorneys have been selected for recognition by Super Lawyers , including seven Rising Stars. Super Lawyers rates outstanding lawyers throughout the United States in more than 70 practice areas. Only five...

News

Preti Flaherty Welcomes Attorneys Michelle Amidzich Fritz and Kat Mail to the Firm

Preti Flaherty is pleased to announce the arrival of attorneys Michelle Amidzich Fritz and Kat Mail. Michelle Amidizich Fritz joins the firm’s Environmental Practice Group in the Boston office. She is a graduate of...

Publication

How Much Permitting "Reform" Comes from the New Debt Ceiling Legislation?

Without fanfare or ceremony, on Saturday June 3 rd , President Biden signed the bitterly-negotiated Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), also known as the Debt Ceiling Limit legislation. While most of the media...

News

David Van Slyke Reappointed by Governor Mills to New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission

Van Slyke is one of five Commissioners from the state of Maine overseeing NEIWPCC PORTLAND—Preti Flaherty’s Managing Partner, David Van Slyke, has been reappointed by Governor Janet T. Mills to the New England Interstate...

News

David Van Slyke Named to 2024 Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law

Preti Flaherty’s Managing Partner David Van Slyke has been recognized by Lawdragon as one of the top 500 environmental lawyers in the U.S. It’s the third time he has been named to this prestigious...

Publication

Post Sackett: What Is the Scope of the Clean Water Act?

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rendered a decision in Sackett et ux. v. EPA addressing what Justice Alito referred to as a “nagging question” of what water bodies are covered under...