Environmental Litigation

In Depth

Cooley’s environmental practice consistently obtains successful results in high-stakes environmental litigation, including actions brought by governmental agencies, cost recovery actions, class actions and private-party environmental litigation.

Comprised solely of trial lawyers, our environmental team prepares each case from the outset with an understanding of our trial strategy, an approach that maximizes the chances of an early resolution and also ensures that cases are positioned to win at the most critical stages. We coordinate environmental defense strategies across state and federal jurisdictions, defending agency actions – including those brought by the Department of Toxic Substances Control – as well as private‑party claims involving complex issues such as PFAS. Our practical, focused strategies keep matters defensible while protecting business objectives.

Our environmental lawyers frequently partner with our transactional and real estate lawyers to perform environmental due diligence associated with corporate transactions. Specifically, we counsel clients on the potential environmental liabilities a transaction may create and work closely with them to develop and implement cost-effective solutions to manage and mitigate risk.

We counsel companies on environmental compliance strategies to obtain key permits, put into practice mandatory remediation and redevelopment programs, structure and deploy compliance programs, negotiate terms and provisions with insurance carriers, and provide general advice on preventative measures to avoid environmental liability or litigation. Combined with integrated risk management and litigation‑informed due diligence, this approach helps reduce exposure and protect enterprise value.

Areas of practice

• Contesting and responding to agency orders at the state and federal level
• Defending agency enforcement actions and private‑party claims involving PFAS and other emerging contaminants
• Defending soil and groundwater contamination claims, including related air emission issues and insurance actions
• Defending CERCLA (Superfund), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act(RCRA), California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act (CLRRA), Proposition 65, Section 17200, Clean Water Act, and Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) and other statutory matters
• Defending claims involving contamination and alleged exposure to hazardous materials, including nitrates, petroleum, hydrocarbon, chlorinated solvents, pesticides, heavy materials, mold, bacteria, radioactive materials, asbestos and lead paint
• Defending claims arising under CEQA and NEPA
• Defending agency CERCLA claims, and defending and pursuing CERCLA private-party recovery actions
• Assessing “brownfield” (contaminated property) development
• Interfacing with environmental consultants and regulatory agencies
• Counseling on insurance claims and reimbursement claims
• Performing environmental due diligence and risk assessment in corporate transactions

Representative matters include:

• Successfully defended large packaging manufacturers, food distributors and retailers in defense of numerous claims that food packaging contains PFAS in violation of California Health & Safety Code section 109000; identified and worked with experts to demonstrate that plaintiffs’ PFAS testing methodology was flawed and would not support the claims at summary judgment or trial
• Successfully defended a petroleum pipeline company in litigation and administrative actions involving soil and groundwater contamination at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego; following a number of pre-trial wins, the suit settled for a fraction of the initial demand
• Obtained multiple victories for a major real estate investment firm in the development of the Navy Broadway Complex site, successfully defeating several entitlement and environmental challenges to this project and securing a favorable declaratory relief judgment in litigation against the California Coastal Commission
• Obtained the complete dismissal of numerous cases filed by California municipalities involving alleged contamination of groundwater
• Advise clients with respect to the testing for, management of and risks associated with PFAS in the context of corporate acquisitions and sales, real estate acquisitions and sales, potential employee claims and potential agency enforcement actions
• Secured a complete defense verdict at trial for an agricultural company
• Successfully represented large, historic manufacturers in a variety of claims, including defense of state and federal agency CERCLA and state claims and the defense and pursuit of CERCLA cost recovery claims
• Obtained a favorable insurance claim coverage jury verdict related to the release of various organic solvents at the former facility of a major provider of defense and commercial electronics and aviation
• Advised a private equity firm on environmental issues during its acquisition of an institutional furniture and office products holding company, including five furniture-manufacturing businesses whose facilities presented a range of environmental issues
• Interfaced and negotiated with agencies regarding soil and groundwater contamination caused by multiple nearby property owners on behalf of a membership-only warehouse club
• Advised a private pharmaceutical company on environmental issues during its acquisition of a life sciences company that owned numerous properties throughout the US and overseas, most of which housed manufacturing operations that utilized various chemicals
• Successfully represented one of the oldest and largest US environmental organizations in a CEQA challenge pertaining to expansion of the Mammoth Lakes Airport