Baker Botts, L.L.P., a leading international energy and technology law firm, announced today the addition of a prominent group of environmental, health and safety (EHS) crisis response lawyers. Steve Solow, Nadira Clarke, Lily Chinn, Greg Dillard, Natalia Sorgente, Anne Carpenter, Scott Elliott, Matthew Baker and Danny Worrell have joined the firm as partners in the Litigation Department’s Environmental Section and White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations practice group, residing in Baker Botts’ Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Houston and Austin offices. The team joins Baker Botts from Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.
Members of this nine-partner team respond to major accidents and environmental incidents. They have handled the most significant EHS criminal and civil enforcement cases over the last 10 years. The team advises companies in emergency response, environmental incidents, internal investigations, and suspension and debarment matters in sectors that include energy, chemical, refining, manufacturing, construction and transportation. They have broad experience in corporate compliance programs, including the court-appointed monitorship of Carnival Corporation & plc’s cruise lines.
“Few, if any, lawyers have excelled in high-profile environmental health and safety crisis response matters as has this stellar group of partners,” said Baker Botts’ Managing Partner, John Martin. “This sought-after team brings a market-leading safety and EHS-specific white collar practice to our firm that will augment our similarly market-leading environmental counseling and civil enforcement capabilities, adding strength on strength and solidifying our position as the go-to firm for EHS crisis response.”
“When EHS crises hit, we are a destination law firm for helping our clients navigate their new normal. The addition of this extraordinary group of lawyers cements our reputation as an industry-leading practice group for EHS crisis response. Adding depth to our lawyers with Department of Justice experience, including senior DOJ environmental lawyer Jeff Wood, who joined in April, will only enhance what we can offer to our clients,” said Van Beckwith, Chair of Baker Botts’ Litigation Department. “Their unique and coveted blend of environmental, white collar and crisis capabilities immediately benefits our clients globally.”
“Their experience in handling some of the highest-profile EHS crises in recent memory, coupled with the work that several of the lawyers have performed at the DOJ, will provide our clients with a highly desirable skill set and perspective,” said Scott Janoe, firmwide Chair of Baker Botts’ Environmental Section.
“Our team is thrilled to join Baker Botts,” Mr. Solow said. “The firm has long been pre-eminent in the environmental space and in handling bet-the-company matters for their impressive client base. This move results in a combined team that provides clients with the support they seek when facing business-critical environmental, health and safety crisis matters. We expect to hit the ground running.”
The team, residing in four Baker Botts offices, comprises the following partners:
Steve Solow (Washington, D.C.) is regarded as one of the preeminent EHS white collar lawyers in the United States. Before moving to private practice, he headed the DOJ’s Environmental Crimes Section. Prior to that, he served as the Assistant Chief of the Section. Earlier, Mr. Solow was a prosecutor for the New York State Organized Crime Task Force. He has long represented energy companies in connection with multiple environmental incidents that are the subject of government investigations and criminal enforcement. Over the years, his clients have included oilfield services companies, maritime companies, chemical pesticide manufacturers, mining companies, agricultural concerns, refiners and pipeline companies. Mr. Solow is currently serving as the court-appointed monitor of Carnival Corporation. He earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law. Throughout his career, he has held faculty positions teaching environmental law and criminal procedure, including at the University of Maryland School of Law and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
Nadira Clarke (Washington, D.C.), former head of the Litigation practice in her previous firm’s Washington, D.C. office, is a first-chair trial lawyer with deep white collar and civil trial experience. Her clients include oilfield services, refining, manufacturing and chemical companies, as well as individuals charged with criminal wrongdoing. She earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and moved to Washington, D.C. to become a trial lawyer in the DOJ’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division. While there, she handled both civil and criminal enforcement matters for many years. She later served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland and a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Lily Chinn (San Francisco) is a nationally recognized civil and criminal environmental litigator and was the Managing Partner of her former firm’s San Francisco Bay Area office. She began her legal career as a trial attorney in the Environmental Defense Section of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C., developing extensive trial and appellate experience. She also served as a prosecutor in the DOJ’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section. Her clients include energy, oilfield services, refining, manufacturing and chemical companies as well as individuals charged with criminal wrongdoing. Ms. Chinn earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and was a member of Order of the Coif. Prior to law school, she was an environmental consultant in the San Francisco area.
Greg Dillard (Houston) was the Managing Partner of his former firm’s Houston office. He focuses on crisis response and enforcement defense, in addition to providing safety-related compliance counseling. He has played a key role in protecting and defending clients after dozens of major safety crises over the last 17 years. Mr. Dillard provides on-site support after accidents, managing the full spectrum of regulatory and legal obligations and focusing on all sectors of the upstream, midstream and downstream energy and chemical industries. He also leads internal investigations, litigates regulatory enforcement actions brought by government agencies, and advises on health, safety and environmental compliance to prevent future liability. Mr. Dillard earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.S. from Georgetown University.
Natalia Sorgente (Washington, D.C.), a former senior Department of Justice official and experienced litigator, provides representation and strategic counsel on complex matters, including those at the intersection of law, policy, government and business. While at the DOJ, she served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General, as well as Chief of Staff and Counsel for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, where she played a key oversight role in the Department’s most significant environmental cases, as well as in crisis response, settlement negotiations and policy development. With over 20 years of experience in both government and private practice, Ms. Sorgente focuses on high-stakes investigations, litigations and monitorships. She began her career clerking in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after earning her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her A.B. from Harvard University.
Anne Carpenter (Washington, D.C.) handles EHS civil and criminal investigations and enforcement defense matters. She represents a wide range of clients, from oilfield services companies to homebuilders. She is recognized in the area of federal suspension and debarment. Ms. Carpenter earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
Scott Elliott (Houston) advises clients on EHS regulatory matters and crisis response to major industrial accidents, process safety incidents and workplace facilities. He earned his J.D. with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law. He was a founding member of his former firm’s Houston office.
Matthew Baker (San Francisco) provides strategic advice to clients across many industries in the area of security and crisis preparedness, with particular expertise in the energy and chemical sector. He focuses on civil and white collar defense and has extensive experience with domestic and international data privacy issues and information security. He was a firmwide co-chair of the Electronic Discovery and Information Governance practice at his previous firm.
Danny Worrell (Austin) has practiced environmental law since graduating from the University of Houston Law Center. Mr. Worrell’s practice is centered on Texas environmental and administrative law. He has extensive experience in contested case hearings for energy and chemical companies. Before attending law school, he spent several years as a professional geologist for ARCO Oil & Gas.
The Baker Botts Environmental team advances and protects its clients’ interests during the permitting process, before regulatory agencies, in the courtroom, and when a crisis hits. Our lawyers bring sound commercial judgment to our clients’ most challenging environmental matters, along with a deep understanding of the varied legal, technical and policy issues that they face. With more than 40 dedicated lawyers in five offices nationwide, Baker Botts’ Environmental practice is one of the largest and most diverse in the United States.
Drawing on decades of private sector, law enforcement and in-house experience, Baker Botts’ award-winning White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice is comprised of trial lawyers with national reputations and includes former federal and state prosecutors and regulators, national security specialists and experienced investigators. We help our clients navigate crises that can threaten their businesses and reputations as well as vigorously defend them in criminal and civil enforcement matters, conduct and defend complex investigations, and advise on risk management and compliance.
Source: www.bakerbotts.com
