Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Christopher D. Thomas and Matthew L. Rojas have joined the firm’s Environment, Energy & Resources (EER) practice in Phoenix. Chris, a partner, and Matt, senior counsel, advise municipal, industrial and commercial clients on a variety of environmental disputes and regulatory compliance issues, focusing on complex infrastructure permitting, groundwater contamination litigation, enforcement defense, and brownfields remediation. Matt also advises clients on the regulation of public lands, including the use and development of surface water and groundwater rights issues throughout the West.
“Chris and Matt add to the breadth and depth of our national environmental practice,” said Karen McGaffey, Chair of Perkins Coie’s EER practice. “Chris has a tremendous reputation as a litigator in complex environmental matters and provides strategic advice on the development of significant mining and energy projects. Matt has extensive litigation and regulatory experience related to the acquisition, transfer and wheeling of surface and groundwater rights in the southwest. We are delighted to welcome Chris and Matt to Perkins Coie.”
Chris’s environmental regulatory practice focuses on numerous federal environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), as well as related state statutes and water law. He has defended or prosecuted cases under CERCLA and RCRA and parallel state law and tort theories pertaining to more than 50 sites throughout the country. He guides clients through remedial investigations and feasibility studies and negotiates consent decrees and agreements with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and corresponding state agencies. His Superfund practice has included matters litigated in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, and District Courts in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Chris was a partner with Squire Patton Boggs.
Matt counsels clients on issues arising out of the use and development of mineral resources on both state and federal public lands, including public-private land exchanges. He has also advised clients on settlement agreements, consent decrees and environmental compliance matters related to disposal of regulated wastes and the remediation and redevelopment of contaminated property. He earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and received his B.S. in geology from Brigham Young University. Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Matt was a senior associate with Squire Patton Boggs.
“Chris is a well-known and respected litigator with over 30 years of experience representing industrial clients throughout the country, as well as the City of Phoenix in a range of environmental matters,” said Shane Swindle, Managing Partner in Perkins Coie’s Phoenix office. “Mining, transportation and renewable energy projects continue to grow in the Southwest where our EER practice is strong. Chris and Matt add solid bona fides to our expanding EER practice and the Phoenix office.”
An elected Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers, Chris is a prominent authority on environmental regulation in the Southwest. He served for seven years on the Arizona Governor’s Regulatory Review Council, which provides final review of most state agency rules, under Governors Janet Napolitano and Jan Brewer. Chris is listed in The International Who’s Who of Environmental Lawyers, Chambers USA (Band 1), Best Lawyers in America and Southwest Super Lawyers. He was named Best Lawyers’ lawyer of the year for Phoenix in Phoenix for environmental litigation in 2017 and 2015 and for environmental law in 2016. Chris earned his J.D. with high distinction from the University of Iowa and received his B.A., cum laude, from Drake University.
Perkins Coie’s EER practice group includes more than 110 EER attorneys in offices across the United States and is widely recognized for its ability to help plan a project’s development, secure the necessary permits in a timely manner, reduce the likelihood of litigation and help facilitate post-development and ongoing compliance and regulatory contacts. Perkins Coie’s EER attorneys also represent private companies and public agencies in the full range of environmental litigation matters. Chambers USA ranks the firm’s environmental group as one of the nation’s top national practices. Perkins Coie’s EER lawyers also have high ratings in The International Who’s Who of Environment Lawyers, Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers. Perkins Coie was recently named the 2017 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” in Natural Resources Law.
Source: www.perkinscoie.com
