DLA Piper

Experience
Insights

Trees and lake to illustrate environment health and safety

Business-focused answers to your global environmental, health and safety issues

Our Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) lawyers design innovative and practical solutions to complex problems that arise from the ever growing array of laws and policies governing environmental protection, energy, natural resources, health and safety at work, and product safety. We’re one of the largest teams of EHS lawyers across the globe.

DLA Piper lawyers anticipate, track and find solutions to the traditional, and emerging environment, health and safety issues that concern local, national and international businesses. EHS compliance is vital in any business. Non-compliance with regulatory requirements and failure to address potential harms and liabilities in a business’s own operations and its value chain both carry increasing financial and reputational risks for all companies. Good environmental and safety management is characteristic of well-run businesses, and is not only cost-saving itself, but demonstrating it is also often a condition for obtaining by public and private sector contracts.

We offer leading EHS advisory practitioners and litigators throughout the world. We work as an integrated team to represent clients’ interests in rulemaking proceedings and challenges to regulations, to defend them in some of the world’s most complex EHS litigation and enforcement actions, to evaluate and negotiate EHS issues in business transactions and to provide guidance on compliance with EHS regulations.

Experience

Representing a major oil company defendant in mass tort actions involving hundreds of plaintiff properties allegedly contaminated by a 26,000-gallon underground piping leak. The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed virtually all damages awards. Cases resulted in landmark rulings on fraud, emotional distress, medical monitoring, and nature of property damages in environmental cases.
Advising a leading manufacturer of consumer goods on the legal obligations under the Supply Chain Sourcing Obligations Act, in particular with regard to the implementation of the obligations into an existing compliance management system.
Successfully challenging on judicial review an environmental prohibition notice which would have put the company on which it was served out of business.
Advising a public agency operating a vessel in the Caribbean on an incident involving an oil spillage in international waters which might have impacted on sensitive environmental receptors in a number of different neighboring jurisdictions. We advised the agency on how to report how the incident occurred, and the actions taken in response, in order to meet any potential regulatory enforcement action. We were also able to place appropriate lawyers in the relevant Latin-American and other jurisdictions on standby, using staff from our own offices, and those of relationship firms, to provide for the event of any such regulatory action materializing.
Representing a major oil company in lawsuits involving multiple retail service stations. Claims were asserted under California Proposition 65, California Fish & Game Code, and California Business & Professions Code Section 17200.
Advising the city of Antwerp, the biggest city in Flanders as well the economic powerhouse of Belgium and the second biggest city overall in Belgium. We support the city of Antwerp in connection with a number of urban planning and development projects and environmental matters. We provide advice and assistance to the City of Antwerp under an overarching agreement, dealing with complex legal questions as well as policy issues.
Representing an oil company in CERCLA and Polanco Act lawsuits involving distribution terminals and retail facilities.
Advising a multi-national food ingredient manufacturer in relation to the contamination of Xanthan gum with ethylene oxide. It had been supplying Xanthan gum to its customers which it had obtained from various suppliers. This ingredient is used in a wide range of consumer products including soup and ice cream. In addition to advising on the position in the UK, we also coordinated advice from 31 different countries on the local law position. The client needed to obtain our advice on short notice so that it was able to plan for export of the product.
Representing major power producing companies on permitting, planning, government relations, government initiatives, and potential litigation associated with climate change matters.
Regulatory advice to a manufacturer of process control equipment in connection with the acquisition of a group manufacturing chemicals and equipment in particular on EHS issues. In addition to advising on German law, also coordinating the worldwide input on EHS issues of the transaction (including China, USA, Spain). In addition, advice on and implementation of the investment control registration of the transaction.
Representing electric utility companies before public service commissions and regulatory agencies to obtain approval for the construction and siting of natural gas, nuclear, coal, and renewable energy-powered electric-generating facilities.
Representing paper manufacturer in the privatization of a municipal solid waste management facility.
Lead environmental counsel for all environmental issues facing a multinational technology company’s UK, EU, Middle East and Asia Pacific operations. Our work has involved analysing all proposals for amendments to global environmental laws, working out their potential impacts on all aspects of our client’s business, preparing reports on these points for senior personnel and helping to develop advocacy positions for their public policy teams to engage in dialogue with the European Commission, Parliament and others on these proposals.
Assisting a global client with a 48 jurisdiction environmental legal compliance mandate, ensuring consistency of reporting and coverage and developing a risk matrix against which to determine priorities and next steps.
Negotiating a remediation strategy for a large portfolio of filling stations, many of which were contaminated.
Advising a multinational consumer goods company to comply with forthcoming requirements under UK legislation which is due to be enacted under the Environment Act 2021. The new “Forest Risk Rules” will prohibit the client from using certain commodities (such as palm oil) which have not been obtained in compliance with local laws, and will include a specific requirement for the client to implement a due diligence system to identify asses and mitigate the risk of non-compliance.
Negotiating with the UK Government on behalf of a major industry sector on the terms and conditions of an energy tax rebate, to be given in return for accepting emissions reductions targets.
Advising a German car manufacturer on potential upcoming lawsuits by environmental associations in connection with climate protection against the background of several judgements
Advising a multinational company on a creative regeneration project for the site of a former large process chemical plant.
Advising a global technology company on numerous legal compliance aspects of its global ink and toner cartridge collection, re-use and recycling program.
Defending chemical company in an enforcement action concerning discharges to publicly owned treatment works.
Defending a power company in response to alleged Clean Water Act violations at three sites in Maryland and negotiating a global settlement with regulators and citizen interveners.
Advising on emission reduction purchase and project development agreements between parties for the development of a range of landfill projects in South Africa.
Representation of championship golf course owners in the permitting of the course, including wetlands and discharge matters.
Representation of a large fuel terminal facility in connection with all environmental permitting, including Clean Air Act (Title V) permitting.
Representing of an international chemical company on shale gas development matters.
Advising on a corporate manslaughter investigation arising from a fatal accident of an employee at a plant decommissioning service.
Representation of a NASDAQ-listed-South African based technology company that is the subject of a joint investigation regarding allegations of bribery and corruption by the SEC and DOJ into potential violations of the FCPA and securities laws.
Defense of investigations under Corporate Manslaughter & Health and Safety legislation following the death of a worker crushed by a 70-tonne forging.
Advising and defending a railway contractor on an incident involving personal injury sustained by a worker involved in trench-digging operations.
Representing a company at an inquest into the death of an employee crushed after working under an inadequately propped vehicle.
Advising a medium-sized business when, during the course of a survey for the refurbishment of their offices, consultants engaged by them negligently disturbed asbestos-containing materials. We engaged an alternative firm of consultants and saw to it that all appropriate assessments were made and measures taken to protect the business against potential regulatory action.
We advised a Government Department with an extensive portfolio of overseas properties, including properties in developing countries, on health and safety arrangements on new builds and refurbishments in that portfolio, to ensure compliance both with local laws and the Department’s own legal obligations and policies.
Advising in relation to a major fire at a fuel depot and an explosion at an oil refinery, both major environmental and health and safety incidents.
Conducting a strategic health and safety review for a major industrial multinational company, with particular emphasis on the creation of a suite of appropriate document and on demonstration that board responsibilities had been fulfilled’.
Advising a multinational on issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic including in relation to operations in South East Asia.