Our Program:
During this briefing, Gibson Dunn's Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort practice group discuss the transition from the Bush Administration to the Obama administration and its implications for environmental laws and regulations. This transition is likely to see significant shifts in policy on a broad range of issues, including climate change, the regulation of hazardous substances, and enforcement of environmental statutes. The new administration is also likely to adopt a radically different analytical framework for environmental regulations and enforcement, shifting away from the market-oriented, cost-benefit approach that prevailed in the Bush Administration. This webcast will introduce participants to the new players in the various agencies who will be shaping environmental policy, and attempt to forecast developments which may be anticipated in the coming years. 

Topics discussed include:

• Introduction to President-Elect Obama's "Environmental Team."
• Anticipated Developments in Climate Change Legislation and Regulation.
• Prospects for regulation under the Clean Air Act.
• Prospects for new legislation and what that legislation may look like.
• Anticipated Regulatory Programs For Hazardous Substances.
• Prospects for federal regulation of perchlorate in groundwater and what such federal standards may look like.
• Developments in regulations concerning exposure levels for hexavalent chromium.
• Prospects for more aggressive action concerning permissible exposure levels to halogenated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene.

Who should view this program:  In-house counsel, in-house environmental managers, corporate finance executives, environmental engineers and consultants, directors and senior executives.

Featured presenters include:

Pat Dennis – Pat co-chairs the Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort practice group for Gibson Dunn and is resident in the Firm's Los Angeles office.  Pat has spent a substantial portion of his practice representing clients in cases involving exposure to chemicals and has developed expertise in the science and legal standard of medical causation and exposure reconstruction, among other issues.  Pat has also been lead or co-counsel in a number of high profile environmental litigation matters involving disputes over the clean up costs and other damages associated with environmental contamination.

Ray Ludwiszewski – Ray is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn.  He joined the firm's Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort Practice Group after spending eight years in senior legal positions in the U.S. government dealing with environmental regulatory issues and litigation in the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department.  Ray served as General Counsel at the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  He also previously served as Assistant Administrator for Enforcement at EPA and held a number of senior positions at the U.S. Department of Justice with an emphasis in environmental litigation, including Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division and Associate Deputy Attorney General.  Ray has been listed in Washingtonian magazine's Best Environmental Lawyers List, the Washington Post magazine's Best Lawyers in America, and Chambers USA. 

Charlie Haake – Charlie is of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn.  He is a member of the firm's Litigation Department focusing on environmental litigation, and has extensive experience litigating matters in both federal and state courts.  Charlie has represented clients in mass tort and toxic tort actions, and has particular experience developing and challenging expert testimony under both federal and state law.  His experience also includes handling matters brought under a range of environmental statutes such as the Clean Air Act and CERCLA.  Charlie has also represented clients in actions concerning greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, including defending tort actions against clients and challenging agency regulations of greenhouse gas emission.

© 2009 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Attorney Advertising: The enclosed materials have been prepared for general informational purposes only and are not intended as legal advice.