Environmental
Our Environmental Group combines comprehensive knowledge of environmental laws and regulatory developments with a keen understanding of our clients’ business interests. With an environmental practice that spans transactional work, compliance advice and litigation, we have handled critical environmental matters faced by our clients. We help clients effectively manage the business and legal risks of environmental matters, with solutions that address both short- and long-term impacts.
As the scope and complexity of environmental law has expanded in recent decades, businesses must contend with a diverse set of regulations that now impact areas as varied as air emissions and wastewater discharges, hazardous waste management and disposal, contaminated land and chemical use and safety. In addition, emerging concerns regarding environmental, social and corporate governance principles applicable to a wide range of businesses present new compliance and reputational challenges. Paul, Weiss attorneys offer insightful counsel, guiding our clients in navigating this regulatory landscape, whether in connection with transactions, compliance, regulatory disputes or major environmental litigation.
Corporate Transactions
Paul, Weiss’s environmental lawyers work closely with members of the firm’s other departments to address environmental issues that arise in transactions. With its deep understanding of client concerns in the transactional context, our environmental lawyers are able to provide tailored guidance in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, financings, restructurings, insurance coverage, real estate, sales, financings and securitizations, divestitures, joint ventures and other strategic partnerships, securities offerings, purchase of raw materials, and equipment and services. In addition, our lawyers provide guidance once the transaction is completed, by assisting in integration of the acquired business, operations and sites with respect to environmental matters.
Our diverse client roster represents a well-rounded practice that is able to effectively represent clients, whether they act as buyers, sellers, lenders, borrowers, investors, issuers of securities or investment bankers. Our clients benefit from our varied experience, which enables our lawyers to advise on the nature and extent of environmental risks, and means for managing those risks, whatever a client’s role in contemplated business transactions. We represent clients in both domestic and international transactions with a special focus on clients in the financial, industrial and natural resources sectors.
Sustainability
Environmental, social and governance issues (also referred to as sustainability issues) have been the subject of close public scrutiny in recent years. Such issues range from environmentally sustainable practices, including renewable energy use and recycling, to supply chain concerns, including human rights and conflict minerals. Our environmental lawyers have advised corporate clients on the development of standards for monitoring and methods for the reporting sustainability issues. In addition, we have helped clients to review such issues in strategic, public and private equity acquisitions and investments. As attention to these issues grows, our lawyers are well-positioned to advise clients on addressing sustainability concerns and integrating sustainability considerations into their business and their acquisition processes.
Litigation
Paul, Weiss’ s Environmental Practice Group collaborates with our world-class Litigation Department to represent clients in major lawsuits involving complicated environmental issues. Our long experience managing headline-grabbing environmental litigation uniquely positions us to assist clients in ethically responding to the sensitive issues that often accompany environmental disputes. We have represented clients in environmental administrative proceedings and in litigation under a number of federal and related state laws and regulations, including:
- Clean Air Act
- Clean Water Act
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Multiparty suits, class actions and complex litigations as well as civil and criminal matters related to insurance, bankruptcy, property laws and personal injury are all within our Environmental Practice Group’s purview. While part of our counseling skill lies in helping our clients avoid litigation, all the resources of our full-service firm are brought to bear to protect our clients’ long-term interests.
Recent Engagements
Our practice has worked diligently to provide the necessary and appropriate solutions to our clients' environmental business issues. Significant matters have included:
Corporate
- Chevron Corporation in (a) its $60 billion acquisition of Hess, (b) its $7.6 billion acquisition of PDC Energy and (c) its $3.15 billion acquisition of Renewable Energy Group.
- KPS Capital Partners, in (a) the $4.4 billion sale of its portfolio company Howden, a provider of air and gas handling products, technologies and services, to Chart Industries, a manufacturer of engineered equipment servicing multiple applications in the clean energy and industrial gas markets, (b) its €3.5 billion acquisition of Innomotics, a Germany-based supplier of electric motor and large drive systems, from Siemens, a Germany-based technology company, and (c) its acquisition, through a newly formed affiliate, of C&D Technologies, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based technology company that produces and markets systems for the power conversion and storage of electrical power, and its affiliates.
- General Electric in its reorganization through spin-offs into separate publicly traded aviation, healthcare and energy companies.
- Qualcomm Incorporated in the acquisition by its subsidiary of NXP Semiconductors N.V., a Netherlands-based provider of secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, for approximately $47 billion.
- Agrium Inc., a major supplier of agricultural products and services in North and South America, in its merger of equals with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., a Canada-based crop nutrient company, to create an integrated global supplier of crop inputs with an enterprise value of approximately $36 billion.
- Carrier Global Corporation in the $3 billion sale of its commercial and residential fire business to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds.
- Lehigh Hanson, a Texas-based supplier of construction materials and the U.S. affiliate of Heidelberg Materials (f/k/a HeidelbergCement), a Germany-based integrated manufacturer of building materials and solutions, in the $2.3 billion sale of its U.S. West region business to Martin Marietta Materials, a North Carolina-based supplier of building materials.
- Revlon, a leading global beauty company, and certain of its subsidiaries in their chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
- Westmoreland Mining in its restructuring, which resulted in the reduction of its aggregate outstanding funded debt by over $300 million and the separation of WestMET, its ESG-focused platform, into a stand-alone company, WestMET Group Holdings.
- Resolute Forest Products, a Canada-based forest products company, in its $2.7 billion sale to The Paper Excellence Group through the Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Domtar Corporation, a South Carolina-based provider of a wide variety of fiber-based products.
- The Underwriters in numerous offerings of investment-grade debt totaling $9.75 billion by TransCanada Pipelines Limited, a Canadian natural gas, oil and energy company.
Litigation
- Exxon Mobil in a major environmental dispute relating to natural resource damage.
- Tronox Chemical, where we represented various parties involved in the chapter 11 proceedings.
- AbitibiBowater (now Resolute Forest Products), where we represented various parties involved in the chapter 11 proceedings.
- Viacom in an environmental insurance coverage action that involved coverage claims against more than 80 insurers at more than 45 sites across the country.
