Hill Kehne

H&K Assists in First Privatization of DoD Cleanup

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:40:30 +0000

Hill & Kehne helped the U.S. Air Force obtain environmental insurance and broad contractual protections with respect to the 2010 cleanup of 600 acres at the McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, CA. This risk transfer is the second for which Hill & Kehne provided assistance (the first was completed in 2007 and was the first “FOSET” applied at a Superfund site).

Click here to read the full article.

Hill Co-Authors BNA Article on Tax/Accounting Benefits

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:41:46 +0000

The article describes how insured ﬁxed-price cleanups—a combination of environmental insurance and guaranteed ﬁxed-price remediation contracts—can be used to respond to new and emerging accounting requirements, achieve federal income tax savings, and lower cleanup costs while maximizing cost certainty.

Click here to read the full article.

Hill Selected as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of RACER Trust

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:02:14 +0000

Michael Hill was selected to serve as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response (“RACER”) Trust, created by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to clean up and prepare for redevelopment the 89 plants and other industrial properties left behind in the GM bankruptcy. The Trust is the largest environmental trust in U.S. history.

Learn More:

Environmental Response Trust Settlement Agreement (PDF)

White House Press Release

EPA Fact Page

RACER Website

Michael O. Hill, Esq.

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:17:51 +0000

Michael has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and corporate officer. He brings these skills to issues such as environmental cleanups, Brownfield redevelopment, and climate change. His clients include Cherokee Investment Partners (the world’s largest Brownfield redeveloper), the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Justice, BP, TNK-BP, Boeing, and numerous other entities large and small. In August 2010, Michael was chosen to serve as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel to the RACER Trust, created by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to remediate and redevelop the 89 industrial properties left behind in the General Motors bankruptcy. With assets of over $750 million, RACER began as the third-largest holder of contaminated industrial property in the U.S. and is actively remediating, selling, and otherwise preparing its properties for redevelopment.

Before founding the firm, Michael served as:

Chairman of the Environmental Practice at Marsh & McLennan, the world’s largest insurance brokerage. During Michael’s tenure as National Leader and then Global Chairman, the Practice helped clients obtain policies to protect against cleanup cost overruns and pollution liability risks at hundreds of properties. Michael received Marsh’s Environmental Achievement Award.
Outside counsel to, and then also Senior Vice President of, TRC Companies, Inc., a publicly-traded engineering firm that, in the 1990′s pioneered the concept of insured fixed-price cleanups (NYSE:TRR).
Private Practice (Covington & Burling; Collier Shannon Scott). Michael represented General Electric, Kerr-McGee, Teledyne, a consortium of 36 steel companies, and numerous other entities in litigation and negotiations concerning Superfund, RCRA and other contaminated sites. He was also lead counsel in Morrow v. Harleysville Mut. Ins. Co., creating new and favorable law for environmental insureds.
Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Enforcement Section. Michael had over 50 trial days and received DOJ’s Awards for Outstanding Service and for Special Achievement.

Michael is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Michael clerked for the Honorable Albert W. Coffrin, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. He has been a visiting lecturer at Georgetown and George Washington Universities, and the International Risk Management Institute’s Commentator for Environmental Risk Issues. He is licensed both as an insurance broker and as an attorney. He is a member of the District of Columbia and New York bars.

mhill@hillkehne.com
202-558-2100 ext. 103
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Jeffrey P. Kehne, Esq.

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:17:38 +0000

A Principal of the firm and broadly experienced litigator, Jeff has briefed and argued over 50 environmental and other cases on behalf of the U.S. Government and corporate clients. He has previously provided legal counsel at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, and in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel and Environmental Appellate Section.

In his 23 years as an attorney in the federal government and private practice, Jeffrey Kehne has developed broad litigation skills and particular substantive expertise in the fields of environmental regulation, cleanup, and risk management.

Prior to becoming a Principal at Hill & Kehne, Jeff served as:

Senior Counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, where Jeff specialized in appeals and dispositive trial court pleadings in complex litigation. He served clients in the energy, insurance, and telecommunications industries.
Attorney-Advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, a group of approximately 20 attorneys who provide legal advice to the White House Counsel, the Attorney General, and the General Counsels of Executive Branch agencies on constitutional and complex statutory questions. During his time at OLC, Jeff specialized in matters involving administrative law, environmental law, federal courts, federal lands, federalism, and takings.
Attorney in the Appellate Section of the Justice Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division, where he served as lead counsel in more than 50 cases, including nationally significant disputes arising under the Takings Clause, the Tenth Amendment, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act.

Jeff received his Bachelors of Arts from Haverford College (1980) and his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School (1987), where he was a Note Editor for the Yale Law Journal. He clerked for the Honorable Richard D. Cudahy, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Illinois bars.

Partial List of Cases on Which Jeffrey P. Kehne Has Served as Counsel

jkehne@hillkehne.com
202-558-2100 ext. 102

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Carl P. Garvey, Esq.

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:16:04 +0000

As Senior Counsel at the firm, Carl focuses on CERCLA and RCRA cleanups, Brownfields Redevelopment, and other environmental compliance issues. He also serves as Deputy General Counsel to the RACER Trust, created in 2011 to remediate and redevelop the 89 industrial properties that General Motors Corp. left behind in its 2009 bankruptcy. RACER began as the third-largest holder of contaminated industrial property in the U.S.

Prior to joining the firm, Carl served more than 20 years as an EPA attorney, primarily as Superfund enforcement counsel in EPA Region 2 (New York) and at EPA Headquarters.

Carl’s career experiences and accomplishments have included serving as:

Acting Branch Chief in the EPA Headquarters Office of Site Remediation Enforcement (“OSRE”) within the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

EPA Headquarters case attorney for several major Superfund sites involving major dredging remedies and natural resource damage issues.

Lead OSRE attorney on EPA workgroups focused on enforcements issues related to coal combustion residue and hydraulic fracturing.

Designated EPA attorney for various National Priorities List and removal Superfund sites in New York and Puerto Rico, and for a major Oil Pollution Act case in New York.

Throughout his EPA career, Carl has engaged with numerous government agencies and private entities in the successful drafting and negotiating Superfund settlements, agreements, and associated legal instruments including:

Cost Recovery Settlements

Work Settlements

Natural Resources Damage Settlements

Risk Transfer Agreements

Easements and Deed Restrictions

Prospective Purchaser Agreements

Access Agreements and Orders

Carl received two Bachelors of Arts degrees from the University of Maryland College Park in 1984, and received his law degree from Catholic University in 1990. He also has a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Georgetown University (2008). He is a member of the Maryland bar, and is currently awaiting reactivation of his New York bar license and admission to the District of Columbia bar. Carl is also a licensed Real Estate Broker.

Sari M. Levin, Esq.

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:15:15 +0000

Sari is an Associate at Hill & Kehne, where she focuses on Brownfields Redevelopment, CERCLA and RCRA, natural resource damages assessments, and other environmental compliance issues. Prior to joining the firm, Sari served for four years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s office, where she represented the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations in litigation.

Sari’s career experiences and accomplishments have included:

Managing a caseload of approximately 60 cases before State and Federal trial courts, courts of appeal, and administrative appeals;
Negotiating settlements for environmental compliance, cleanup, and civil penalties;
Successfully defending an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court on complex issue of subject matter jurisdiction;
Successfully arguing an appeal regarding environmental civil penalties; and
Active participation as Member of Alternative Energy Task Force.

During law school, Sari interned with The Honorable Jeffrey Hopkins, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Ohio, and with the law firm of McGuire Woods LLP. She received her J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where she was an editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law and a Public Service Fellow. Sari has a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Behavior from the University of Michigan, where she graduated with distinction. Sari is a member of the Ohio Bar and is currently seeking admission to the D.C. Bar.

slevin@hillkehne.com
202-558-2100

David A. Lewis, Law Clerk

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:09:07 +0000

Dave is a Law Clerk at Hill & Kehne. He is currently pursuing a J.D. at the Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review. Before joining Hill & Kehne, Dave interned for Robinson & Cole’s LandLaw practice group in Boston, MA. Dave also worked for two years as a GIS Analyst with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, NC.

Dave has degrees from Harvard University (Masters in Urban Planning) and Duke University (B.S. in Earth & Ocean Sciences).

dlewis@hillkehne.com
202-558-2100

Elizabeth M. Elliott

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:08:38 +0000

Elizabeth is a Law Clerk at Hill & Kehne. She is currently pursuing a J.D. at the George Washington University Law School. Before joining Hill & Kehne, Elizabeth worked in international development as an Environment and Natural Resources Associate at International Resources Group, where she focused on climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.

Liz has a B.S. in Business Administration (International Business and Marketing) from the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business.

Matthew A. Lehtonen, Paralegal

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:01:38 +0000

Matthew is a Paralegal at Hill & Kehne, where he focuses on Brownfield Redevelopment and Renewable Energy. Matthew is a summa cum laude graduate of American University’s School of International Service, where he majored in International Environmental Policy. Before joining Hill & Kehne, Matthew interned with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Program, and also served as a volunteer with the Red Cross Society of China and provided translation assistance to faculty of the Psychology Department of Peking University.

mlehtonen@hillkehne.com
202-558-2100