Environmental Attorneys

Environmental attorneys work with individuals and businesses to handle a variety of different environmental issues. This may include land disputes, land use, air pollution, land/water contamination, and compliance cases. Environmental law sets several rules and regulations that the public must follow, therefore an environmental attorney must remain up to date on the specified topics.

When people are victims of environmental contamination that affects their health, they may choose to hire an environmental attorney to obtain damages; this case will need an attorney representing both the plaintiff and the defendant. Environmental attorneys will have to thoroughly research a case in order to understand the issues at hand and provide their client with the correct outcome. These cases also have a statute of limitations, meaning there is a time limit for claiming damages. The harm caused by the environmental contaminant must be severe enough to constitute damages, and can typically be determined quickly once the attorney understands the case. In order to claim damages, there must be a person or group of people that is directly responsible for the plaintiff's injuries. An environmental attorney will help a plaintiff pinpoint who is actually responsible. Some environmental contamination law suits include: asbestos, lead poisoning, toxic mold, contaminated drinking water, and the seepage of toxic substances.  

Toxic torts are a huge issue in this type of law, and there are environmental attorneys who will work exclusively in this area. This is a type of personal injury case in which a plaintiff will claim that exposure to a toxic pollutant caused injuries. These are often class action suits, with an environmental attorney representing multiple families or even an entire community. In a case of groundwater pollution, this will affect the health of everyone living in a specific area. Water is often contaminated with chemicals such as chromium or mercury that can cause a variety of health problems. An environmental attorney will be able to research the case to determine if the distributor of the water engaged in an intentional or negligent toxic tort.

Environmental statutes can sometimes be complicated and vague in their language. There is also a multitude of environmental regulations that must be followed by businesses. These are constantly changing to reflect advancement in environmental research. One of the duties of an environmental attorney is to aid businesses in ensuring that they are complying with these laws. It should be the goal of all businesses and manufacturers to negatively affect the environment as little as possible. Businesses will consult environmental attorneys to be sure that they are having little impact on the environment, and are current on all new environmental laws. When engaging in a specific project, or expanding, businesses will consult their environmental attorney. These individuals may also help a business in the cleanup of a contaminated area or the disposal of waste.

Some environmental attorneys may be employed by an organization that promotes the awareness of environmental issues. In this case, they will work for the amendment of certain environmental legislation and the expansion of environmental education. When an environmental disaster occurs, such as an oil spill, environmental attorneys will visit the site and research the situation to determine who is responsible for the damages. They will also determine exactly what laws have been broken in order to appropriately charge the guilty parties. Many of these environmental attorneys will work for the Environmental Protection Agency. This is an agency of the U.S. government that is tasked with protecting the health of humans and the environment. They will develop and pass environmental legislation related to air, water, and land quality, hazardous waste, and endangered species. Environmental attorneys employed by this agency have developed a variety of programs designed to educate the general public about natural resource conservation.

Environmental attorneys will often seek a further specialization in a specific area. For example, some of these attorneys may deal exclusively with water pollution. Others may be focused on aiding companies in the cleanup of contaminated areas. These environmental attorneys may be on staff at a company that is often faced with environmental issues. Usually a law student who seeks to specialize in one of these areas will begin taking environmental law electives during their second and third year of law school. Many American law schools will offer a specific degree in environmental law. The Academy of Environmental Law is an organization of several law schools that provide advanced training and education to environmental attorneys.