Max Williamson has joined the firm as counsel in the its Environmental and Land Development Group, bringing with him a practice that focuses on assisting private and public clients with environmental and specialty litigation, regulatory counseling, transactional and legislative issues. Mr. Williamson is a recognized authority and frequent speaker and author in the area of environmental law and climate change, and is profiled as one of the preeminent environmental lawyers in the District of Columbia and top climate change lawyers in the United States in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers. He joins a coast-to-coast team that includes a former chair of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy & Resources, and the immediate past director of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Mr. Williamson’s experience spans project development, real estate, climate change, Clean Air Act, transportation planning, toxic tort, Clean Water Act and wetlands, OSHA, Superfund and brownfields programs, environmental insurance, EPCRA and spill reporting, hazardous materials transportation, recycling and corporate affiliate liability issues in the domestic and international contexts. He advises a range of clients, including trade associations, manufacturers, project developers and investors on emerging greenhouse gas regulation and market opportunities under state, regional and federal climate change and renewable energy initiatives, as well as under the federal Clean Air Act and other environmental laws.
“We are very pleased to have Max aboard,” said Doug Arnold, who co-chairs the firm’s Environmental and Land Development Group. “He brings with him a wealth of environmental experience, particularly in the areas of novel environmental litigation, climate change and carbon markets, and will enhance our deep bench of experts in the field.”
Mr. Williamson earned his J.D., magna cum laude, and Masters in Environmental Law, summa cum laude, from Vermont Law School, and a B.A. in 1987 from Yale University. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert G. Flanders, Jr., of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and clerked at the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division Appellate Section.