Geoff Rathgeber

• Representing a carpet manufacturer in multiple lawsuits and a class action alleging that multiple defendants’ operations contaminated local drinking-water sources with PFAS.
• Defending a contract services provider in environmental class action over alleged property damages stemming from a power plant in central Florida.
• Defending a Fortune 500 manufacturer in a high-profile class action involving nuisance, trespass, and CERCLA response costs claims.
• Negotiated pre-discovery dismissal of a defendant in high-profile environmental litigation over legacy liability.
• Defended an aerosol manufacturing company and its corporate parent in government investigations arising out of a chemical spill that entered an unnamed tributary near the client’s facility.
• Member of a class action defense team for Porsche Cars North America Inc. and Porsche AG in multidistrict litigation in San Francisco in the Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” MDL.
• Advised on internal corporate audits and investigations and assisted clients with disclosing potential violations under the EPA’s voluntary self-disclosure policy to EPA Headquarters and Regions 4 and 7.
• Preparing web, document, and product label disclosures under California SB 657 and related human trafficking, conflict minerals, and supply chain legal requirements.
• Providing review and analysis of potential liabilities associated with new consumer products, including compliance with the FPLA, CPSA, FHSA, and FTC Green Guides.
• Advised a major Korean cosmetics company on the cannabis cosmetic marketplace, including cannabis and cannabis-derivative products, the current and ongoing regulatory framework, and business and legal challenges and opportunities.

Geoff Rathgeber is a senior associate in the Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group. He defends companies in environmental and PFAS litigation, enforcement proceedings, and compliance matters under state and federal laws, including CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, and CAA. He also develops strategies for regulatory compliance with hazardous and solid waste, consumer product labeling and packaging, and supply chain issues, and assists clients with crafting corporate policies to satisfy supply chain disclosure obligations. In addition, Geoff routinely drafts complex agreements for environmental services and provides counsel to buyers, sellers, and lenders on environmental and product-related liabilities in real estate and other corporate transactions. Geoff was recognized in the inaugural 2021 “Ones to Watch” list by The Best Lawyers in America^© for Environmental Law, and received Alston & Bird’s F.M. Bird Award in 2019 for pro bono excellence.

Geoff received his J.D., with honors, from Emory University, where he served as a notes and comments editor of the Emory International Law Review and as a legal extern for the Atlanta Hawks and The Coca-Cola Company; he also received the Dean’s Award for excellence in Sports and Advertising Law.

An All-American athlete in college, Geoff earned his A.B. in history and literature from Harvard College. Upon graduation, he became the first person in Harvard’s history to win both the Bingham Award and the Reardon Award.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• Emory University (J.D., 2013)
• Harvard College (A.B., 2008)