Internal Investigations & Environmental Audits

Alston & Bird’s internal investigation and environmental audits team brings the perspective needed to address the evolving and multifaceted nature of simultaneous administrative, civil and criminal investigations and enforcement proceedings. Because our team is comprised of former federal prosecutors, district attorneys and environmental regulatory attorneys, we can readily analyze environmental violations to determine the agency’s focus and guide our clients’ responses.

Experience

The depth of our subject matter experience and environmental regulatory expertise enables us to conduct effective internal investigations and present the facts in a thorough and credible manner that garners the government’s respect. This often bridges the gap between our clients and the authorities.

Clients faced with environmental challenges need assistance investigating such matters and determining the best course of action. Alston & Bird’s highly skilled internal investigation and environmental audits team has perform internal investigations with minimal disruption to our clients’ businesses. We have a proven record of keeping investigations confidential unless or until a regulatory requirement calls for disclosure or it is in the best interest of our clients to do so. When disclosure has been required, Alston & Bird has advised our clients on how best to disclose and guided them through enforcement actions.

Many of our clients want to get out ahead of any problems. Alston & Bird has developed and designed environmental audits in conjunction with a number of engineering outfits, and we routinely conduct audits under an attorney-client privilege that provides our clients with wide discretion about what and when to disclose provided there is no regulatory mandate that requires otherwise.

Accolades

With decades of combined federal and state environmental and prosecutorial experience, we speak the language of environmental regulators and prosecutors. Our team includes the following industry experts:

Current co-chair of the ABA Expert Witness Committee;
Current co-chair of the ABA Mass Torts Committee;
Leadership Counsel member for the Environmental Law Institute;
Former acting general counsel and principal deputy general counsel of United States Environmental Protection Agency Former assistant section chief of the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section;
Two past chairs of the ABA Environmental Enforcement & Crimes Committee; and
Two past chairs of the ABA Environmental Litigation Committee.

Bringing Value to Our Clients

While we pride ourselves on being formidable advocates and trial attorneys, our greatest successes are our least publicized ones—those in which the civil or criminal investigation is never begun, or where it ends without any charges being brought.