Environmental laws, propounded in order to hold polluters liable for remediation, are often in conflict with bankruptcy laws’ general principles of a “fresh start” and the ability to shed certain financial burdens. Bankruptcy laws automatic stay is one such protection – the enjoinment of parties from taking actions against the debtor upon the filing of the bankruptcy petition – that is sometimes trumped by environmental law concerns, namely, the police and regulatory exception to the automatic stay. This webinar addresses the tensions between bankruptcy and environmental law, and examines how bankruptcy law deals with property contamination issues, the sale or abandonment of contaminated property, successor liability, environmental cleanup claims, and dischargeability of governmental claims. To listen to this webinar on-demand, go to: https://www.financialpoise.com/financial-poise-webinars/the-intersection-of-bankruptcy-and-environmental-law-2020/

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5. Disclaimer
The material in this webinar is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered
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5

6. Meet the Faculty
MODERATOR:
Daniel C. Cohn - Murtha Cullina LLP
PANELISTS:
Gary W. Marsh - Troutman Sanders LLP
Robert E. Richards - Dentons
Margrethe Kearney - Environmental Law & Policy Center
(Full biographies appear at slides 49 to 52)
6

7. About This Webinar
The Intersection of Bankruptcy and… Environmental Law
Environmental laws holding polluters liable for remediation often conflict with bankruptcy laws designed to
permit debtors to shed financial burdens and have a ―fresh start.‖ What happens when theses worthy
policies collide? Sometimes the statutes themselves provide an answer. For example, the automatic
stay under the Bankruptcy Code bars creditors from collecting pre-bankruptcy claims (including
environmental claims) but contains an exception for governmental exercise of police or regulatory powers
(including environmental regulation). But sometimes the clash between environmental and bankruptcy
statutes must be resolved by what can only be called judicial policymaking.
This webinar addresses the tensions between bankruptcy and environmental law, and examines how
bankruptcy law deals with property contamination issues, the sale or abandonment of contaminated
property, successor liability, environmental cleanup claims, and dischargeability of governmental claims.
7

8. About This Series
Bankruptcy Intersections
Bankruptcy law is generally a federal-based practice, and governed by title 11 of the United
States Code (the Bankruptcy Code). Bankruptcy law, however, is far from an insular practice;
there is substantial interplay between bankruptcy law and almost every other area of law due
to the myriad legal issues that arise during the course of a bankruptcy case. This webinar
series focuses on how issues involving intellectual property, employment and labor, tax law,
and environmental law are treated through the prism of bankruptcy.
Each Financial Poise Webinar is delivered in Plain English, understandable to investors, business owners, and
executives without much background in these areas, yet is of primary value to attorneys, accountants, and other
seasoned professionals. Each episode brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to
entertain as it teaches. Each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes so that
participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all episodes.
8

9. Episodes in this Series
#1: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and… Tax Law
Premiere date: 2/12/20
#2: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and… Labor/Employment Law
Premiere date: 3/11/20
#3: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and… IP Law
Premiere date: 4/8/20
#4: The Intersection of Bankruptcy and… Environmental Law
Premiere date: 5/13/20
9

10. Episode #4
The Intersection of Bankruptcy and… Environmental Law
10

11. Bankruptcy and Environmental Law Policy
a. Bankruptcy Goals
i. Reorganization (Chapter 11)
1. Maximize value by preserving debtor as going concern, whether to be sold
or restructured
2. ―Fresh start‖ for viable business
ii. Both Liquidation (Chapter 7) and Reorganization
1. Equality of distribution to unsecured creditors – exceptions to be narrowly
construed
b. Environmental Goals
i. Requires parties to meet environmental standards for protecting human health
and environment
ii. Polluter bears burden of cleanup costs
11

12. Bankruptcy and Environmental Law Policy
c. Harmonizing Bankruptcy and Environmental Goals
i. How to prevent bankruptcy goals from inequitably shifting cleanup liability away
from the polluter?
ii. Will strict enforcement of environmental goals jeopardize efficient
reorganization?
12

13. Key Players
a. Debtor: Business, individual, or municipality that has filed for bankruptcy relief
seeking to reorganize or liquidate assets
b. Creditors: Any entity holding claim against debtor arising before petition date
i. Lenders (often holding a lien on some or substantially all assets of debtor)
ii. Trade creditors (suppliers of goods and services, typically unsecured)
iii. Tort claimants
iv. Current or former directors, officers, employees (in some instances with right of
indemnification against personal liability for corporate obligations)
v. Adjacent land-owners
vi. Off-site waste facilities
13

14. Key Players
c. Government Agencies
i. Department of Agriculture
ii. Department of Defense
iii. Department of Energy
iv. Department of the Interior
v. Environmental Protection Agency (―EPA‖)
vi. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
vii. State Agencies
viii. Indian Tribes
d. Potentially Responsible Parties (―PRP‖)
i. Other parties that may be liable for cleanup costs at sites for which debtor is or
may be liable
14

15. Environmental Considerations when Filing for
Bankruptcy
a. Debtor required to identify properties that pose a threat of imminent harm to public
health or safety
b. Debtor’s Statement of Financial Affairs (―SOFA‖) requires array of information
concerning environmental matters:
i. List of sites for which government has provided notice that debtor may have
environmental liability
ii. List of sites for which debtor has been given notice regarding releases of
hazardous materials (i.e., debtor may be a PRP)
iii. List of every judicial or administrative proceeding against debtor under
environmental law
15

16. Debtor’s Environmental Compliance Obligations
a. US Code addresses specific obligations of parties in bankruptcy
b. 28 U.S.C. § 959
―(a) Trustees, receivers or managers of any property, including debtors in possession, may be
sued . . . with respect to any of their acts or transactions in carrying on business connected
with such property. . . .
(b) [A] debtor in possession shall manage and operate property in [its] possession according
to the requirements of the valid laws of the State in which such property is situated, in the
same manner that the owner or possessor thereof would be bound to do if in possession
thereof.‖
c. Bankruptcy can generally not be used to avoid ongoing environmental obligations arising
from continuing operations
16

17. Key Environmental Statutes: CERCLA
a. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(―CERCLA‖) (a/k/a ―Superfund‖)
i. Establishes procedures for the remediation of contaminated sites;
ii. Provides for liability of persons responsible for release of hazardous
substances at sites (present and former owners and operators; waste
generators whose materials wound up at the site); and
iii. Establishes trust fund to provide for cleanup when no responsible party can be
identified
17

18. Key Environmental Statutes: CERCLA
b. CERCLA authorizes two kinds of response actions:
i. Short-term removals, where prompt actions may be taken to address release
(or threatened release)
ii. Long-term remedial response actions, that permanently and significantly
reduce dangers associated with releases or threats of release of serious, but
not immediately life threatening, hazardous substances
18

19. Key Environmental Statutes: RCRA and State Laws
a. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (―RCRA‖)
i. Primary goal: reduce generation of waste and regulate proper disposal,
treatment, and storage of waste
ii. Authorizes private citizens and government to seek injunction to compel
cleanup or enjoin contamination, but does not authorize recovery of past
cleanup costs
b. State Laws
i. Not preempted by federal laws
ii. Can go beyond federal law
19

20. Key Environmental Statutes: The Clean Water Act
a. Primary purpose of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. (1972)) is to
restore and protect quality of nation’s surface waters
b. Imposes liability on parties or facilities that discharge hazardous substances into
waters of the US, including territorial seas
c. Violations may result in polluters being liable for cleanup costs as well as civil and
criminal penalties, subject to certain liability caps
d. Penalties may be nondischargeable under § 523(a)(7)
20

21. Key Statutes In Energy / Utility Bankruptcies
a. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) – regulation and reclamation
(clean-up) of coal mines (30 U.S.C. § 1202 et seq.)
b. Federal Power Act – through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
regulates wholesale power markets, including contracts for wholesale power that
may be at issue in bankruptcy (16 U.S.C. § 791 et seq.)
c. Atomic Energy Act – covers development, regulation, and disposal of nuclear
materials and facilities, including decommissioning of nuclear power plants (42
U.S.C. § 2011 et seq.)
21

22. Asbestos Liability and Trusts
a. Asbestos companies’ reorganization plans reviewed under § 524(g) of the
Bankruptcy Code
i. Bankruptcy court may confirm reorganization plan that establishes trust to
avoid further asbestos law suits
ii. Trust is used to pay current and future asbestos claims. For example, In re
W.R. Grace & Co: debtor paid U.S. Government over $63 million to resolve
environmental liability claims under plan, related to cleanup of asbestos and
other hazardous substances
iii. Debtor establishes trust, managed by trustee who decides amount of
compensation paid to claimants
22

23. Ordinary Course of Business Transactions
a. Debtors in chapter 11 may continue operating in ordinary course of business without
court approval
i. Generally, environmental remediation activities with respect to sites owned or
operated by debtor are considered in ordinary course of business
ii. Examples include:
1. Entering into remediation contracts with environmental consultants
2. Maintaining groundwater cleanup programs
3. Performing environmental investigations as called for under governmental
orders
23

24. The Automatic Stay – Section 362
a. Commencing bankruptcy case triggers an automatic stay under Section 362 of the
Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. § 362)
i. The automatic stay is an injunction that (among other things) bars creditors
from collecting debts or exercising control over the debtor’s property during the
bankruptcy
ii. Party seeking to take actions barred by the automatic stay must first obtain
leave from the bankruptcy court
24

25. The Automatic Stay – Police Power Exception
a. Section 362(b)(4) provides police power exception to automatic stay
i. Permits government entities to continue enforcing regulatory requirements
against debtor, but not to collect a money judgment
ii. Most courts treat enforcement of environmental orders as within the
government’s police and regulatory powers
iii. Courts have wrestled with the boundary between regulatory enforcement
(permitted) and collecting monetary judgment (barred)
iv. Thus, some courts allow continued prosecution of action for money judgment
through the point where judgment is entered
iii. And environmental penalty claims may or may not fall into the police power
exception
25

26. Chapter 11 Plan
a. In chapter 11 cases, debtor has exclusive right to file a plan of reorganization during first
120 days of case
i. May be extended up to 18 months for cause shown
ii. During this time, debtor evaluates environmental issues at contaminated sites
iii. Different considerations required depending on type of site in question:
1. Owned
2. Operated
3. Formerly owned
4. Non-owned third-party site
5. Sites subject to existing administrative or judicial orders
26

27. Chapter 11 Plan
b. Creditor or equity security holder whose rights are altered by plan has right to vote to
accept or reject it
i. Debtors with significant environmental issues may face lengthy and difficult
negotiations trying to obtain enough votes to accept plan
c. An alternative approach is for the debtor to seek confirmation of a plan despite rejection
by one or more classes – a process colloquially referred to as ―cramdown‖
i. Successful cramdown requires that the debtor satisfy certain minimum
standards for treatment of the dissenting class, and usually requires extensive
and expensive litigation
27

28. Chapter 11 Plan
c. On ―effective date‖ of plan, custodial trusts may be established, environmental
settlement agreements become effective, and claims are discharged.
d. Debtors sometimes attempt to enjoin claims against non-debtor affiliates. While
theoretically available in some Circuits, such releases are seldom approved. See, e.g.,
In re First Energy Solutions Corp., Case No. 18-50757 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio Aug. 29, 2019)
(proposed release of affiliates from PRP liability rendered plan non-confirmable).

29. Environmental Settlement Agreements
a. Agreement between polluting company (here, the debtor) and government (often the
EPA) to settle environmental liability
i. ―Global settlements‖ include all of debtor’s sites
1. Advantage: simple structure
2. Disadvantage: May involve many parties, increasing difficulty in negotiation
ii. Some settlements involve separate agreements concerning limited number of
sites
iii. Settlements sometimes cover ―additional sites‖ that may be identified later, and
typically provide for treatment similar to other general unsecured claims
29

30. Environmental Settlement Agreements
a. CERCLA § 122 authorizes the EPA to negotiate settlement agreements with
potentially liable parties under CERCLA § 107
i. EPA has authority to enter into settlement agreement with party to perform
response to Superfund site if agreement is:
1. In the public interest, and
2. Consistent with ―National Contingency Plan‖: Organizational structure &
procedures for preparing for and responding to discharges of oil and
releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants in the US
30

31. Environmental Settlement Agreements – Covenant
Not to Sue
a. EPA may agree to a covenant not to sue debtor that covers variety of sites
i. Allows debtor’s business to move forward without risk of further liability for past
environmental issues
ii. Specific considerations for debtor negotiating covenant not to sue:
1. Statutory coverage: more than just CERCLA?
2. Entity coverage: affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, etc.
3. Scope: does coverage include non-owned or not-yet-identified sites?
31

32. Environmental Settlement Agreements –
Contribution Protection
a. CERCLA § 113(f)(2) provides ―a person who has resolved its liability to the United States or a
State in an administrative or judicially approved settlement shall not be liable for claims for
contribution regarding matters addressed in the settlement.‖
b. Provision has been used to protect parties who settled liability with the federal government
from suit by other parties
i. But in United States v. Atlantic Research Corp., 551 U.S. 128 (2007), U.S. Supreme
Court left open question as to whether party may bring cost recovery action under
CERCLA § 107 against party that settled its liability under § 113
c. Contribution rights may also form the basis of claims against debtors from PRPs -- Key Tronic
Corp. v. United States, 511 U.S. 809 (1994).
32

33. Environmental Settlement Agreements – Comment
Period and Noticing Requirements
a. Federal government and some states require public notice and comment period
before settlement agreement can be entered into
b. In some instances a public meeting must be held
33

34. Environmental Settlement Agreements – Trustee
Selection
a. Where settlement agreement calls for custodial trust to hold property, custodial
trustee is typically appointed to manage the trust
i. Selection process frequently involves:
1. identifying potential trustees,
2. application from potential trustees, or presentation demonstrating
qualifications, and
3. evaluation and decision of the best candidate
ii. Government agency parties to settlement typically have great influence over
trustee selection
34

35. 363 Sales and Successor Liability
a. Bankruptcy Code § 363 allows debtor to use, sell, or lease property of bankruptcy
estate, but court approval is needed when outside the ordinary course of business
b. § 363 sales are increasingly used instead of plans of reorganization
c. General rule in asset sales is that the purchaser does not acquire any liabilities of
the seller, but environmental claims may not be included:
i. Some courts hold § 363 sales can extinguish prepetition or pre-sale
environmental claims, but not claims arising after conclusion of the case
ii. Asset purchaser may also be liable as successor in interest to debtor for
CERCLA liability
iii. Asset purchaser not protected from liability associated with its own ownership
of property even where debtor (or its predecessors) caused the contamination
35

36. Abandonment of Property Affected by Environmental
Issues
a. Bankruptcy Code § 554(a) provides that, ―[a]fter notice and a hearing, [a debtor] may
abandon any property of the estate that is burdensome to the estate or that is of
inconsequential value and benefit of the estate.‖
b. Supreme Court has limited debtor’s right to abandon environmentally impaired
properties. Property may not be abandoned in contravention of a state statute or
regulation that is reasonably designed to protect the public health or safety from
identified hazards. Midlantic National Bank v. New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, 474 U.S. 494 (1986).
36

37. Discharging Environmental Claims
a. A key benefit to bankruptcy is the ability to discharge debts and liabilities
b. But . . . environmental liabilities may not always be discharged
c. To be discharged, a liability must be a ―claim‖
i. A claim includes a ―right to payment, whether or not such right is reduced to
judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured,
disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured.‖ Bankruptcy
Code § 101(5)(a)
1. Government’s pre-bankruptcy right to payment of money is a claim subject
to discharge
2. Governmental creditor must file a proof of claim, but filing deadline for
governmental claims may not be earlier than 180 days after case filing
3. Unless secured, government claim is treated as general unsecured claim
37

38. Discharging Environmental Claims
b. Are cleanup orders a claim that can be discharged? It depends.
i. In Ohio v. Kovacs, 469 U.S. 274 (1985), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a
debtor’s obligation to a governmental agency to clean up environmental
damages at site not owned by debtor was dischargeable claim because
obligation was effectively reduced to money judgment.
ii. In re Torwico Electronics, Inc., 8 F.3d 146 (3d Cir. 1993), and U.S. v. Apex
Oil Co., 579 F.3d 734 (7th Cir. 2009), treat the debtor’s obligation to clean up
a non-owned site as a non-monetary obligation rather than as a ―claim‖ that
may be discharged, even though spending money is required to fulfill the
obligation.
38

39. Discharging Environmental Claims
a. Prepetition monetary judgments pursued by a private party will constitute a claim
subject to discharge:
i. Parties must file proofs of claims
ii. Generally a claim based on a judgment is a general unsecured claim
b. What if another PRP wants contribution from the debtor for future cleanup costs for
which the debtor is responsible for under environmental statutes?
i. Bankruptcy Code §502(e)(1)(B) addresses this issue, providing for
disallowance of contingent claims for reimbursement or contribution where
claimant is co-liable with debtor
39

40. Claims for Contribution or Reimbursement
a. Bankruptcy Code § 502(e)(1)(B)
b. Courts apply a 3-part test when interpreting § 502(e)(1)(B)
c. Each part of the test must be satisfied:
i. Contingency: claim must be contingent at time of allowance or disallowance
ii. Co-liability: party asserting claim must be liable with debtor on claim of third
party
iii. Reimbursement or contribution: claim must be for reimbursement or contribution
iv. If PRPs hold a contingent contribution claim that may be disallowed, they can
monitor whether the government files a claim and if it does not, file on the
government’s behalf
40

41. Government Environmental Penalty Claims
a. Prepetition penalty claims are certainly not entitled to priority
b. Compensatory postpetition penalty claims
i. If the fine is really an incurred clean-up cost, then such compensatory claims
are entitled to administrative priority. See Com. of Pa. Dept. of Envtl. Res. v.
Conroy, 24 F.3d 685 (3d Cir. 1994).
41

42. Government Environmental Penalty Claims
a. Non-Compensatory postpetition penalty claims
i. In the 3rd Cir. non-compensatory penalty claims are not entitled to administrative
priority. See PA Dep't of Envtl. Res. v. Tri-State Clinical Labs., Inc., 178 F.3d 685
(3d Cir. 1999).
ii. In the 1st Cir. such claims are entitled to administrative priority. See In re Munce's
Sup. Petroleum Prod., Inc., 736 F.3d 567 (1st Cir. 2013).
b. Fines for failure to abate prepetition conduct
i. In the 11th Cir. non-compensatory penalty claims for failure to abate prepetition
conduct are not entitled to administrative priority. See In re N.P. Mining Co., Inc.,
963 F.2d 1449 (11th Cir. 1992).
42

43. Due Process and Sufficient Notice of Discharge
a. Claim will not be discharged if debtor:
i. Fails to serve a known creditor with notice of date by which claims must be
filed (the ―bar date‖); or
ii. Fails to publish notice of bar date to alert unknown creditors they must file
claims
b. How much detail a publication notice needs to provide has been a subject of
debate, as has the question of how much effort the debtor needs to undertake to
identify creditors so they qualify as ―known.‖ See, e.g., Dahlin v. Lyondell Chemical
Co., 881 F.3d 599 (8th Cir. 2018) (discussing both issues).
43

44. Due Process and Sufficient Notice of Discharge
a. Differentiating between known and unknown environmental claim may be
unclear, for example:
i. Contractual environmental indemnification and hold-harmless obligations may
exist against debtor; or
ii. Debtor’s neighbor whose property may be contaminated may give rise to claims
b. Remedy afforded to claim holders who did not receive adequate notice may be
difficult to determine; claimant may not be bound by
i. Debtor’s discharge, and any injunctions protecting affiliates, under ch. 11 plan
ii. Provisions of § 363 sale order protecting buyer from successor liability
44

45. Exceptions to the Discharge
a. Bankruptcy Code §523(a)(2)(A), made applicable through §1141(d)(6), provides an
exception to dischargeability for certain debts obtained through a debtor’s fraudulent
conduct—i.e., false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud
b. Government agencies have been aggressive is trying to shoehorn prepetition
environmental penalty claims into the discharge exception. See In re Exide Tech.,
613 B.R. 79 (D. Del. 2020) ; In re Peabody Energy Corp., 599 B.R. 610 (E.D. Mo.
2019).
c. Courts generally rule that penalty claims are not excepted from discharge
45

46. Executory Contracts
a. Bankruptcy Code § 365 allows a debtor to reject or assume executory contracts,
generally defined as contracts with material unperformed obligations on both sides
b. Rejection of an executory contract results in a prepetition claim for damages against
debtor, generally treated as a general unsecured claim
c. Issues can arise as to environmental contracts
i. PRP agreement is likely an executory contract
ii. How about a consent decree?
d. Courts may consider non-debtor’s attempted termination of executory contract to be
breach of the automatic stay
46

47. Withdrawal of Reference
1. 28 U.S.C. § 157(d) requires that the district court withdraw from the bankruptcy
court any proceeding that the court determines ―requires consideration of both title
11 [the Bankruptcy Code] and other laws of the United States regulating
organizations or activities affecting interstate commerce.‖
2. Environmental laws are all based on the Commerce Clause. So there can be efforts
to withdraw the reference concerning environmental issues.
3. Non-debtor parties often prefer to be in district court; debtors typically prefer to be in
bankruptcy court. District courts are generally reluctant to withdraw bankruptcy
matters from bankruptcy court.
47

48. About the Faculty
48

49. About the Faculty
Daniel C. Cohn - dcohn@murthalaw.com
Dan Cohn devotes his practice at Murtha Cullina LLP to financially distressed businesses and is
recognized as one of New England’s best-known counsel to troubled companies. He also represents
directors and officers, equity sponsors, litigation defendants, trustees, landlords, suppliers, tort claimants
and creditors’ committees. His experience includes Chapter 11 reorganizations and sales, out of court
debt restructurings, troubled company acquisitions, trust mortgages and assignments for benefit of
creditors. A trained mediator and frequent lecturer on bankruptcy law, Dan is a fellow of the American
College of Bankruptcy and has served on its Board of Directors. Mr. Cohn is listed in America’s Leading
Business Lawyers (Chambers & Partners USA), Best Lawyers in America, and other publications.
For more, go to http://www.murthalaw.com/our_people/daniel-cohn
49

50. About the Faculty
Gary W. Marsh - gary.marsh@troutman.com
Gary Marsh is a partner with Troutman Sanders LLP in Atlanta. A veteran restructuring
attorney focused on all aspects of bankruptcy, workouts, debtor and creditor law, Gary’s
practice also encompasses general commercial litigation. He represents debtors and
creditors in Chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings and litigation. He also represents
court appointed receivers, examiners and trustees. Gary’s practice primarily involves
representing financial institutions and servicers in and out of court in enforcing their rights and
remedies. He also analyzes and defends against preference and fraudulent conveyance
actions, represents buyers of assets out of bankruptcy and represents landlords and other
parties who have leases or contracts with debtors. Gary has deep industry experience
particularly with healthcare, energy and real estate insolvencies.
50

51. About the Faculty
Robert E. Richards - robert.richards@dentons.com
Bob Richards is chair of Dentons' Global and US Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy practice
groups and practices in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency-related transactions and litigation. His
practice includes Chapter 11 representations, distressed asset acquisitions, distressed loan purchases
and foreclosure sales, and out of court transactions and transaction structuring. Bob is recommended by
Chambers USA (2018), where he is praised as ―a superb attorney with great legal skills and a creative
mind, someone who gets things done and overcomes hurdles.‖ He is also recommended in Best
Lawyers Illinois (2018) and The Legal 500 US (2014-2015), which notes his ―first rate technical skills as
well as first rate business skills.‖ BTI Consulting Group surveyed in-house counsel and named Bob as a
BTI Client Service All-Star (2015) in recognition of his superior client service.
51

52. About the Faculty
Margrethe Kearney - MKearney@elpc.org
Margrethe Kearney practices energy and environmental law in the Midwest-based Environmental Law &
Policy Center’s (ELPC) Grand Rapids, MI office. ELPC is a not-for-profit public interest environmental
organization that works to achieve cleaner air, advance clean renewable energy and energy efficiency
resources, improve environmental quality, protect clean water and preserve natural resources in Michigan
and the Midwest. Margrethe regularly litigates energy cases in front of the Michigan Public Service
Commission and represents clients in state and federal courts on a variety of environmental claims,
including in the context of bankruptcy proceedings. Margrethe was previously Counsel at Latham &
Watkins in the Environment, Land & Resources Department, focusing on environmental enforcement,
environmental litigation and advising on environmental aspects of corporate and finance
transactions. She represented clients on cases involving the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, CERCLA
and valuation of environmental claims in bankruptcy proceedings. Before law school, she worked as an
associate research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
52

53. Questions or Comments?
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the name of the webinar in your email and we will do our best to provide a timely response.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The material in this presentation is for general educational purposes
only. It has been prepared primarily for attorneys and accountants for use in the pursuit of
their continuing legal education and continuing professional education.
53

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