One of the challenging and rewarding aspects of environmental law practice is the necessity for the attorney to embrace and work with other disciplines essential to understanding the complex scientific and technological issues in environmental cases. For example, a pesticide case may combine the expertise of a wildlife biologist, an entomologist, a toxicologist, a chemist, and the fields of public health, agriculture, and silviculture. An air pollution case may combine the knowledge and skills of a botanist, a meteorologist, and a chemical engineer. A wetlands case may warrant a multidisciplinary approach combining the talents of a hydrologist, a chemist, a botanist, and a biologist. A hazardous waste incident may require calling upon a geologist, a sanitary engineer, a chemical engineer. and physicians.
More than any other area of law, environmental law is greatly affected by policy choices and ideas from other disciplines such as engineering, earth sciences, biology, and economics.
Environmental law has been shaped by powerful technological, economic, moral, and social forces, creating a vast body of law in a short period of time. It has moved through the obvious problems of air and water pollution and now grapples with the thorny problems of protecting wetlands, managing flood hazards, minimizing hazardous wastes, fostering energy alternatives, providing affordable housing, controlling inappropriate growth, disposing of solid waste, and dealing with environmental impacts that cross state and national boundaries.
Public and private decisions on these complex matters carry with them a high degree of uncertainty. The modern industrial or government manager needs expert assistance in choosing the best course of action.
Our legal and consulting services include counseling agencies and corporations on significant policy issues. The strength of our advice is that it is both thorough and practical.
