Beveridge & Diamond PC

Not an "everything" law firm. The environmental law firm.

No matter how or where an environmental issue arises, you need lawyers who understand the full picture and who can "see around corners" to help you prepare for what's coming next. And, when necessary, to vigorously defend your interests in litigation.

Environmental issues touch virtually every aspect of our lives and business operations. We offer decades and depth of experience advising numerous industry sectors on environmental law and its changing applicability to complex businesses worldwide. We also assist U.S. state and municipal governments on these issues. Independent legal rating agencies regularly rank B&D as a top-tier U.S. environmental and environmental litigation practice (examples include: Best Lawyers? (a BL Rankings service) Environmental Firm of the Year 2018-2019; Chambers and Partners Guide to the Legal Profession - USA, Band 1 2019, The Legal 500 Tier 1 in Environmental Regulatory 2019).
Comprehensive Environmental Regulatory, Transactional, and Litigation Support

We support clients' "day-to-day" operating needs across all core environmental disciplines and related fields including:

Obtaining air, water, natural resources/species, and waste permits and other governmental approvals for business operations, modifications, and expansions - and litigating challenges to these permits.
Ensuring worker health and safety and responding to safety incidents.
Preparing emergency and crisis response plans, and managing crises.
Monitoring ongoing compliance and reporting across the enterprise.
Managing litigation - environmental citizen suits, nuisance and tort claims, and commercial disputes, including litigation relating to alleged historic contamination.
Responding to government enforcement actions.
Conducting internal investigations.
Tracking multi-jurisdictional environmental, health, and safety (EHS), and product regulatory developments.
Developing new projects, or managing acquisitions and divestitures, that may pose legacy or novel environmental and land development issues.
Incorporating historic and cultural preservation requirements into business plans.
Implementing training on EHS requirements.
Participating in international efforts to set environmental and chemical standards.
Combining environmental management systems and compliance cultures in company mergers.
Accessing insurance proceeds for environmental incidents and to mitigate risks.
Advising business professionals and the boards of companies on emerging environmental issues.

Our core capabilities encompass:

Facilities and products.
U.S. and international matters.
Regulatory strategy, advocacy, compliance, and enforcement.
Litigation, including toxic tort and class action.
Transactions and project development.

Managing Emerging, Cross-Cutting Issues

Our focus and depth in environmental law position us to help clients interpret and respond to fast-moving developments that may not always seem "environmental" on their face. Just a few examples include:

Answering customer and stakeholder questions about product formulations, supply chains, and corporate sustainability efforts (including, for example, human and indigenous rights).
Deploying new technologies amidst uncertainty about whether and which existing legal or regulatory regime applies.
Gaining access to new markets around the world.

A Team Focused on Your Needs

We strive for total alignment with clients: asking questions, visiting facilities, learning clients' business and people, collaborating on strategic planning, and more. For many clients, we serve as an extension of their environmental legal and compliance functions. For others, we work in a more behind the scenes way. In all cases, our focus and depth, our experience with numerous industry sectors, and our approach to client service add value and set us apart from others. We also connect our clients with industry colleagues and strive to find ways to help them do their jobs more effectively.

Our size and culture prioritize collaboration across offices, leveraging our strengths in litigation and environmental disciplines and driving results for clients. In addition, many of our lawyers have scientific or technical degrees, a plus when dealing with highly technical litigation and regulatory matters.

We seek to mitigate risk and add value not only through our counsel but also through resources such as roundtables, training, and knowledge products. A few examples include:

Our OSHA Webinar Series
The Latin American Environmental Regulatory Resource Center
The China EHS Roundtable
The Pharmaceutical EHS Roundtable
The TSCA Dialogue Group
The ICT Environmental, Sustainability, and Supply Chain Counsel Roundtable
The Oil & Gas Endangered Species Act Coalition

We also partner with clients to manage their legal spend, tailoring fixed-fee, retainer, and other value-based models for regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters.
Industry Connections

Our involvement with industry organizations, our connections with U.S. and international regulators, and our carefully-curated network of counsel and consultants in over 50 countries enable us to deliver environmental and product regulatory intelligence in real time and to manage multi-jurisdictional projects. Many of our lawyers have prior U.S. state or federal government experience, and several more have worked as corporate counsel, enriching our ability to help clients prioritize issues, explain the implications of various actions, and chart concrete strategies and implementation steps for success.

We participate in many industry groups as members, sponsors, counsel, or informal advisors. We also form independent or ad hoc groups for specific industries or issues. Examples include:

Association of Corporate Counsel Environmental & Sustainability Network (Sponsor)
American Chemistry Council (Associate Member)
Retail Industry Leaders Association Environmental Compliance Committee (Sponsor)
Defense Research Institute (DRI) Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee (Chair)
American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (Sponsor)
Ad hoc coalitions for industry advocacy, litigation amicus briefs, and more

Focused on Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are core values at B&D. We believe that our differences make us stronger and provide better results for our clients. Learn more about our diversity and inclusion efforts, results, and recognition.
How May We Help You?

Please contact your usual B&D contact, any of our service and industry team contacts, our Chairman Benjamin Wilson, or our Managing Principal Kathy Szmuszkovicz to start a conversation about how we can help you meet your challenges.

Locations	No. of Attorneys
Seattle, WA	19

Practice Areas	No. of Attorneys
Energy and Oil & Gas	2
Environmental and Land Use	36
Insurance Coverage	3
Labor & Employment	1
Litigation	16
Litigation - General (consumer)	2
Real Estate	1