Bob guides his clients using the widest possible perspective on problem solving based on his experience both in government and private industry. He is chair of the Firm's Environmental Practice Group. He has special experience supporting large-scale, long lead time investment projects in environmental restoration and real estate development as well as urban transportation. His work ranges from litigation of environmental and toxic tort disputes to negotiation of transactional documents putting significant capital assets to work. Clients for whom Bob has assumed lead responsibility within our Firm include governmental authorities (in connection with litigation as well as project development) and private multinational manufacturing corporations whose operating assets span across Europe and Asia as well as North America. Bob also represents smaller start up and mid-stage companies developing promising but risk-intensive technology. He also works with real estate entrepreneurs whose profitability is very sensitive to soft costs. Notable Experience · Bob successfully litigated a jury trial in a high-exposure toxic tort litigation involving claims against a major public authority that it had caused contamination of water supplies leading to personal injury and property damages. · Bob provided strategic guidance to, and represented in Washington, the Boston region's Central Artery/Tunnel Project ("Big Dig") in connection with both project financing and environmental permitting. · On behalf of a major regulated pension fund investment trust, Bob innovated a program for environmental compliance and pollution prevention in connection with large-tract timber management. · Bob successfully litigated and negotiated on behalf of a substantial Asian-based manufacturer of digital signal processing equipment in connection with resolution of patent infringement claims under more than a dozen patents. · Bob counseled our multi-national insured in establishing a comprehensive, cutting edge pollution liability and cleanup cost insurance program for multiple sites in the United States. · Bob was principal legal representative on a team with a Fortune 100 client in developing both a technical model and legal strategy for handling the client's successful defense of its position that it should not become a responsible party at one of the nation's most expensive Superfund sites (in Woburn MA, as described in Jonathan Haar's book, A Civil Action). Recent Speaking Engagements and Publications · Bob co-authored "EPA's New 'All Appropriate Inquiries' Requirements for CERCLA Liability Protection Going into Effect," The Real Estate Finance Journal, Fall 2006. · Bob was principal author of an article published in The Real Estate Finance Journal, Summer 2004 entitled "Emerging Federal Rule on 'All Appropriate Inquiry' Will Trigger New Requirements for Environmental Assessments." · Bob co-authored an article published in the December 2003 Boston Business Journal on toxic mold litigation and insurance. News & Publications October 10, 2006, EPA's New "All Appropriate Inquiries" Requirements for CERCLA Liability Protection Going Into Effect
The Real Estate Finance Journal June 1, 2004, Emerging Federal Rule on "All Appropriate Inquiry" Will Trigger New Requirements for Environmental Assessments
The Real Estate Finance Journal Licensing Fast Breaking Technology Presents Special Challenges Before Edwards Wildman While at university in New York City, Bob volunteered in Newark, NJ as a legal intern for former Mayor Ken Gibson, the nation's first African-American Mayor. While there, Bob assisted in developing community access programs. Following law school, Bob served as Legal Counsel to the Boston Transportation Planning Review, a staff to a consortium of state agencies focused on a major revamping of state policy in transportation construction. He subsequently served as General Counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Construction, during which he helped establish policy promoting community development and environmental protection throughout Massachusetts. Besides Edwards Wildman Bob is an avid cyclist, riding for numerous charity organizations as well as to keep his synapses clear. He also continues a tradition since his childhood in Texas of deadening his synapses while riding horses. He is pro bono General Counsel to the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, a national organization of nearly twenty-five years which is the only organization of its kind dedicated to providing emergency grants and loans to professional craftsmakers who earn a living from their skills in fibre, ceramics, metalsworking, and glass and who have sustained career-threatening emergencies. Industries · Energy, Infrastructure & Cleantech Memberships · American Bar Association, Natural Resource Section; Intellectual Property Section · Boston Bar Association, Environmental Section · Boston Patent Law Association |