Biography
Astrika has significant transactional and regulatory law experience. Her expertise focuses on corporate and commercial law and its relation to environmental law and the regulated industries therein.
She assists companies subject to environmental laws and regulations navigate complex commercial transactions, including Mergers & Acquisitions, financing agreements, service agreements, power agreements, and other ancillary contracts. In addition, she counsels companies on regulatory compliance. Before joining Beveridge & Diamond, she served as in-house counsel to a private equity fund where she focused on M&A contract formation in the energy and conservation sectors, including financing transactions, other commercial contracts, and both environmental and commercial due diligence.
She also previously served as Assistant Chief Counsel for Environmental Law and Policy with the U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, an independent federal government office that aims to represent the interests of small businesses, non-profits, and small governments, in front of Congress, the White House, and Federal Agencies. There, she utilized her private sector operational experience to better fine-tune draft federal environmental regulations and policies to eliminate regulatory inefficiencies with a particular emphasis on Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and National Environmental Policy Act regulations and policies. In particular, she reviewed and provided pathways to improve such regulations, such as the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for PFAS substances, as well as the definition of “waters of the United States.”
Astrika has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Penn State University Dickinson School of Law and Washington and Lee University School of Law, as well as Lecturer in Law at North Carolina State University, where she taught coursework in Environmental Law and Mergers and Acquisitions.
Education
- Barnard College (B.A., 2012)
- Dean’s List
- Washington and Lee University (J.D., 2015)
- VA Judicial Circuit Clerkship, 25th Judicial Circuit
- Internships with Department of the Army - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Appeals Board, Ohio Supreme Court, Office of Senator Deborah Fischer (NE)
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court – Western District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court – Eastern District of Virginia
Professional Affiliations
- American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
- In-House Counsel Committee Vice Chair
- American Bar Association, Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice
- Virginia Environmental Symposium, Planning Committee
Publications
What’s In A Name? A Rule Called A Permit Is Still A Rule, 35 TUL. ENVTL. L.J. (2022)
Take Three: Following the Science and the Law To Create A Durable and Objective Definition Of “The Waters Of The United States”, 7 LOYOLA U. CHI. J. REG. COMPLIANCE (2021)
Languages
- German (proficiency)