B&D Expands to Seattle

Beveridge & Diamond today announced the opening in Seattle of its eighth office, formed by the addition of five lawyers formerly of the Riddell Williams, PS, firm (now Fox Rothschild).

The lawyers joining B&D as Principals are former Riddell Williams environmental practice group chair Dave Weber and Loren Dunn (one of Seattle Business Monthly’s “75 Top Business Lawyers” in the Seattle region). Marshall Morales and Gus Winkes join B&D as Associates. With the Seattle additions, B&D now has 105 lawyers in eight U.S. offices, all of whom focus on assisting clients with environmental, health, safety, and natural resources regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters.

Weber and Dunn lead a well-regarded practice that represents companies, real estate developers, municipalities, engineering, and construction firms, and other entities in contaminated property and Superfund matters; complex environmental litigation; and air, water, and waste permitting and litigation. Notable representations include:

• Negotiating and litigating at some of the largest Superfund sites in the country located in the Pacific Northwest;
• Counseling a major transportation company on federal and state air quality compliance and climate change matters, defending administrative enforcement proceedings, and defending citizen suits;
• Providing advice and assistance to an international paper company regarding Clean Water Act permitting and compliance; contaminated sediment remediation; and potential natural resource damages claims; and
• Defending a past private landowner against $50 million claim for costs of site remediation due to releases of petroleum contamination from a series of oil pipelines.

“Seattle is the ideal choice for our next office expansion, and we are pleased to have found the ideal partners in Loren, Dave, and their outstanding associates. We have longstanding and significant client matters in the Pacific Northwest, and our new colleagues give us ‘boots on the ground’ that enhance our ability to serve our clients in the Pacific Northwest, California, and around the nation,” said Chairman Ben Wilson.

Dave added, “B&D is synonymous with excellence in environmental law. As we looked for the next steps in the growth of our practice, B&D stood out as the optimal home. The firm’s deep bench of regulatory practitioners and litigators around the country provides significant additional capacity to our clients. Having access to a large team in Washington, DC, for federal matters is another plus. We look forward to leading the expansion of B&D’s brand into the Seattle and Pacific Northwest markets.”

Added Managing Principal Russ LaMotte, “Representing clients at the nexus of environment and business is the essence of our firm. I can think of no better place to do that than Seattle, a hub for economic and environmental innovation.”