Resources

Who's likely to receive an investigation demand from a state agency and what should you do when that happens? 

Received an investigation order from one of California's Water Boards?  What you should know before responding. 

What are No Further Action letters, and what does it mean if you have one? 

Where do businesses fall short when trying to comply with the General Industrial Stormwater Permit (IGP) and how can they avoid it? 

An example of how over-compliance caused problems for a client, and how asking the question "why" might have saved the business years of unnecessary regulation. 

Think you qualify for the "innocent landowner defense?" Let's look at what that means. 

"All Appropriate Inquiries" is the standard that buyers need to follow before purchasing property to show that they couldn't have known what they were getting into. What does it mean? 

If your tenant operates a business subject to environment regulation, you might be at risk for long-term problems. What should you look for and how can you protect yourself? 

If you're looking at buying a commercial or industrial property, or a property located near those areas, here are our tips to help you evaluate a property before committing to a deal. 

Sometimes, there's room to negotiate the amount of penalties a business is required to pay to avoid or settle an enforcement matter. Here are some of our of tips to set your business up for the best position possible. 

What are the pros and cons to undertaking an investigation or clean-up voluntarily instead of waiting for a government order? 

How do you know whether you need an environmental consultant or lawyer and how do they  help property owners and businesses who are facing investigation or clean-up demands. 

Five tips to finding the right person to help you assess or handle an environmental law matter and why these factors are so important to your success. 

When environmental consultants all look reputable and have ideas of what work needs to be done at a property, how do you know which one to choose? 

If you've heard terms like "hourly," "contingency," "flat fee," "blended rate," these are all varying ways that lawyers charge for their services.  We go through the basics to explain them and what they mean in environmental matters. 

Having a lawyer represent you for free?  It’s something people have heard of, especially for environmental cases.  What does that really mean and is it possible? 

This is one of the most common questions we get.  We explain some of the main cost-drivers for environmental cases. 

What are the things businesses and property owners can start saving now, to help their legal defense later? 

Three basic principles that affect whether a business or property owner will face penalties for alleged environmental violations 

Think paper is old-school and wasteful?  Think again.  In environmental cases, it's the difference between paying hundreds of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket or not.