Maine's largest law firm launches climate change practice group
Courtesy / Bernstein Shur
Bernstein Shur shareholder David Littell chairs the Portland law firm's new climate change practice group.
With climate change affecting so many areas of the economy, Maine's largest law firm is launching a 15-attorney practice group to meet growing demand for expertise on climate-related law and regulation.
Bernstein Shur, a firm based in Portland with more than 125 attorneys, announced the new practice Thursday on Earth Day with members of the multidisciplinary team led by shareholder David Littell as chair.
He told Mainebiz the initiative came from a couple of members of the firm's board after noticing that climate change was impacting different existing practices in ways that clients may not be thinking about.
"We're seeing climate change pop up in almost every practice in the firm," from banking to real estate and municipal practices where coastal flooding impacts property valuations.
"Even inland," he said, "you're seeing an in read frequency of storm events that impact municipal clients, and impact things as simple was the size of your culverts." If these are not big enough, for example, roads and bridges can get washed out.
Littell, a former commissioner with the Maine Public Utilities Commission before joining Bernstein Shur in May 2019, is an energy and environmental attorney with the firm.
Bernstein Shur CEO Joan Fortin, honored as a Mainebiz Woman to Watch in 2018, said in Thursday's press release that the firm has long been dealing with climate change issues,
However, the timing was right to form a practice group "both in recognition of the growing attention our clients are placing on climate change and to focus our expertise into a multidisciplinary team of professionals who offer creative and innovative solutions to our clients who are grappling with challenges and/or exploring emerging opportunities related to climate change.”
The move comes amid a pledge by President Joe Biden, announced on Thursday, to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% but 2030, two months after the United States rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change. Bernstein Shur also noted the new administration's focus on addressing climate change through modifications at the Environmental protection Agency and elsewhere in the federal government.
Other firms
Among other large Maine law firms providing expertise related to climate change, Preti Flaherty has a 10-attorney climate strategy group advising business, governmental and trade association clients nationwide. Verrill energy and environmental practice group members help renewable energy developers, consumers, businesses and delivery companies meet permitting, transactional, regulatory, real estate and government relations goals.
Similarly, Pierce Atwood does a significant amount of work in solar, hydro, offshore and onshore wind and biogas, as well as tax incentive programs, according to a spokesman. The climate change work draws on expertise from the firm's environmental, energy, land use, tax business, finance and construction law practices.
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