Profile: Lee A DeHihns III

Environment

Biography: Environment

Lee DeHihns is a partner in Alston & Bird's environmental and land use group. He concentrates on regulatory and defensive litigation matters, including corporate audits, compliance programme development, debarment, white-collar criminal defence, air quality, hazardous waste, water quality and wetlands matters for industrial and municipal clients.

Mr DeHihns works on many complex and high profile matters. For example, he has represented Gwinnett County, in the US state of Georgia, in litigation challenging the county's NPDES permit to discharge highly treated effluent into Lake Lanier. This case is the highest profile wastewater litigation in Georgia. He successfully represented a corporation in defeating class certification in an Alabama federal court case involving allegations of air pollution crossing interstate boundaries. And he successfully represented the city (GMA) and county (ACCG) representative organisations as amicus parties in federal court in Georgia, in one of the most important water quality cases in the United States.

Mr DeHihns maintains an active practice in defending governmental enforcement cases brought against clients, and fighting challenges and lawsuits to clients' permits and business activities pursued by citizens and environmental groups. His corporate compliance practice includes conducting confidential internal investigations and participation in corporate compliance audits and assessments, as well as defence of white-collar criminal actions.

He is the chair elect of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources for 2006 to 2007 and will become the section chair in August 2007. Mr DeHihns served as deputy regional administrator of USEPA Region 4, and at USEPA in Washington, DC as associate general counsel. He received a Senior Executive Service Meritorious Rank Award from President Bush Sr in 1989.