Profile: John Riley

Environment

Biography: Environment

John Riley represents clients on permitting and enforcement matters in the air, water, and waste media before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Mr Riley has significant experience in representing clients in contested environmental permit matters before the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings.

From September 1994 to March 1998, Mr Riley was the director of the litigation division at the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, which is now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. During his tenure at the Commission, Mr Riley was directly responsible for the development and implementation of the Texas Environmental, Health and Safety Audit Privilege Law and other legislation affecting the enforcement of environmental laws in Texas. Mr Riley also oversaw or participated directly in the development of enforcement policies and practices, including the expansion of the Special Investigations Unit, which focuses on environmental crimes. Mr Riley began his legal career in 1983 as an assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, where he was a member of the Homicide Bureau and the elite Trial Cadre, a unit specialised in the trial of high-profile or otherwise community sensitive cases.

Mr Riley has been recognised as a leading lawyer by The Best Lawyers in America in environmental law and administrative law and by Texas Monthly as a 'Texas Super Lawyer' in environmental law. He has presented on various environmental regulatory matters and has testified before the US Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the Texas, Alaska, and Louisiana Legislatures.

Mr Riley has a BS degree in Biology and Genetics from Cornell University, awarded in 1979, and a JD degree from Boston University, awarded in 1983.