future-focused

Practices

Liskow has been helping clients navigate the permitting process for many decades. In the field of environmental law, permitting and defense of permit challenges, is where the rubber truly meets the road. Whether a client is in the business of chemical manufacturing, refining, oil and gas production grain transportation, biodiesel, or solar power, permitting is always necessary, and frequently involves a complex game of three-dimensional chess with a variety of opponents. We help our clients play, and we help them win.

Overview

Of course, if a facility is small, or noncontroversial, permitting can be easy. However, if a client wants to significantly expand an existing operation, or build a new facility, or is in an industry that’s politically sensitive or even controversial, then permitting can mean lengthy negotiations with regulatory agencies, and the integration of political and strategic issues into the process. We focus on helping clients think, plan, and act ahead – what needs to be done in advance, so that in the future, you can successfully operate your business?

Managing stakeholders makes permitting possible

This often means dealing with opposition – environmental groups, community organizations, marketplace competitors, or others. We work with clients to help them lay the groundwork to anticipate and manage this, as well as assemble an administrative record that will stand up to legal challenges. We also help them think through, and execute against, potential political or community-based objections to a project, and ideally, begin working to build support long before the actual permit is sought.

The record precedes the permit 

Successfully permitted projects are buttressed by an administrative record that will stand up to a challenge in court, often before judges who are unfamiliar with the intricacies of the applicable regulations.  Because of this, and because the administrative record is of critical importance in arguing these cases, we work very hard to ensure that in the event of a permitting challenge, we give the court everything it needs to decide in our favor, without overdoing it.  

Spotting issues before they’re issues 

Projects that can create jobs, that can help our clients prevail in the marketplace, and that are responsibly, appropriately planned, are the goal. As knowledgeable counsel in this field, our job is to keep our clients abreast of the changing currents that can influence permitting, such as environmental justice and climate change, help them navigate them, and ultimately, arrive at their destination: a working, permitted project.  

Notable Experience

  • A client previously had sought to construct an integrated plastics manufacturing facility in a location near the Mississippi River. Unexpected political opposition, fueled by baseless claims that the facility would increase the incidence of cancer in neighboring communities, hindered project development. We worked with them to identify another site, limit the scope of the project, and begin managing the politics of the project early. The result was a successful permitting process, and an operating facility.
  • We counseled an improperly permitted waste disposal facility that needed to be repermitted as a hazardous waste incinerator. The process required an alternative sites analysis, and we developed an innovative, fact-based process for a third-party expert to evaluate 20 alternative sites, apply criteria, and create a scoring system that the Louisiana Supreme Court said was the best alternative site analysis they had ever seen. The permits were obtained, and successfully defended.

We are known for these strengths

  • We are experienced in constructing an administrative record in the initial stages of the permitting process that will withstand challenges in court later. It’s both an art and a science, and we’re skilled at both.
  • Thanks to our longstanding experience in permitting, and the working relationships we’ve developed, we bring both credibility and effectiveness to the process. When an attorney from Liskow is involved, regulators, judges, and fact-finders listen.
  • Defense of permits often involves juggling multiple administrative processes from multiple agencies simultaneously. We’re experienced in this, and very good at it.
  • Permitting and defense of permits is often a highly political, visible process. We have both the subject matter knowledge and the political savvy to help clients plan for and effectively manage these issues.
  • The permitting process is also often a long-term undertaking. We’re highly experiences in looking beyond the immediate event horizon, and helping clients plan for, and manage, emerging issues that can affect their permitting.
I have used Liskow & Lewis for multiple environmental activities from litigation to assistance in facilitating agency approval. They are very knowledgeable of environmental regulations and use this expertise to their client's advantage. They fully understand the importance of timely responses. Liskow & Lewis is an extremely solid environmental law firm that can handle negotiations for settlement or full litigation.
Best Lawyers Client Comment
Environmental Law, 2019

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