Law Firm Overview

FEMA LAW ASSOCIATES, PLLC 2001-present

• Founder and Principal of law and regulatory consulting firm specializing in Emergency Management and Disaster Law.
• Emergency management legal practice focuses on laws, regulations, policies and procedures relating to eligibility for federal disaster and mitigation assistance, the coordination of federal, state, local, non-profit, and private sector responders in catastrophic events, and the all elements of the National Flood Insurance Program, including insurance, floodplain mapping, and floodplain management.
• Clients include local governments, public authorities and non-profit organizations eligible for FEMA assistance and their trade associations, Write-Your-Own Insurance Companies and individual flood insurance policy holders, land owners and land developers, law firms and contractors providing services to the emergency management community, and employees of emergency management agencies.
• Subject Matter Legal Expert for Centers for Disease Control contract to create Public Health Emergency Law Training Course (both the 1^st and 2^nd Editions)

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, Washington, D.C., July 1997-January, 2001. General Counsel

• General Counsel of Federal Emergency Management Agency ($4 billion in annual expenditures). Chief legal officer for a member of the Cabinet of the United States. Managed all FEMA regulatory development and coordinated the legislative program for all FEMA agencies.
• Directed review of legal issues raised by FEMA's disaster and flood programs. Personally drafted decisions on appeals involving repetitive loss structures, interrelationship between insurance and disaster relief, and scope of authority to fund structural improvements as part of restoration of damaged structures.
• Decided all appeals from FEMA initial decisions refusing to produce information requested under the Freedom of Information Act, and led development of new "routine use" of information in the agency's files that would allow FEMA to use this information to assist in mitigation of flood hazards.
• Led expedited development of regulations to implement the Cerro Grande Fire Assistance Act, which created a new $500 million FEMA compensation program. Interim regulations were published and effective 45 days after enactment (rather than ‘normal' year or more).
• Developed and implemented integrated litigation and regulatory program to protect National Flood Insurance Program from punitive damage awards.
• Created FEMA Office of Dispute Resolution in Office of General Counsel; FEMA's Office received special mention in Justice Department report to President on Dispute Resolution. Personally mediated dispute involving personnel and national security matters.

TENNECO ENERGY, Houston, TX, 1985-1996: Director and Vice-President, International (1994-1996). Principal Deputy General Counsel and Managing Attorney (1990-1994; previously Associate General Counsel).

• Managing Deputy General Counsel of a $3 billion diversified natural gas company operating in 27 states. Legal Department size: 25 staff lawyers; outside counsel expenditures of over $20 million.
• Directed all contract and regulatory work for over $500 million in successful Company expansion projects. Lead negotiator on a 275 billion cubic foot international natural gas purchase contract and on gas processing and liquids transportation aspects of $500 million sale of gas liquids business. Member of 13 partner Management Committee of $700 million international pipeline project. Led natural gas industry response to new restrictions on affiliate relationships.
• Managed environmental legal function. Supervised state and federal negotiations for a $300+ million PCB remediation project. Successfully directed related toxic tort litigation and settlements. Developed environmental corporate compliance program.
  Developed new litigation/budget control system for $20 million outside counsel expenses, improving cost control and settlement strategy and allowing transfer of accountability for managing costs to staff attorneys. Developed innovative outside counsel fee arrangements.
• Developed management and information process to track and review corporate contingent liabilities with chief financial officer and outside auditors.
• Conducted and managed internal investigations in both civil and criminal contexts.
• As manager of Tenneco Energy's Political Action Committee, increased employee participation by 300% and contributions by 100%. Managed 'advance work' for significant public events.

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Washington, D.C., 1983-1985. Special Assistant for Legislative Development, Assistant Administrator of Office of Policy, Planning And Evaluation.

• Directed "statutory review" project of Administrator William Ruckelshaus to achieve greater consistency in enforcement across the environmental media (air, water, solid waste, toxic substances, Superfund). Built Agency consensus on cross-media legislative proposal.

INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION, Washington, D.C., 1979-1983. Attorney-Advisor to Commissioners Alexis and Simmons, Rail Merger Coordinator, Senior Appellate Trial Attorney.

• Principal drafter of merger, abandonment, and new construction decisions interpreting new legislation deregulating railroad and trucking industry.
• Directed staff decisions on all rail consolidations over three-year period, integrating economic, legal and engineering factors. Successfully achieved Commission consensus on approval of major rail consolidations involving $5 billion in shareholders' equity.
• Appellate defense of major Commission decisions.

HOGAN & HARTSON, Washington, D.C., 1976-1979. Associate attorney with principal assignments in antitrust and energy law.

COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY, Chicago, Ill. 1974, 1975 (Summers only)

• Staff to Vice Chairman and to General Counsel on electric utility rate and rate structure issues.

Areas of Practice

• FEMA Public Assistance Program
• Land Use and Zoning
• Emergency Management and Homeland Security
• National Flood Insurance Program
• Hazard Mitigation Disaster Grant Program
• Flood Insurance Rate Maps
• Public Health Emergency Law
• Disallowance/Audit/OIG Audits

Published Works

• Program Coordinator, Report Author, The Law and Catastrophic Disasters: Legal Issues in the Aftermath, Institute for Public Safety and Justice of the University of the District of Columbia, 2009
• Floods, Flood Insurance, Litigation, Politics and Catastrophe: the National Flood Insurance Program, U. Miss. Sea Grant L. & Pol'y J., Summer, 2008
• Law, Federalism, the Constitution, and Control of Pandemic Flu, Asian-Pac. L. & Pol'y J., Summer, 2008
• "A Checklist for State and Local Government Attorneys to Prepare for Possible Disasters", 37 Urban Lawyer 489, 2005
• Review of "Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security", Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management BE Press, 2007
• Hurricane Katrina Task Force Report (Co-Author), American Bar Association White Paper, February, 2006
• "A Legal Guide to Homeland Security and Emergency Management for State and Local Governments", ABA Press, 2005
• "Representing Local Governments in Catastrophic Events: DHS/FEMA Response and Recovery Issues", 37 Urban Lawyer 467, 2005
• "Public Health Emergency Law", Public Health Law in Public Health Practice, Oxford Press, 2nd Ed., 2006
• "FEMA Guidebook For Public Power Managers", American Public Power Association, 2006
• Announcer, Moderator, and Content Director, Are You Ready? What Lawyers Need to Know About Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery, ABA Center of Continuing Legal Education and ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, 2005
• "Homeland Security in the 21st Century: New Inroads on the State Police Power", 36 Urban Lawyer 837, Fall, 2004
• "Availability of Disaster Assistance from FEMA: Health Care Emergencies", K. J. Mcglown(Ed.) Terrorism & Disaster Management: Preparing Healthcare Leaders for the New Reality, 2004
• Book Review of "Terrorism, Freedom, and Security: Winning Without War", Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, BE Press, 2004
• "Final Report on Legal Issues": Appendix A of Study prepared for the Federal Emergency Management Agency on "Evaluation of Alternatives in Obtaining Structural Elevation Data", July, 2003
• "An Electric Cooperative's Introduction to FEMA", The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, March, 2003

Classes and Seminars

• Keynote Speaker, Symposium on Public Health Emergencies and California Law, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 2009
• Co-Chair, "The Law and Catastrophic Disasters: Legal Issues in the Aftermath", Nat'l Legal Preparedness Training Program, University of District of Columbia, Center for American & Int'l Law & Nat'l Emergency Mgmt. Assoc., 2009
• "Constitutional and Legal Tensions in Disaster Law", St. Louis University Law School, 2008
• "Contracting Following a Disaster", ABA Public Contract Law Section, 2008
• "Floods, Flood Insurance, Litigation, Politics and Catastrophe: The National Flood Insurance Program", The Sea Grant Law and Policy Inaugural Symposium, The University of Mississippi School of Law, Oxford, MS, 2008
• Why Care About Law and Lawyers in Public Health Emergencies?" keynote address on Public Health Emergency Law Training Program, Connecticut Department of Health, 2007
• "Legal Trends in Emergency Management and FEMA Appeals", International Association of Emergency Managers, Orlando, FL, 2006
• "Lawyers, Disasters, and Federalism", Edwin L. Crawford Lecture on Municipal Law, Albany Law School, 2006
• "A Short History of the Development and Operations of FEMA", Rural Electric Statewide Managers Association. Phoenix, Arizona, 2005
• "Limiting Liability When Warning About Risks", Seismic Risk Communication Conference of Western States Seismic Council, 2001
• "Laws and Lawyers: Enabling Coordination", NATO Partnership for Peace Seminar on Legal issues in International Emergency Management, Stockholm, 2000

Pro Bono Activities

• Cathedral Choral Society
• Trustee; AV coordinator at Arlington Temple United Methodist Church

Ancillary Businesses

• Legal regulatory Consulting/Training

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Administrative Hearings & Adjudication, Administrative Rulemaking, Regulatory Enforcement, Arbitration, Environmental Law, Government Agencies & Programs, Housing & Urban Development, Government Contracts, Government Procurement, State & Municipal Contracts, Health & Health Care Law, Insurance Law, Federal Claims Court, Land Use & Zoning, State, Local & Municipal Law, State Government, Tax Increment Financing