Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Ben L. Pfefferle III is the National Chair of Baker Hostetler’s Environmental and Energy Practice Team. His practice includes class action defense; environmental compliance; hazardous and toxic waste issues; Superfund litigation and private cost recovery; environmental permitting; and redevelopment, acquisition and divestiture of environmentally impaired commercial and industrial property.

In addition, he serves as common counsel for multiparty PRP groups at several National Priority List Superfund sites. He defends companies in civil, criminal and administrative enforcement proceedings involving state and federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Solid Waste Disposal, RCRA (hazardous waste) and CERCLA (Superfund) actions. He is involved in the prosecution of private environmental indemnity claims as well as the prosecution and defense of private cost recovery actions.

Mr. Pfefferle has supervised and evaluated environmental audits, performed due diligence evaluations for the acquisition and divestiture of various manufacturing facilities, and developed and provided training for environmental management systems.

Mr. Pfefferle has assisted clients in obtaining "No Further Action Letters" and "Covenants Not to Sue" from governmental authority pursuant to state Brownfields programs, allowing environmentally impaired property to be redeveloped and returned to productive use.

Mr. Pfefferle is national counsel for a major property and casualty insurer where he oversees a broad range of complex litigation.

Mr. Pfefferle is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Environmental Committee, and former Chairman of its Brownfields Litigation Subcommittee, and is a member of the Section of Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental law. Mr. Pfefferle is a member of the Ohio State and Columbus Bar Association Environmental Law Committees and is a former chairman of the latter Committee, where he served four terms.

He is a Fellow of the Columbus Bar Foundation. Mr. Pfefferle is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Law and is ranked by a peer review group to be among the top five percent of Ohio lawyers (Law and Politics Media, 2004 to 2007). He is also listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business, Client's Guide (Chambers & Partners Publishing, 2005 and 2006).

Mr. Pfefferle is former chairman of the Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Areas of Practice

• Business: Mergers & Acquisitions
• Legislative & Regulatory: Regulatory Proceedings
• Litigation: Energy & Environmental
• Litigation: Product Liability & Toxic Tort
• Litigation: Class Action Defense
• Real Estate: Development & Land Use
• Emergency Response and Crisis Management

Bar Admissions

• Ohio, 1979
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio, 1980
• U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 2007
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 2007

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Columbus Bar Association (Member)
• Environmental Law Committee (Chairman)
• American Bar Association Section of LitigationAssociation (Member)
• Ohio State Bar Association (Member)
• Columbus Bar Association Environmental Law Committees (Member)

Honors and Awards

• Listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American Law and is ranked by a peer review group to be among the top five percent of Ohio lawyers (Law and Politics Media, 2004 to 2007)
• Listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business, Client's Guide (Chambers & Partners Publishing, 2005 and 2006)

Past Employment Positions

• Mead Corporation, Associate General Counsel, 1988 - 1991
• Director of the Ohio EPA, Counsel, 1980 - 1985

Education

• Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio, 1979
  J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
  
  Law Journal: Environmental Law Journal of Ohio, Member, Editorial Board
• Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 1976
  B.S.B.A., Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Published Works

• Regulation By Policy: An End to a Means, Environmental Law Journal of Ohio, January, 1990
• SEC Disclosure: The Environmental Foray Into Corporate Practice, Environmental Law Journal of Ohio, January, 1992
• Reporting Releases of Hazardous Substances: Exceptions to the Rule, Environmental Law Journal of Ohio, December, 1990
• California Continues Green Chemistry Initiatives, January, 2009
• Planning for Obama Administration Legislative and Enforcement Initiatives, January, 2009
• President-Elect Obama Names Environmental and Energy Team, December, 2008
• Energy, Environment and Politics in 2008, January, 2008
• Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, September, 2007
• Climate Change Primer—June 2007, June, 2007

Address

Capitol Square
Suite 2100
65 East State Street
Columbus, OH 43215-4260

Phones

(614) 462-2601

Faxes

(614) 462-2616

Emails

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Websites

http://www.bakerlaw.com