Donnelly, Thomas M.

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Tom Donnelly has practiced environmental and insurance coverage law for more than 20 years. Tom represents clients in environmental litigation, toxic tort, and administrative proceedings; provides environmental compliance counseling and due diligence/transactional support; and assists clients in securing defense and indemnity from their liability insurers. His environmental and insurance coverage clients have included auto manufacturers, aerospace, oil and gas, and metals and mining companies, utilities, equipment manufacturers, food and consumer product manufacturers, financial institutions, retailers, and real property owners and developers. Tom has appeared in all federal district courts in California, the Ninth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, and California trial and appellate courts.

Tom's recent representations include: Aerojet-General Corporation (an aerospace company) in a variety of environmental litigation, toxic tort, and land use matters; Gruma Corp. (a food manufacturer) and Perfect Equipment (a wheel weight manufacturer) in Proposition 65 lawsuits; Procter & Gamble in environmental compliance matters; Sutter Home Winery in securing environmental permits for a new winery; and Wells Fargo Bank in a CERCLA cost recovery lawsuit and in environmental due diligence related to real property transactions. For Pacific Gas & Electric Company, after a seven-week trial, Tom secured a verdict that a policy issued by AIG affiliates covered property damage claims (totaling $24 million) asserted against PG&E.

Tom is listed in Chambers USA as one of the leading environmental attorneys in the state of California and has been recognized as a leading environmental attorney by several other trade publications.

Areas of Practice

• Environmental, Health & Safety
• Government Regulation
• Climate Change
• Trial Practice
• Insurance Recovery
• Energy
• Energy Environmental
• Energy/Utilities
• Insurance
• Metals & Mining
• Product Liability & Tort Litigation
• Insurance Coverage

Representative Cases

• Aerojet-General successfully challenges California city's efforts to order the placement of utility switching station and other structures on property remediated for future residential and commercial development , (2009)
• American Samoa Power Authority successfully defends against threatened federal EPA enforcement action related to alleged discharges of oily wastes into local harbor
• BlackRock Realty Advisors files suit against United National Insurance seeking defense and indemnity under pollution insurance policy , (2010)
• Confidential client prepares environmental provisions to fund industrial plant closure and redevelop property
• Conservation organization receives assistance with its effort to preserve and protect forest lands and other open space
• Gruma defends California lawsuits claiming that tortilla chips and other starchy products require Proposition 65 warning
• Oil and gas company develops contracts with suppliers and customers to ensure compliance with renewable and low carbon fuel requirements , (2010)
• Perfect Equipment resolves California Proposition 65 lawsuit involving wheel balancing weights
• Procter & Gamble ensures environmental regulatory compliance , (2010)
• Real estate investment company conducts environmental due diligence for purchase of former industrial property in California
• Sutter Home defends against environmental group's objections to proposed expansion of Lodi, California winery
• Wells Fargo Bank successfully resolves CERCLA cost recovery suit in California

West Practice Categories

Alcoholic Beverages, Apparel, Asbestos, Bankruptcy Litigation, Business & Commercial Law, Chemicals & Cosmetics, Class Actions, Clean Air Practice, Cleanup & Superfund, Complex Litigation, Environmental Law, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Firearms, Food & Agricultural Products, Food & Drug Administration, Government Agencies & Programs, Hazardous Waste, Housing & Urban Development, Insurance Law, International Law, International Trade Litigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Litigation & Appeals, Machinery & Tools, Medical Products & Devices, Medicare & Medicaid, Military & Veterans Appeals, Motor Vehicle Defects, Multidistrict Litigation, Patent Litigation, Permits, Pharmaceutical Products, Products Liability Law, Recreational Products, Regulatory Compliance & Auditing, Social Security -- Disability, Social Security -- Retirement & Survivors Benefits, Solid Waste, State & Local Agencies, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Tax Litigation, Tobacco, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court, Veterans' Affairs, Water Pollution, Welfare, Wetlands & Wild Lands

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• Harvard University
• Tufts University

Published Works

• Overview of California's Preliminary Draft Cap and Trade Program, 2010
• The Climate Report, 2010
• The Climate Report, 2009
• The Climate Report, 2009
• California Still Leading the Way in Environmental Regulation, Practice Perspectives: Environmental, Health & Safety, 2009
• Policy Holders in Environmental Cleanup Actions are Potentially Entitled to Multiple Policy Limits; Multiple Causes of Loss are Not a Basis to Deny Coverage, 2009
• California's Global Warming Solutions Act: Creating a Haze of Uncertainty for Business, 2008
• The Fall-Out From Cooper v. Aviall, Chemical Waste Litigation Reporter, Vol. 50, No. 3, 2005

Address

555 California Street
26th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104

Phones

1.415.875.5880 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.415.875.5700 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com