Don J. Frost

Don Frost heads Skadden’s Environmental and Climate Change practices. He has a diverse transactional-based practice and a complex and broad-based environmental litigation and regulatory counseling practice.

For more than 25 years, Mr. Frost has helped clients forge strategic and practical problem-solving approaches to environmental matters that minimize risk and maximize business opportunities.

Transactional Experience : Mr. Frost regularly advises clients on the environmental opportunities and risks associated with U.S. and international corporate transactions. Annually, Mr. Frost and members of the Environmental Group generally assist on several hundred separate transactions involving mergers, asset sales, joint ventures, financings and offerings for a diverse group of clients.

Although the scope of Mr. Frost’s advice has varied depending on the nature of the transaction and business involved, his involvement generally has included: evaluating environmental liabilities and compliance; developing environmental risk allocation strategies; negotiating contract provisions and other instruments necessary to implement such strategies; and managing post-closing environmental liability and compliance matters.

Project Development Experience : With respect to complex project development, Mr. Frost’s work has included strategically managing environmental impact assessment and other permitting efforts and proceedings, and developing and implementing strategies that address disparate stakeholder interests and that evaluate and resolve complex and often overlapping environmental and natural resource concerns.

Over the past several years, Mr. Frost has advised First Solar, Inc., Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Energy Answers International, Inc., DKRW Advanced Fuels, lenders and underwriters of Sasol Ltd, A123 Systems, LLC, and other clients on NEPA and environmental permitting matters, and on project documents and multiparty agreements associated with solar energy, waste-to-energy, electric vehicle battery technologies, coal gasification and carbon capture and sequestration projects, and traditional energy and petrochemical projects.

Litigation Experience : Mr. Frost has represented clients, including Alcoa Inc., AES, Axel Johnson Inc., Cemex, CF Industries, EnergySolutions, International Converter LLC, Pfizer, Inc., Sequana SA, Sealed Air Corp., United Air Lines and others, in contested, high-stakes contamination, regulatory and enforcement matters.

With respect to contamination matters, Mr. Frost has extensive experience both defending and asserting cleanup-and toxic tort-related actions that are difficult to litigate, including: claims involving ancient contaminant releases, multiple contaminant sources and complex corporate histories; claims involving challenges to cleanup standards, methodologies and costs; complex causation, fate-and-transport and exposure claims; natural resource damage claims; fraudulent conveyance claims; and multiple-party cases involving the intersection of toxic torts and regulatory cleanup issues.

For enforcement matters, Mr. Frost has developed and implemented preemptive strategies and internal investigations to avoid or minimize governmental investigations and enforcement actions, and he has led strategic and aggressive defenses against governmental enforcement actions.

Bankruptcy Experience : Mr. Frost has extensive experience advising clients in connection with strategic planning regarding the pre- and post-bankruptcy sale, idling, reorganization and liquidation of distressed assets and business units.

Additionally, he has represented Delphi Corporation, Exide Technologies, Mark IV Industries, United Air Lines and others in litigating and resolving disputed environmental claims in bankruptcy proceedings.

Education:

• J.D., Duke University School of Law, 1988 (with honors) (Articles Editor, Alaska Law Review)
• M.A., Duke University Graduate School, 1988 (Resource Economics and Policy)
• B.A., Carleton College, 1983 (cum laude) (Geology)

Admissions : District of Columbia

Associations:

• Member, Environment, Energy and Resources Section, American Bar Association
• Member, Tort Trial & Insurance Practices Section, American Bar Association
• Member. Board of Directors, Environmental Law Institute (2016-Present)
• Member, Board of Trustees, Carleton College (2008-2012; 2014-2016)
• Member, Alumni Annual Fund Board, Carleton College (2013-Present)