Norman W. Fichthorn is a widely recognized environmental and administrative lawyer who helps clients litigate on a broad range of regulatory requirements relating to the Clean Air Act and other air quality and climate change issues.
For over 30 years, Norm has handled a variety of precedent-setting matters in federal courts and administrative agency forums. He is known for his practical advice and representation in rulemaking and other administrative proceedings before the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Norm helps clients interpret and respond appropriately to such varied regulatory requirements as the interstate pollution, regional haze, and air quality standards provisions of the Clean Air Act, as well as to legal issues relating to global climate change.
An accomplished practitioner in his field, Norm writes and speaks regularly on issues related to his practice. He is also a contributor to the firm’s Nickel Report blog on trends and developments in energy and environmental law.
Experience:
- Represented an electric utility group in US Supreme Court litigation in which the Court held unlawful EPA rules regarding greenhouse gas emissions from facilities under the Clean Air Act.
- Represented an industry client in a US Supreme Court case concerning EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases to address global climate change.
- Represented companies in three federal district courts, three federal courts of appeals and the US Supreme Court in successfully defending against suits brought under federal common law “public nuisance” theories in which plaintiffs sought court orders limiting industries’ carbon dioxide emissions to address global climate change.
- Represented an electric utility group in complex US Supreme Court and federal court of appeals litigation involving the scope of EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate companies’ air emissions to address interstate air quality.
- Represented a business association plaintiff as lead counsel in a federal constitutional challenge to a state law that restricted interstate transactions in air emission allowances, resulting in federal district court and court of appeals decisions holding the state law unconstitutional.
- Represented industry clients in numerous rulemaking proceedings, federal advisory committee proceedings and litigation appeals concerning national air quality standards and federal regulations to implement them.
- Represented industry clients in stakeholder committee meetings, federal rulemakings and extensive litigation regarding Clean Air Act rules on interstate air quality and impairment of visibility in national parks.
EDUCATION:
- JD, Stanford Law School, 1985
- BA, Bowling Green State University, summa cum laude, 1980
BAR ADMISSIONS:
- District of Columbia
- Virginia
GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE:
- Legislative Analyst, House Republican Conference, US House of Representatives
Memberships:
- Member, bars of the US Supreme Court, the US Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits and the US District Court for the District of Columbia
- Member, American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Cost
Rate : $$$