Hunton & Williams LLP Expands Environmental Practice with Two New Partners in Los Angeles Office

LOS ANGELES, APRIL 1, 2008 — Hunton & Williams LLP is pleased to announce the expansion of its environmental practice with the addition of Chris M. Amantea and Malcolm C. Weiss as partners in the firm's Los Angeles office.

"Continuing to grow the LA office is an important part of the firm's strategic growth plan and bringing in top-tier partners like Chris and Malcolm is a key component of that plan," said Ann Marie Mortimer, managing partner of the firm's LA office.

Amantea joins Hunton & Williams from McDermott Will & Emory, where he served as partner. His practice focuses on both regulatory and litigation matters involving toxic substances, air and water quality, land use, and other environmental issues. He also regularly counsels clients with respect to state and federal Superfund liability, Proposition 65, and hazardous waste regulatory issues. Amantea has represented clients in numerous complex environmental cases, including class action and toxic tort litigation involving thousands of parties. Amantea also has argued a number of key environmental cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a national contributing editor to Thompson-West's Business Law Deskbook series, including the California Business Law Deskbook. He holds a J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law and a B.A. from the University of California-Davis.

Weiss joins the firm from Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP, where he served as partner. He began his career at US EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. He counsels clients on issues related to permitting new and expanding facilities, regulatory compliance, rulemaking, agency enforcement actions, citizen suits; and, for the past two years has been focusing on climate change and AB 32. He represents clients in a broad range of environmental laws including air quality, CEQA, Proposition 65, hazardous materials/wastes, CERCLA, contaminated properties, under-and above-ground tanks, water law, environmental audits, and due diligence matters. Weiss’ clients are large and small companies in the mining, energy, oil, manufacturing, aerospace, real estate, automotive, and financial services sectors and trade associations. He holds a J.D. from Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College, and a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

"We have seen a dramatic increase in our clients' environmental needs in California, and Chris and Malcolm's move to Hunton & Williams underscores our position as a leading firm for environmental work both in California and nationally," said F. William Brownell, head of the firm’s environmental practice.

With more than 80 attorneys on the front lines of emerging environmental issues including climate change, Hunton & Williams' environmental practice is one of the largest and most prominent in the nation. The firm’s environmental attorneys have been involved in every major federal environmental statute and many state environmental matters. They represent companies and individuals in enforcement and cases before the US Supreme Court and other federal and state courts; in rulemaking and other proceedings before federal and state regulatory agencies, including EPA, Interior, and Energy; and in matters before Congress. The team combines legal and advocacy skills with strategic thinking based on decades of in-depth work on an extensive variety of environmental issues.