THOMAS L. CASEY, III, practices in the firm’s Environmental and Natural Resources section as well as the firm’s Environmental Litigation and Appellate Litigation practice groups.  He represents developers, industrial clients, utilities, and small businesses in a wide variety of federal and state environmental matters.  Mr. Casey’s practice encompasses issues arising under the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Liability Act (CERCLA), and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Mr. Casey’s practice involves both litigation and regulatory matters.  Mr. Casey represents members of the regulated community in federal citizen suits, enforcement actions, and administrative matters before the U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals.  He also represents permittees in permit appeals before the Alabama Environmental Management Commission and the courts of Alabama.  Mr. Casey frequently represents clients in permitting and rulemaking proceedings before both state and federal administrative agencies, and interacts with federal and state agencies on his clients’ behalf. 

Currently, Mr. Casey represents a large utility intervenor in the tri-state "Water Wars" dispute involving the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basins.  In addition to his role as counsel of record in the multi-district litigation at the heart of the tri-state dispute, Mr. Casey also is involved in complex regulatory matters related to the tri-state dispute, including complex water management issues between the utility and the State of Alabama, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the Alabama Office of Water Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Casey writes frequently on environmental and administrative law matters.  In the fall of 2008, Mr. Casey’s article Towards Function and Fair Notice: Two Models for Effecting Executive Policy through Changing Agency Interpretations of Ambiguous Statutes and Rules was published in the Michigan State Law Review.  Mr. Casey is also an Editor of the Alabama Appellate Practice Guide (1st ed. 2009).

Prior to joining Balch & Bingham, Mr. Casey served as a law clerk to the Honorable Emmett R. Cox of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit during the 2004-2005 term.  He also served as law clerk to the Honorable Eric G. Bruggink of the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. during the 2003-2004 term.

Representative Experience

• • Sierra Club v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 06-1221 (D.C. Cir. 2009), and consolidated cases – represented a major utility as an intervenor in complex consolidated litigation challenging EPA’s Clean Air Interstate Rule
  • Georges Michel v. United States, 519 F.3d 1267 (11th Cir. 2008) – represented an indigent federal prisoner and successfully obtained reversal of district court’s dismissal of prisoner’s post-conviction challenge to his sentence
  • Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition v. Kempthorne, 477 F.3d 1250 (11th Cir. 2007) – represented a business coalition challenging listing of the Alabama Sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act
  • In re Tri-State Water Rights Litigation, No. 07-md-01 (M.D. Fla. July 17, 2009) – successfully represented a major utility intervenor in lawsuit challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ operation of Lake Lanier in Georgia
  • Alabama Department of Environmental Management v. Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation, 973 So. 2d 369 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007) – successfully represented business associations as amici curiae in an appeal involving the interpretation of public participation provisions of the Alabama Environmental Management Act
  • Murdock v. Alabama Department of Environmental Management, et al., CV-03-1166 (Ala. Cir. Ct. June 6, 2008) - successfully represented a permit holder intervening in lawsuit to defend a landfill permit
  • Walthen v. Alabama Department of Environmental Management, AEMC No. 07-05 (AEMC Oct. 19, 2007) - successfully represented a permit holder intervening in lawsuit to defend a landfill permit

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• • Executive Committee Member, The Federalist Society, Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group
  • Member, American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy & Resources
  • Member, American Bar Association, Section on Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
  • Member, Birmingham Bar Association
  • In 2009, Mr. Casey was named a "Rising Star" by Birmingham Magazine
    

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