Emily J. Dupraz

In litigation, Emily represents clients in CERCLA cost-recovery and contribution litigation in both federal and state courts, including in cases involving claims for natural resource damages. She also defends against toxic torts due to potential exposures to hazardous substances on land, in water, and in the air. Emily regularly works with technical experts to develop effective defenses to toxic tort claims grounded in science. She counsels clients on potential litigation risk from unique exposure scenarios and emerging contaminants, such as contamination from land application of industrial biosolids containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). 

Emily also routinely helps clients investigate policies and practices presenting environmental regulatory risks and implement mitigation strategies. She frequently advises clients on trending issues, including environmental justice, plastic bans, and post-consumer recycled content laws, and regulation of emerging contaminants such as PFAS. Her experience in enforcement matters includes representing clients in negotiations with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 and with regulators in a dozen different states to achieve settlements with significant penalty reductions.

Emily has represented clients in overcoming challenges to permitting controversial infrastructure projects, including guiding them through permitting appeals and making appearances before administrative bodies and local land use boards. In public dealings, Emily leverages her background in communications and speechwriting to emphasize project strengths while also addressing key community concerns.

In corporate transactions, Emily conducts detailed environmental due diligence to help clients identify potential environmental risks. She has led teams of environmental consultants through multiday audits of industrial facilities—including facilities with on-site landfills, air emissions controls, cooling water intake structures and wastewater treatment plants, and active remediation—to identify and address regulatory compliance concerns prior to a potential transaction or immediately following a change in ownership.

Emily maintains an active pro bono practice and serves on the board of trustees for two nonprofit organizations that work to provide vital social services.

• Represented former metal plating manufacturer in natural resource damage litigation brought by the State of New Jersey in Camden County, New Jersey
• Achieved complete dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint for electronics manufacturer in toxic tort litigation involving groundwater contamination, with claims brought under RCRA’s citizen suit provision, Massachusetts ch. 21E, and common law tort theories of recovery, in the District of Massachusetts
• Represented telecommunications company in responding to potential litigation and regulatory enforcement due to lead contamination, including conducting comprehensive investigation of historical company polices and procedures
• Represented metal plating manufacturer in negotiating a consent decree with EPA and implementing a groundwater remedy at a Superfund Site in Puerto Rico
• Represents group of potentially responsible parties in negotiations with EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to achieve a cost-effective remedy that is protective of human health and the environment on Superfund site in New Jersey
• Counseled a biotech organization on regulated medical waste disposal regulations in Virginia, including permitting a waste treatment facility and self-reporting regulatory violations under a state immunity statute
• Counseled a grocery store chain on compliance with state laws banning plastics and polystyrene foam containers
• Represented paper manufacturer in responding to toxic tort litigation arising from land application of industrial biosolids containing PFAS in Maine, including comprehensive investigation of historical use and handling of PFAS*
• Represented an energy company in CERCLA equitable allocation arbitration proceeding related to contamination from a former manufactured gas plant in Michigan, resulting in a favorable settlement for the client after over a decade of active litigation*
• Represented energy company on permitting controversial transmission line construction project in Maine, including obtaining necessary federal, state, and local land use permits, defending permit appeals, and counseling on compliance with permit terms throughout construction*
• Counseled paper company on environmental regulatory compliance at two paper mills in Michigan after major black liquor spill into adjacent waterway and prior to potential corporate transaction, including leading a team of consultants on a multiweek environmental compliance audit and investigating relevant corporate policies and practices*

Result may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

*Indicates matters handled prior to Morgan Lewis