Matthew Dobbins

Practice Areas

Matthew has a national practice spanning every major environmental statute, and has been recognized for his expertise in the areas of environmental litigation, regulation and transactional matters by the Legal 500. Matthew’s practice focuses on complex regulatory counseling, remedial issues, environmental litigation, navigating the energy transition, and environmental transactional matters. He has extensive experience advising clients engaged in low-carbon ventures, including permitting issues in connection with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects, negative emissions projects, and renewable fuels and credits (e.g., EPA RFS and California LCFS). He also counsels clients on matters related to infrastructure development, including pipeline safety regulations. He routinely counsels private equity, financial institutions, and public and private company clients on environmental liabilities across an array of industries, including all segments of the oil and gas sector, renewable power and fuels, waste recycling and disposal, and the mining, chemicals, and paper industries.

With respect to environmental litigation, Matthew both defends and pursues environmental indemnification claims on behalf of clients, and also has experience responding to industrial incidents. In addition, Matthew has extensive experience advising clients on the resolution of environmental liabilities identified in the course of transactions, having successfully negotiated the environmental terms of hundreds of transactions over the past decade. He is frequently called upon to advise private equity funds and financial institutions on environmental liability management, providing risk-counseling and developing mitigation strategies in the context of assessing investment opportunities and entering new markets. With respect to project financings, he has a demonstrated track record of helping companies successfully navigate sustainable financing requirements, such as the Equator Principles.

Matthew is a member of the firm’s Diversity Executive Committee.

Personal

University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D. with honors, 2011 (Third Year Outstanding Writing Award)

University of Michigan, B.A., History and Political Science, 2008 (William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize)