Timothy Bergère has been a litigator and environmental counselor for more than 40 years, much of it involving government and internal corporate investigations, many in the field of environmental law. His early experience litigating cases for a state environmental agency lends to his depth of knowledge and better positions him to guide clients whose activities interface with federal and state regulatory programs.

Through his work with public entities and Fortune 500 clients across the country, Tim regularly manages and resolves environmental liability issues arising from former holdings and operations, including Superfund “tail” liability that sometimes follows historic operations. He has played a role in dozens of Superfund cases nationwide, including natural resource damage claims. Tim’s resolution of those matters often requires innovative problem solving, including the strategic use of environmental insurance policies or qualified settlement funds to manage and transfer risk. Tim also regularly assists clients in defense of Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act enforcement and citizen suit litigation.

Tim’s early work in private practice representing public water suppliers and other operations near military bases also led to the development of substantial experience with PFAS chemicals and their regulation through a patchwork of state and federal programs. This work often involved the evaluation of exposure pathways associated with groundwater impacts and air dispersion. As a result, Tim has become a leading authority on PFAS liability management and a regular speaker on the regulation of PFAS chemicals.

Tim serves as lead environmental counsel in numerous business, financial, and real estate transactions. In addition, he has extensive experience assisting clients faced with civil and criminal investigations, particularly in the field of environmental law and regulation.

In major casualty events, Tim has assisted clients navigating regulatory requirements in the underlying response, advising responsible parties and contractors in securing access to impacted areas, developing forensic evidence related to the cause of the casualty, evaluating plans for restoration, and pursuing contribution from responsible parties. Tim was an integral member of the successful litigation team which recovered more than $143 million for a ship owner in a major oil spill case, where he tried the damage elements in the case and developed and presented forensic evidence on causation. He also worked to defend the trial court award to a successful resolution at the U.S. Supreme Court.