e-hse

Virtual Secondment Services

We created e-hse -- a virtual secondment service -- in response to the needs of our clients. Many companies do not have in-house health, safety, and environmental (“HSE”) legal counsel; and even organizations with internal resources may sometimes need to augment their in-house team.

Under e-hse, we provide legal support for routine HSE matters or special HSE projects under alternative fee arrangements or discounted hourly rates. Our goal is to partner with our clients to meet their unique needs in a manner that will allow clients to reliably quantify annual expenditures while maintaining access to experienced attorneys well-versed in the regulatory issues confronting their industry.

Several of our attorneys previously served as in-house HSE counsel for companies in the following industries: chemical manufacturing, energy (upstream, midstream, and downstream), logistics, and transportation. In these roles, they advised clients on a wide-range of HSE issues under the Clean Air Act; the Clean Water Act; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act; the Occupational Safety and Health Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and state equivalent statutes. They are accustomed to providing clients with prompt, actionable advice that meets the expectations of business-oriented executives and managers while safeguarding the organization’s legal interests.

Included in e-hse is general counseling in the following areas:

Day-to-day HSE regulatory compliance
Routine governmental inspections
Injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting
Environmental release reporting
Investigation and remediation of contaminated sites and brownfields redevelopment
Legal support for internal audits or external audits conducted by technical consultants intended to evaluate compliance with HSE laws and regulations (e.g., consultant selection and retention, audit scoping and kickoff, reviewing and commenting on draft reports)
Disclosures under HSE audit statutes or policies
Structure and performance of HSE management systems
Measuring and assessing HSE performance using key performance indicators
Disclosure of HSE liabilities under applicable securities laws
Accruals for HSE liabilities
HSE issues implicated by mergers, acquisitions or the purchase / sale of assets or real property

We also help clients manage other outside counsel and consultants retained on more specialized environmental matters (e.g., complex air permitting issues). We assist on counsel selection, rate negotiations, staffing proposals, invoice review, and the development and implementation of an effective legal strategy. Our attorneys know from firsthand experience the importance of effectively managing outside counsel to control costs while still achieving the desired outcome.

Partner Jeff Haffner, who has over 25 years experience working for energy companies on HSE matters, coordinates e-hse.

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