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This website is authored by Lester Levy, Esq.
a founding member of JAMS.

  • About
    • About Lester Levy
  • The Basics of Environmental Mediation
    • What types of Environmental Cases can be mediated?
    • The Benefits of Environmental Mediation
    • The Environmental Mediation Process
    • Insurance Company Involvement
    • The Mediation Outcome
  • Case Studies
    • Case Study 1: Objectivity as Resolution Tool Provided Through A Neutral Expert
    • Case Study 2: Working Together
    • Case Study 3: Swift, Fair and Efficient: Awarding Compensation to Toxic Tort Victims
    • Case Study 4: Sequenced Regulatory and Insurance Negotiations
    • Case Study 5: How Communication Both Causes and Ends Conflict
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You are here: Home / The Basics of Environmental Mediation / What types of Environmental Cases can be mediated?

What types of Environmental Cases can be mediated?

what types of environmental cases can be mediatedOver the course of my career, mediation has proven successful in resolving every major type of “environmental” case or dispute.It has been equally effective in handling the most complex multi-party and multi-jurisdictional disputes, as well those limited to two-parties or a single jurisdiction. It works equally well in handling disputes purely between private parties, as as well as those involving regulators and the public interest.

In short, mediation works for every sort of environmental legal controversy, whether it regards damages or regulatory enforcement; any dispute in which a chemical or contaminant has caused, or could cause, injury or sickness to people, to our physical environment or even to the value of real property we own or occupy.

These are all different types of environmental disputes [I have personally helped resolve as a mediator]:

  • the investigation and cleanup of contaminated land (soil), surface waters, groundwater including the water we drink, and the air we breath indoors and out
  • Competing claims by owners and operators of neighboring parcels of land, manufacturing sites, gasoline and dry cleaning businesses, etc. over who caused the contamination and how much of it, and who should pay to clean it up (and how much)
  • “Land Use” disputes over the location and size of planned buildings and developments, such as shopping centers, airports or golf courses, etc., and their potential effects on the environment (water, air, light, animals and their habitats, traffic and other resources)
  • Disagreements between environmental regulators and manufacturing concerns over the levels of permitted discharges of waste and associated penalties
  • Claimed violations of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts
  • Disagreements with and among insurance companies over whether the costs of investigating and/or cleaning up the contamination is covered by current and past insurance policies
  • “Toxic tort” claims, i.e., injuries to people or to their property caused by airborne or waterborne contaminants or from ingesting or having physical contact with harmful chemicals
  • Issues relating to natural disasters and fires, including climate change and sea level rises, which cause harm to people and their property (such as Super Storm Sandy
  • “Natural Resource Damage” cases, where the government sues to recover for damage to our environment and our enjoyment of it (such as in national parks and public beaches)
  • The Basics of Environmental Mediation
  • What types of Environmental Cases can be mediated?
  • The Benefits of Environmental Mediation
  • The Environmental Mediation Process
  • Insurance Company Involvement
  • The Mediation Outcome
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My Latest Posts

  • The inter-generational theft of Brexit and climate change
  • Our Drinking Water Regulation Is So Weak Even Flint’s Water Got A Pass
  • Environmental Mediation: A New Paradigm for Resolving Multi-Party Disputes
  • Flexibility Is Key to Success in Mediation
  • Leaving the EU would put our environment at risk

About Me

lester-levy

I strongly believe in the value of mediation – said another way, environmental mediation really works. I would go even further: I believe that environmental disputes are perfectly suited to the mediation process – perhaps more so than any other area of legal practice. I have formed these views after mediating environmental cases for more than 20 years, throughout the United States, and having worked with thousands of lawyers, companies, insurance carriers, regulatory agencies and courts. My … Read more

My Latest Posts

  • The inter-generational theft of Brexit and climate change
  • Our Drinking Water Regulation Is So Weak Even Flint’s Water Got A Pass
  • Environmental Mediation: A New Paradigm for Resolving Multi-Party Disputes
  • Flexibility Is Key to Success in Mediation
  • Leaving the EU would put our environment at risk

Connect with Me

Lester Levy

JAMS- New York
620 Eighth Ave. (NY Times Building)
34th Floor
New York, NY 10018
P (212) 751-2700

JAMS- San Francisco
2 Embarcadero Center
Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94111
P (415) 982-5267

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