Daniel E. Vineyard

Dan has been involved in precedent-setting CERCLA litigation relating to municipal solid wastes and cost recovery.

• Represented client in successful cost recovery action involving 1,200 PRPs.
• Represented PRP Group in converting Unilateral Order to Consent Decree with forgiveness of substantial past costs.
• Obtained a unanimous appellate victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, preserving an $18 million default judgment that Dan and fellow Jackson Walker partner Chris Thompson had obtained at trial. It is rare to get a large default judgment, and it is also rare to uphold one in the Ninth Circuit.
• Negotiated a settlement with State in a very complex matter involving four Sites and hundreds of parties.

• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business
  • Ranked for Environment – Texas, 2018-2023
  • Recognized Practitioner in Environment – Texas, 2008-2013, 2017
  • Recognized Practitioner in Environment: Litigation – Texas, 2006-2007
• The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), Environmental Law, 2022-2024
• Lawdragon Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law, Environmental Law, esp. Superfund Cleanup, 2023
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Environmental & Energy Lawyers, Environmental Law – Superfund Cleanup, 2021
• Texas Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2013-2019
• Top Attorney in Texas, Texas Monthly, 2015-2016

Publications

• “Expect New Standards for Landfills, Industrial Sites as EPA Tackles PFAS Discharge in Water,” Jackson Walker Insights (February 2023)
• “Justices Hold CWA Settlement Does Not Start the Clock on CERCLA Limitations,” Jackson Walker Insights (June 2021)
• “Supreme Court Allows “PRP” Landowners to Bring State Common Law Claims at Superfund Cleanup Site,” Jackson Walker Insights (April 2020)

Speaking Engagements

• “Pros and Cons of Entering Model Form Consent Decrees With EPA,” EHS Support Sediment & PRP Summit (September 2022)
• “Set Your Sights on an Exit Strategy” and “Successes, Failures, and Lessons Learned,” EHS Support Sediment & PRP Summit in Philadelphia (September 2016)
• “I Need to Hire an Expert: Now What?!,” Chevron Law Department, Lunch and Learn Series (August 2012)
• “How To Handle Agency Inspections,” TransCanada USA Services, Inc. In-house Environmental Group (February 2009)
• “The Ethics of Negotiations,” The Woodlands Bar Association CLE Luncheon Series (January 2009)
• “Conflicts of Interest,” Chevron U.S.A. Law Department (June 2009)
• “CERCLA Cost Recovery and Allocation,” Mealey’s Environmental Litigation Conference (April 2005)
• “Managing CERCLA Litigation,” June 1994, Executive Enterprises, Inc. Southwest Environmental Regulations Seminar
• “CERCLA 101,” National Association of Manufacturers (May 1991)
• “The CERCLA Petroleum Exclusion and E&P Exception,” American Petroleum Institute (November 1990)

• Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
• The Woodlands Bar Association, Former Vice President
• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
• State Bar of California
• Houston Bar Association
• Carlton Woods Country Club, Board of Directors

Dan has a national Superfund and natural resource damages practice and handles litigation associated with CERCLA sites. He serves as common counsel for a number of PRP Groups.

Dan has represented clients in hundreds of these matters for 35 years in every EPA Region – first as in-house counsel for a major oil company, then as outside counsel. He has also been lead counsel in more than 30 CERCLA cases in jurisdictions from coast to coast.

In addition, Dan has litigated pipeline and construction cases and mediated several energy cases.

Dan has developed particular expertise in the following areas:

• CERCLA and its state analogs
• CERCLA litigation
• Natural Resource Damages
• Pipelines