K&L Gates Adds Environment, Land and Natural Resources Partner to Seattle Office

Seattle - The Seattle office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP has added Robert M. Smith as a partner in its environment, land and natural resources practice. He joins the firm from Plauché & Carr LLP.

Smith counsels clients in fisheries, marina, and aquaculture industries on a variety of land use and environmental regulations including, among others, the California Environmental Policy Act, the California Coastal Act, the Subdivision Map Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Washington State Environmental Policy Act. He also represents clients in Washington and California on federal and state regulatory proceedings, purchase and sale agreements, and permits and entitlements, as well as on litigation and dispute resolution matters such as boundary disputes and Tribal treaty negotiations.

“We are excited to welcome Robert to the Seattle office,” said Pallavi Mehta Wahi, K&L Gates’ co-managing partner, United States, and managing partner of the firm’s Seattle office. “His valuable mix of environmental regulatory and litigation experience will be a great asset to our global environment, land and natural resources practice and its clients.”

Smith’s arrival follows the addition of a team of environmental litigation and regulation and mass tort litigation lawyers to the firm’s Newark office in mid-2019.

K&L Gates’ environment, land and natural resource practice helps clients to successfully navigate the maze of regulatory requirements and maintain good relations with regulatory agencies and other publics, anticipate and avoid problems, and, when necessary, litigate matters that cannot otherwise be resolved. The practice assists clients from around the world and from nearly every major industry, ranging in size from small, single-location manufacturers or small local governments to global Fortune 50 companies and major metropolitan service districts. Among the numerous accolades the practice has received in recent years are national Tier 1 rankings for both Environmental Law and Environmental Litigation Law in the 2020 edition of US News-Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” which also several times has recognized K&L Gates as “Law Firm of the Year” in Environmental Litigation Law.