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© 2013 Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Named Best Lawyers in America Minnesota Environmental Litigation Lawyer of the Year, 2013

Minnesota State Bar Association President’s Award for Outstanding Service, 2011

Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2007-2013

Named a Minnesota Super Lawyer, 2010-2012

Volunteer Lawyers Network Award for Pro Bono Service, 1997

Policy Fellow, University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 1994-95

United States Attorney General's Special Achievement Award, 1992

  • Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1988), magna cum laude; Order of the Coif
  • Gonzaga University (B.A., History and Political Science), summa cum laude

  • Minnesota
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • District of Columbia Court of Appeals
  • Supreme Court of Minnesota
  • United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the District of Minnesota, and the District of Colorado

Thaddeus R. Lightfoot

Partner
Minneapolis
P: (612) 492-6532
F: (612) 486-9491
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Thaddeus R. Lightfoot is a Partner in the Regulatory Affairs Group in the Minneapolis office. In nearly three decades of practicing environmental law, Mr. Lightfoot has represented clients in numerous private party environmental litigation matters and governmental enforcement actions. He also advises clients regarding compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws. Mr. Lightfoot has represented corporate clients in a variety of sectors, including the mining, forest products, paper, steel, manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceutical, real estate development, and ethanol industries, as well as governmental units and other public entities.

Before joining the Firm in 2012, Mr. Lightfoot was a partner with the Environmental Law Group, which he founded with three other lawyers in 2000. He also served as a Trial Attorney with the Environment Division of the United States Department of Justice, where he was lead counsel in numerous civil actions brought by the government to enforce federal environmental statutes. In addition, Mr. Lightfoot was a Legislative Assistant for energy and environmental issues to Representative Thomas S. Foley, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and helped draft the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986.

Mr. Lightfoot is the author of numerous articles addressing environmental law and litigation, and has lectured on such issues at more than 40 seminars.

Representative Litigation

  • Successfully litigated and negotiated a settlement providing enhanced mitigation to protect university property, including critical biomedical and engineering research, from the adverse effects associated with construction and operation of a light rail transit line through the university’s Twin Cities campus. University of Minnesota v. Metropolitan Council (Hennepin County District Court).
  • Obtained district court and appellate court judgments upholding the adequacy of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the construction of a client’s steel manufacturing facility in northern Minnesota. A citizens group challenged the EIS on the grounds that it failed to include an adequate discussion of a proposed project’s impacts on climate change and of the climate change impacts on the proposed project. Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy v. Holsten, 2009 WL 2998037 (Minn. Ct. App. Sept. 22, 2009).
  • Successfully litigated and negotiated a favorable settlement to resolve municipal and individual plaintiff claims for noise mitigation against the operator of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. City of Minneapolis, et al. v. Metropolitan Airports Commission (Hennepin County District Court); Wiencke, et al. v. Metropolitan Airports Commission, (Hennepin County District Court).

Presentations

  • Presentations on environmental regulation and litigation issues at more than 40 continuing legal education seminars. Recent presentations include: Speaker, “Environmental Law Update,” Minnesota CLE (June 2012); Program Chair and Speaker, “Eighth Annual Minnesota Environmental Institute,” MSBA and Minnesota CLE (April 2012); Speaker; Speaker, “Role of Experts in Environmental Litigation,” MSBA (March 2012); Speaker, “New Law: Environmental Review and Environmental Permitting,” Minnesota CLE (Sept. 2011).
  • Frequent appearances before committees of the Minnesota State Legislature to offer testimony on environmental regulation and litigation issues.

Professional Activities

  • Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law, William Mitchell College of Law
  • Board of Directors, Minnesota Continuing Legal Education
  • Board of Directors, Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA)
  • Chair, MSBA Legislative Committee
  • Trustee, MSBA Political Action Committee (LawPAC)
  • Governing Council, MSBA Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Section
  • Vice-Chair, American Bar Association (ABA) Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law (SEER) Government and Private Sector Innovation Committee
  • Former Chair, MSBA Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Section
  • Former Chair , ABA SEER Committee on Science and Technology

Attorney Articles

2010
“Climate Change and Environmental Review: Addressing the Impact of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act,” 36 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 1068 (2010)
October 2005
“OMB’s Final Peer Review Bulletin: An Overview,” Science & Technology Committee Newsletter, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Oct. 2005).
April/May 2005
“Aviall Services v. Cooper Industries: Requiem for the CERCLA Volunteer’s Contribution Rights?,” The Hennepin Lawyer (April/May 2005).
December 2002
“Reversal of Fortune: The Ninth Circuit and Passive Migration as CERCLA Disposal,” Science & Technology Committee Newsletter, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Dec. 2002).
November 2002
“Sand Through the Hourglass: PSD Enforcement and the Statute of Limitations,” 32 Envtl. L. Rep. 11342 (Nov. 2002).
2002
“Seeing the Forest and the Trees: The Minnesota Timber Harvesting GEIS Applied in Potlatch and Boise Cascade,” 29 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 437 (2002).

News & Press Mentions

September 7, 2012
Dorsey Adds Experienced Environmental Lawyer in Minneapolis Office