|
Experience:
Tom Skinner is the Practice Leader of Mayer Brown’s Environmental Law group. His primary practice areas are environmental litigation; federal and state civil and criminal enforcement matters; regulatory and permitting issues; and counseling, including response to environmental and corporate crisis situations.
Tom joined the firm after an impressive series of federal and state government positions in environmental law. As the acting Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance at the US Environmental Protection Agency (2004-2005), he was the head of the national civil and criminal enforcement program, with broad responsibility for ensuring compliance with federal statutes and regulations. He was involved in extensive work with the US Department of Justice and other federal agencies, the Congress of theUnited States, state and local governments, business and public interest groups, Native American tribes, and the media.
Tom also served as an EPA Regional Administrator (2001-2003, 2006), where he was chief executive of a six-state (IL, MI, OH, IN, WI, MN) federal region responsible for implementation and enforcement of federal environmental programs, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Superfund. He also was head of EPA’s Great Lakes National Program, with responsibility for federal environmental activities affecting the Great Lakes.
Prior to working for the federal EPA, Tom was the Director of the Illinois EPA (1999-2001), where he was chief executive of the state environmental agency responsible for implementation and enforcement of state air, water, and land environmental programs.
Prior to those positions, Tom was a partner in a major international law firm, with a practice focus on litigation and environmental work. He previously served as a Special Assistant to the Governor (1988-1991), where he was the senior policy advisor to Illinois Governor James R. Thompson on business and transportation issues. Earlier in his career, he served as a Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Charles P. Kocoras of the United States District Court (1987-1988), and as a Law Clerk in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (1986).
Tom also has extensive local government experience, having served as Mayor of Lake Bluff, Illinois.
Education:
Northwestern University School of Law, JD, 1987; Member, Northwestern University Law Review, Lawrence University, BA, cum laude, 1983. | 