Karl Heisler is a nationally-recognized environmental lawyer in enforcement defense. Karl has managed the legal fallout from a wide array of environmental and workplace safety incidents, ranging from fires and explosions to pipeline releases and the abandonment of hazardous waste. He has over two decades of experience responding to governmental investigations involving the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. He is a prolific speaker on environmental law and incident response.
Chambers USA distinguished Karl as "exceptionally proactive," with "strategic thinking" and "the ability to understand the complex and translate it." Legal 500 USA characterized him as a "true partner to his clients" and "highly strategic," with a "singular ability to clarify the inordinately opaque and confusing nature of environmental laws for the unanointed." Lawdragon recognized him as a "Leading Environmental Lawyer." Benchmark Litigation recognized him as having an "unparalleled ability to master the facts and an encyclopedic mastery of environmental law."
As a respected thought leader, Karl is frequently called upon to comment, write or speak about environmental enforcement and incident response for publications and organizations including Law360, Thomson Reuters, Resource Recycling, Inc., American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, the American Bar Association, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, the Association of Corporate Counsel, Lawline, the Environmental Law Institute, the Practising Law Institute and the American Law Institute. He has written or spoken about managing the first 48 hours of an incident, incident response for public information officers, responding to hazardous waste abandonments, hurricane readiness and response, climate risk disclosure, environmental due diligence, the environmental aspects of commercial and real estate transactions, the design and implementation of environmental compliance programs, the regulation of electronic waste, cybersecurity in the energy and transportation sectors, evidence preservation, and preparing for a government inspection. He wrote the introductory chapter for Inside the Minds: Environmental Law Enforcement and Compliance, published by Thomson Reuters/Aspatore, and co-authored the chapter entitled "Environmental Criminal Enforcement: A Primer for the Real Estate Practitioner" in the Fifth Edition of Environmental Aspects of Real Estate and Commercial Transactions: Acquisitions, Development, and Liability Management, which is one of the ABA's most widely read publications.
Karl is a cutting-edge practitioner in extended producer responsibility laws extending to paper and plastic packaging, batteries, electronics recycling, and other product stewardship. His EPR clients include retail companies, pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturers, lawn and garden service providers, and waste management service providers. He also dedicates a significant portion of his practice to environmental transactions. He provides advice and counsel on environmental due diligence and the availability of transactional defenses, and he routinely negotiates representations, warranties, and indemnifications. He has assisted with the acquisitions and divestitures of several entities subject to government investigations arising out of environmental and workplace safety incidents. For over a decade, Karl has taught the environmental transactions course for the Environmental Law Institute, a leader in non-partisan research and environmental education.
His clients include public and private entities in the energy, chemical manufacturing, construction and waste management industries, as well as lenders, private equity and real estate firms with interests in these industries.
