Joseph D. Lonardo
Mr. Lonardo is the managing partner of the Vorys Washington D.C. office and Vorys' chief environmental litigation partner. His environmental trial experience is comprehensive defending corporations in actions involving: toxic torts, major federal statutes (CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, CAA) and companion state laws, federal and state citizen suits, contractual indemnity claims, bankruptcy environmental claims, workplace exposure claims, UST contamination, and common law damage actions.
Mr. Lonardo’s clients include some of America’s best known companies in fields as diverse as: chemical manufacture, the manufacture of products for the automotive, metal fabrication, appliance, and medical industries; petroleum distribution; aerospace; oil and gas development; and commercial development.
Mr. Lonardo has significant experience in parent/subsidiary and corporate structure liability, including the defense of foreign parents of American subsidiaries sued for environmental liabilities.
Career highlights include:
- Defending chemical and manufacturing companies in state and federal courts across the country in cases alleging personal injury and property damage due to workplace or environmental exposures
- Trying cases under RCRA and CERCLA brought by the United States, corporations, or individual plaintiffs seeking statutory relief, damages, and penalties
- Defending business and financial institutions which have included the winning argument before the Ohio Supreme Court striking down legislation creating lender environmental liability. He also advises lenders on environmental liability issues in specific transactions
- Serving as common counsel to groups of corporate defendants involved in National Priorities List (NPL) sites on liability, allocation, and resource damage issues
- Being involved in some of the nation’s first major Superfund cases and negotiating numerous judicial and administrative settlements with USEPA in Superfund and Natural Resource Damage cases. He currently has a leadership role in a major case involving remediation of contaminated waterway sediments under the Great Lakes Legacy Act and WRDA.
Mr. Lonardo is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar, the Columbus Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute. Mr. Lonardo is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
Mr. Lonardo has spoken at seminars on environmental law, including toxic tort litigation issues and practice, CERCLA and RCRA liability and defense issues, natural resource damage issues and settlements, and bankruptcy in the context of environmental issues and claims.
Mr. Lonardo received his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A. from Georgetown University.
Professional and Community Activities
- Georgetown University, Alumni Admissions Program, Board of Advisors, 1982-present; Chairman, 1997-2000
- Georgetown University, Board of Regents, 2000-2006
- Georgetown University, Alumni Association, Board of Governors, 1990-1996
Honors & Awards
- Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, 2003-present
- Washington D.C. Super Lawyers, Environmental Litigation, 2007
- Chambers and Partners, Leading Lawyer in Environmental Law and Litigation
- Best Lawyers in America, Environmental Law and Litigation, 1991-2006
News
Publications
- "Liability of Third Parties and Successors Under United States Environmental Laws," 1996 (The International Business Climate and Environmental Regulation Conference, Centre for International Legal Studies, Waidring, Austria)
- "Defense of CERCLA Enforcement Actions and Related Toxic Tort Claims," 1991, 1992, and 1993 (Executive Enterprises, Environmental Law Course)
- "The Impecunious Co-Defendant: The Impact of Bankruptcy and Orphan Shares in Superfund Litigation," April 1992 (Law and Science Institute)
- "Allocation of Liability and Assertion of Defenses to Liability under CERCLA," November 1992 (CLE International Hazardous Waste Clean-Up Seminar)
- "The Veil Transparent: The Emerging Liability of Officers, Directors, Parents and Successors Under CERCLA," April 1991 (Law and Science Institute)
- "Anspec Co. v. Johnson Controls, Inc.: CERCLA Successor Liability Saga Continued," Environmental Law Journal of Ohio, May-June 1991
- "Environmental Law for the General Practitioner," October 1991 (The Fifteenth Annual Ohio Northern Law Review Symposium)