Daniella Landers is a member of Sutherland’s Energy and Environmental Practice Group, where she focuses her practice on a broad range of environmental compliance, transactional and litigation matters. Daniella counsels energy companies and other clients in complex regulatory matters, climate change initiatives, enforcement defense, permitting, environmental due diligence in acquisitions and transactions, and cost recovery litigation.
Daniella is also a member of Sutherland’s
Crisis Management and Complex Litigation Team, helping clients navigate crises and develop legal response strategies tailored to each specific situation. To learn more about how Sutherland defends companies facing challenges on multiple fronts, including civil litigation and parallel criminal investigations, multi-district litigation proceedings, putative class actions, Congressional investigations and hearings, regulatory investigations, internal investigations, shareholder direct and derivative claims, and corporate disclosure issues, visit
sutherlandcrisismanagement.com.
Daniella previously served as temporary in-house counsel on three separate occasions for energy companies, where she handled a variety of environmental transactional, regulatory and litigation matters.
Daniella is an adjunct professor at South Texas College of Law and the University of Houston Law Center, where she teaches environmental and litigation classes. She also writes and speaks frequently about a variety of topics in environmental law and litigation and has been a contributor to several business and industry publications, including the
Texas Environmental Compliance Update, the
Environmental Liability,
Enforcement and Penalties Reporter and the
Michigan Environmental Compliance Update.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERSDaniella’s recent representative experience includes:
- Advising and counseling a broad range of businesses; lenders; manufacturers; oil, gas and energy companies; industrial and commercial facilities; real estate developers; and individuals regarding various environmental issues.
- Handling environmental and land use issues for various renewable energy projects, including solar, wind, and biogas developments.
- Managing a variety of environmental issues, including environmental due diligence, strategy, release from liability for environmental issues, negotiating and drafting all agreements associated with the purchase and development of commercial transactions and transfer of contaminated properties.
- Advising on remediation projects (both voluntary and involuntary) involving soil and groundwater contamination.
- Advising on compliance issues, including permitting and permit compliance, release reporting and response, government inspections, site development, brownfields, environmental compliance programs, and environmental audits, as well as indoor air quality and toxic mold.
- Counseling and representing an energy company in an arbitration regarding oil and gas agreements.
- Representing corporations in water rights transactions.
- Coordinating and managing strategies for and resolution of federal and state Superfund sites for multinational companies.
- Representing clients in litigation and administrative matters, including appeals.
PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS
- Selected for inclusion in Texas Super Lawyers® “Rising Stars” (2005, 2007–2009)
- Graduate of Leadership Houston (2005) and Center for Houston’s Future (2009)
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Chair, Board of Directors, Harris County Dispute Resolution Center
- Advisor, ALI-ABA’s Environmental Law Program Committee
- Chair, Racial Diversity in the Profession Committee, State Bar of Texas
- Member, Board of Directors, Houston Bar Association
- Member, Texas Association of Environmental Professionals
- Member, Environmental and Energy Policy Advisory Committee, Greater Houston Partnership
- Member, Board of Directors, Houston Lawyers Association Foundation
- Member and former Chair, City of Houston’s Brownfields Program Land Redevelopment Committee
- Member, Section of the Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association
- Member, Energy, Environmental and Public Utilities Section, National Bar Association
- Member, 2010 Editorial Advisory Board, Environmental Law360
- Member, Air and Waste Management Association, Gulf Coast Chapter
RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Presenter, “Current Issues in Storm Water Management,” Lorman (April 10, 2012)
- Speaker, “Environmental Issues Affecting Energy and Alternative Energy Sources,” TMLS Energy Symposium (March 28, 2012)
- Presenter, Harris County Civil District Judges Conference (August 2011)
- Presenter, “Emerging Energy Technologies: Renewable Energy, Wind Energy & Solar,” PLI’s Energy and Environmental Law Institute with the University of Houston Law Center (February 3-4, 2011)
- Presenter, “State and Local Adaptation to Climate Change,” Symposium on Climate Change, Water, and Adaptive Law (February 26, 2010)
- Presenter, “Hot Topics in Environmental Law: Climate Change Update,” Houston Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Seminar (February 2009)
- Presenter, "Environmental Problems in Real Estate Transactions: Understanding, Assessing and Managing Environmental Risks," University of Houston Continuing Legal Education Advanced Real Estate Seminar (November 2008).
- Presenter, “Attorney-Client and Other Privileges in Environmental Matters,” Houston Bar Association’s 2008 Environmental Law Institute (September 2008)
- Presenter, “Environmental Considerations,” Lorman Seminar on Plat & Subdivision Law in Texas (August 2008)
- Author, “Polluters May Recover Cleanup Costs,” New Jersey Law Journal (August 24, 2007)
- Presenter, “Storm-Water Enforcement Issues,” Lorman Seminar on Current Issues in Storm-Water Regulation (April 2007)
- Author, “Global Warming Debate Heats Up and It Will Get Hotter,” Houston Business Journal (March 16-22, 2007)
- Presenter, “Nuts & Bolts of Real Estate and Environmental Transactions,” Houston Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Seminar (January 2007)
- Author, “Mold Problem: An Issue That Won’t Go Away,” Houston Business Journal (March 24-30, 2006)
- Author, “Water Rights: Whose Water Is It Anyway?” Mid-Atlantic Grower (February 2006)
- Presenter, “Environmental Case Law Update,” Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Institute (March 2004)
- Presenter, “Hot Topics in Environmental Law,” National Bar Association, Annual Meeting (August 2001)
- Presenter, “Update on CERCLA and RCRA Issues,” National Bar Association, Environmental Section Regional Conference (1999)