NEW JERSEY – May 14, 2026 – Shawn M. LaTourette, former New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Commissioner, joins global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP as a shareholder in its New Jersey office. The addition of LaTourette significantly expands the geographic reach of Greenberg Traurig’s highly ranked global Environmental Practice into one of the nation’s most consequential environmental law and policy markets.
As NJDEP Commissioner, LaTourette directed a complex state environmental and natural resource management agency, overseeing a staff of 3,400 environmental professionals, enacting regulatory reforms governing emerging environmental, health, and safety issues, and leading successful enforcement and litigation strategies that recovered $3.5 billion+ in remediation funding and natural resource damages. LaTourette also served as chair of national infrastructure and sustainability initiatives, developing relationships and policy experience extending well beyond New Jersey’s borders. Before leading NJDEP as Commissioner from 2021 to 2026, LaTourette served as chief legal and regulatory affairs counsel and second-in-command at the agency starting in 2018. Prior to his government service, LaTourette was an environmental law and litigation partner at a Northeast regional law firm, representing private clients in the manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics, energy, real estate, and transportation industries before state and federal regulatory agencies and courts.
“Shawn’s arrival marks a defining moment for our New Jersey office and reflects our continued commitment to building a practice that matches the depth and ambition of what our clients require,” said Philip R. Sellinger, co-chair of the firm’s global Litigation Practice and founding chair of the firm’s New Jersey office. Sellinger and LaTourette worked closely together on a joint federal and state water quality investigation while Sellinger was serving as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The New Jersey Environmental Practice will serve clients with state-specific, federal, and multijurisdictional needs. LaTourette will equip clients with purpose-built permitting and development strategies designed to mitigate risk and deliver major projects in high-growth sectors, including energy, logistics, information technology and artificial intelligence, and infrastructure. Drawing from private- and public-sector experience resolving complex environmental disputes, LaTourette will represent clients in environmental investigations, civil enforcement actions, and litigation at the state and federal levels. He also will provide strategic, legal, and policy counsel to clients navigating regulatory changes, internal environmental affairs, and commercial transactions with significant environmental considerations.
“New Jersey has long been where environmental law is made, and Shawn has been at the center of that for years, both in shaping policy and in enforcing it,” global Environmental Practice Co-Chair Steven C. Russo said. “His combination of regulatory leadership, litigation experience, and national relationships will strengthen our Environmental Practice in ways that benefit clients far beyond the region.”
New Jersey’s central role in developing bedrock American environmental law, and position as a pioneer in shaping the modern regulatory landscape, makes it a particularly significant market for expansion. Early New Jersey statutory and regulatory frameworks, including Superfund-style liability structures, were later replicated by other states and federal authorities. More recent New Jersey environmental laws and policies have similarly informed business and government decision-makers across the country, including the emerging contaminant regulations, flood safety standards, sustainable materials management paradigms, and environmental justice and enforcement initiatives shaped by LaTourette. His addition positions Greenberg Traurig to serve the distinct in-state needs of clients with New Jersey environmental obligations while leveraging that experience nationally.
“Shawn was an indispensable member of our cabinet who deftly navigated the toughest environmental, energy, and infrastructure issues for the benefit of millions of New Jerseyans,” said former New Jersey Gov. Philip D. Murphy. “His legal acumen was key to our regulatory modernization initiatives and a driving force behind our resolution of major environmental enforcement matters, while his expertise in project delivery enabled us to deploy a historic $6.7 billion investment in environmental infrastructure. Shawn will surely serve his clients with the same drive and integrity, and I congratulate former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger and Greenberg Traurig on this outstanding addition to their team.”
”Greenberg Traurig’s national platform and the depth of its existing environmental capabilities make it the right home from which to build a practice with genuine local roots and national reach; one that can service clients facing very complex and consequential environmental challenges across growth industries and legacy liabilities alike,” LaTourette said. “I am excited to begin this next chapter of my career alongside the accomplished lawyers of Greenberg Traurig’s New Jersey office and to contribute to the firm’s growing global Environmental Practice.”
Greenberg Traurig continues its Environmental Practice expansion following the addition of Matthew J. Douglas and Gregory R. Tan in its Denver office within the last month.