Profile
Shawn M. LaTourette is an environmental lawyer, litigator, strategist, and former government official who enables clients across industries to deliver major projects, navigate complex disputes, manage risk, respond to crises, and pursue their development and sustainability goals. Previously the top environmental official in New Jersey, Shawn served as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), one of the most active regulatory and natural resource management agencies in the United States. A recognized national leader, Shawn has been at the forefront of legal, regulatory, and public policy developments that inform how companies do business and shape how communities grow and thrive.
Shawn focuses his practice on environmental and natural resource issues in regulatory, transactional, litigation, and policy settings. He represents a wide array of businesses, institutional investors, and quasi-governmental entities with projects and interests across the infrastructure, transportation, energy, real estate, chemicals, engineering, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing industries. Drawing upon private and public sector experience, Shawn equips clients with comprehensive permitting strategies necessary to de-risk and deliver major projects; represents clients in their most critical environmental investigations, compliance, and enforcement actions; and provides clients with strategic, legal, and policy advice in their internal affairs and throughout their engagements with regulators and other market participants. Shawn handles permitting and regulatory proceedings before state and federal agencies, provides environmental counsel essential to commercial and financial transactions, and litigates complex environmental, natural resource damage, and related matters from initial investigation through trial and appeal.
As Commissioner, Shawn led the implementation of new environmental laws, developed novel regulatory schemes, built permitting and enforcement programs, and established policies that continue to define environmental governance in New Jersey and inform action by other state and federal agencies. Throughout his tenure, Shawn worked at the intersection of economic development and natural resource stewardship to deploy a historic $6.7B+ investment in environmental infrastructure, recovered $3.2B+ in pollution abatement through strategic enforcement initiatives, and developed nation-leading regulatory reforms to address PFAS and emerging contaminants in drinking water and environmental media, modernize flood safety standards, assess cumulative impacts in communities with environmental justice concerns, accelerate brownfield remediation and redevelopment, expedite permitting processes, and improve environmental quality outcomes while advancing economic growth.
An experienced litigator, Shawn has been involved in some of the most consequential environmental cases before New Jersey state and federal courts over the last twenty years. Early in his career, Shawn and his colleagues successfully defended the first natural resource damage case to reach trial in the nation. Most recently, as a government agency executive and in-house counsel, Shawn directed an affirmative litigation strategy that resulted in multiple landmark environmental settlements. His results included the largest settlement ever achieved by a single U.S. state, which resolved complex multibillion-dollar claims concerning PFAS ‘forever chemicals,’ providing certainty for public entity claimants, responsible parties, and their corporate successors.
Shawn’s clients rely upon his deep understanding of governmental decision-making, the laws and policies that drive enforcement, the settlement frameworks necessary to resolve complex matters, and the dynamics that move projects, cases, and transactions forward. For those with environmental regulatory and litigation needs in New Jersey, Shawn's knowledge and capabilities have been key to achieving his clients’ business goals and meeting their compliance obligations. His leading role in shaping New Jersey’s environmental regulatory framework, directing enforcement programs, and determining administrative appeals makes Shawn an unmatched resource. For clients with federal or multi-jurisdictional interests, his leadership of one of the nation's most consequential state environmental agencies has enabled his deep engagement in federal environmental policy and sustained relationships with regulators across the country. A recognized national voice on environmental, energy, natural resource, climate, and sustainability issues, Shawn brings crucial perspective to clients with interests in New Jersey and beyond.
Beyond his practice, Shawn serves on multiple Boards and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, where he developed and teaches courses on Environmental Justice and Climate Change Law and Policy. Shawn earned his law degree summa cum laude from Rutgers Law School, where he was class salutatorian, and his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Rutgers University. Prior to his government leadership, Shawn was an environmental law and litigation partner at a northeast regional Am Law 200 firm.
Concentrations
- Environmental review and permitting
- Energy, infrastructure, and industrial project development
- Regulatory compliance, enforcement, and administrative appeals
- Environmental, cost recovery, and natural resource damage litigation
- Contaminated site (brownfields) remediation and redevelopment
- Environmental risk management and transactional due diligence
- Environmental counsel in real estate, corporate, financial and commercial transactions
- Regulatory and compliance
- Complex torts
업무 분야]
주요 경력
- Represented industrial site owners in the redevelopment of waterfront properties situated along major commercial shipping corridors, overseeing all required environmental reviews and engaging with multiple state and federal agencies to secure permits and approvals critical to project finance and ultimate construction and operation.°
- Counseled owners of bulk liquid marine terminals through state and federal environmental, health, and safety reviews, securing approvals for the operation of storage, logistics, and transport facilities in major markets.°
- Advised renewable energy client on site selection, environmental review, and permitting requirements across multiple state and federal agencies.°
- Represented quasi-governmental entities in environmental review and permitting necessary for the construction of major public transportation infrastructure assets.°
- Advised industrial project developer on environmental, health, and safety governance applicable to the construction and rehabilitation of hard rock caverns for the storage of natural gas liquids; secured all operating permits and approvals.°
- Represented major commercial real estate developer in the expansion of luxury retail complex with environmentally sensitive land use constraints.°
- Counseled mixed use project sponsor on compliance with complex hazardous site remediation requirements, enabling the transformation of former industrial materials manufacturing site into high-density residential and commercial development.°
- Represented flavors and fragrances manufacturer in air and water quality compliance audits, navigated engagements with public stakeholders to address community concerns, and resolved civil administrative actions in dialogue with regulators.°
- Counseled specialty chemical and plastics manufacturers through compliance with unique state environmental site assessment requirements in instances of corporate transitions, spinoffs, and transfers of ownership interests, including applicability determinations and compliance with the New Jersey Industrial Site Recovery Act (ISRA).°
- Represented franchise owners of gasoline and automobile service stations in state environmental enforcement actions.°
- Served as common counsel to coalition of chemicals, manufacturing, and waste management companies responsible for performance of federal Superfund site remediation, navigating all engagements with federal and state regulators.°
- As Chief Counsel and Commissioner of NJDEP, developed strategy, oversaw prosecution, and directed the $3.2B+ settlement of multiple cases concerning the remediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and restoration of damaged natural resources, which included claims arising under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and Public Trust Doctrine.°
- Defended top vinyl flooring manufacturer in state and federal environmental litigation by successor owners of former industrial land holdings.°
- Represented polymer manufacturers in litigation concerning environmental liabilities associated with divested legacy industrial sites.°
- Represented major plastics manufacturer in natural resource damage litigation, resulting in a complete defense victory in trial and on appeal in the first ever natural resource damage case tried to conclusion in the United States.°
- Represented industrial materials manufacturer in corporate and real estate transactions with significant legacy environmental considerations, including the negotiation of liabilities and indemnities.°
- Conducted environmental due diligence on behalf of institutional investors engaged in the financing of manufacturing facility, power plant, pipeline, and renewable energy projects.°
- Advised real estate investment trust on potential environmental liabilities and compliance obligations involved in the acquisition of former heavy industrial properties targeted for development of mixed-use development including hi-density residential, retail, and entertainment.°
- Represented private equity-backed infrastructure project developers before multiple state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, Department of the Interior, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fishers Service.°
- Represented clients with interests informing state legislation on environmental, energy, product stewardship, sustainable materials management, and land use.°
- Advised congressional and state legislative committees on matters arising under the Clean Water Act affecting the real estate development and tourism industries.°
- Established first-in-the-nation regulatory programs to identify, reduce, and remediate PFAS contamination in drinking water supplies, wastewater discharges, surface waters, and groundwater.°
- Led strategy to procure and maximize public funding, deploying $6.75 billion in public infrastructure improvements over eight years, including $4.8B+ in water infrastructure, $690M+ in local parks development, $500M+ in flood resilience infrastructure, $450M+ in clean air technology, and $300M+ in natural resource restoration, while navigating all contractual, regulatory, procedural, and permitting requirements necessary to ensure success.°
- Served as a chief architect of the first environmental justice law in the United States and developed implementing regulations to assess potential cumulative impacts in the permitting of certain industrial and waste management facilities.°
- Developed statewide policies to reduce and manage the impacts of extreme weather, heat, and flooding through expanded scientific research, climate resilience planning, and innovative asset-based regulatory reforms.°
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2018-2026
- Commissioner (Chief Executive Officer), 2021-2026
- Deputy Commissioner (Legal, Regulatory & Legislative Affairs) and Chief of Staff, 2018-2021
- Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law, Rutgers Law School (Camden), 2023-Present
- Law Clerk, Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, Division of Law, Environmental Permitting and Counseling Practice Group, 2008-2009
- Judicial Extern, Hon. Dolores K. Sloviter, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2008
- Judicial Extern, Hon. Barry T. Albin, New Jersey Supreme Court, 2007
- Counsel to victims of fraud in Superstorm Sandy recovery and rebuilding initiatives, 2016-2018.°
- Appointed class counsel to prisoners in civil rights action, 2015-2018.°
- Pro bono General Counsel to the Passaic River Coalition (land trust), 2011-2015
- Asylum counsel to Central American child abuse victims, 2008-2011.°
- Pro bono mediator for the Camden Community Dispute Resolution Project, 2006-2009.°
°The above representations were handled by Mr. LaTourette prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
수상 및 주요 활동
- Recipient, Siera Club, “National Environmental Achievement Award,” 2024
- Recipient, Friends of Liberty State Park, “Democracy Leadership Award,” 2024
- Recipient, Gopal Civic Association, “Community Public Servant Award,” 2023
- Recipient, Environmental Council of the States, “Environmental Program Innovation Award,” 2022
- Recipient, Engineering News Record, “ENR Top 25 Newsmakers Award,” 2021
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, “New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars,” 2014-2019
A description of the selection methodology for the above awards can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
- Board of Trustees, Watershed Institute, 2026-Present
- Member, New Jersey State Bar Association, 2009-Present
- LGBTQ+ Rights Section Chairperson, 2019
- Executive Board, 2016-2019
- Trustee, 2020-2025,
- Environmental Council of the States, Board of Directors, 2021-2026
- Alumni Member, 2026-Present
- National Chair for Infrastructure, 2021-2024
- National Chair for Land & Materials, 2024-2026
- Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Inc., 2021-2026
- Board of Directors, New Jersey Economic Development Authority, 2021-2026
- Board of Directors, New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, 2021-2026
학력 및 자격사항
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J.D., summa cum laude, Rutgers Law School
- Editor, Rutgers Law Journal
- B.A., magna cum laude, Rutgers University
- New Jersey
- New York