Environmental Bankruptcy Law: A Practice Guide

Environmental Bankruptcy Law covers such topics as:

• A brief history of bankruptcy law and its general purposes and key concepts (Chapter 2)
• The different chapters of the Bankruptcy Code (Chapter 3)
• The timeline of a typical bankruptcy case (Chapter 4)
• Key statutory provisions (Chapter 5)
• Obtaining information in bankruptcy cases (Chapter 6)
• Filing proofs of claim and administrative expense applications (Chapter 7)
• The distinction between the treatment of compliance obligations versus the treatment of monetary liabilities under environmental bankruptcy law and the differences in treatment based on whether an environmental bankruptcy issue involves ＂property of the estate.＂ (Chapter 8)

The Practice Guide then examines the case law that addresses:

• The obligation to comply with nonbankruptcy law in managing and operating ＂property of the estate＂ (Chapter 9)
• The scope of the police or regulatory exception to the automatic stay (Chapter 10)
• Equitable remedies such as cleanup orders and bankruptcy law (Chapter 11)
• The priority of environmental claims and compliance obligations compared to other claims and liabilities (Chapter 12)
• When environmental claims arise and become dischargeable in bankruptcy (Chapter 13)
• Options for dealing with contaminated property owned by the bankruptcy estate (Chapter 14)
• Free and clear sales of contaminated property under bankruptcy law (Chapter 15)
• Plan confirmation objections based on feasibility, provisions forbidden by law, and the permissible scope of discharge of environmental liabilities (Chapter 16)
• Estimation and adjudication of environmental claims in bankruptcy (Chapter 17)
• Abandonment of contaminated property in bankruptcy (Chapter 18)
• Insurance coverage when addressing environmental liabilities in a bankruptcy proceeding (Chapter 19)
• Discussions of jurisdictional and standing issues in environmental bankruptcy cases including withdrawal of the reference (Chapter 20) and environmental settlements (Chapter 21).

Jeanne T. Cohn is a Trial Attorney and Bankruptcy Coordinator in the Environmental Enforcement Section at the U.S. Department of Justice. Before joining DOJ, she was a partner in the law firm of Kirkland and Ellis LLP where she served as primary environmental counsel for numerous debtors and others. In that role, she worked on some of the largest bankruptcies in the country including Tronox, Energy Future Holdings, Philadelphia Refinery, Hovensa, GenOn Energy Holdings, and Sherwin Alumina. As debtors’ environmental counsel for Tronox, she led the global environmental settlement negotiations that resulted in the establishment of five separate environmental response trusts covering several thousand properties.

Jeanne’s legal work has resulted in commendations from publications including the Legal 500 US and Law360. Jeanne has been recognized in Best Lawyers, Washington DC. Prior to her move to Washington DC, she had practiced law in Portland, Maine, and New York City. While in Maine, she served as general counsel to the Maine Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority. Jeanne was also instrumental in negotiating an innovative liability transfer settlement for a Maine State Superfund site, the first of its kind in the nation.

Jeanne currently teaches a seminar at the University of Chicago Law School covering environmental bankruptcy law and has been a guest lecturer at other law schools. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School where she was a Hinton Moot Court Semi-Finalist. She graduated with a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude, with a major in history and minor in English, where she also studied honors theoretical calculus and sciences.

Jeanne has spoken extensively at environmental law conferences. She has co-written two manuals on environmental law in Maine and was a contributing author to the ABA Book: Implementing Institutional Controls at Brownfields and Other Contaminated Sites. Jeanne also authored Environmental Settlements in Bankruptcy: Practice Pointers for the Business Lawyer for an ABA periodical.

While in private practice, Jeanne also had an active pro bono caseload, ranging from negotiating amendments to the Violence Against Women Act to handling child immigration and anti-trafficking cases. She appeared in both the national and international press for her pro bono work. On a personal note, Jeanne was a Girl Scout troop leader for many years and is an avid hiker and camper. She currently lives in Washington, DC.