Thomas E. Starnes
Counsel
tstarnes@andrewskurth.com
Suite 1100
Washington D.C. 20005
P: 202.662.2767
F: 202.662.2739
Download v-cardTom enjoys a national practice in environmental litigation. Representing clients primarily in the chemical and energy industries, Tom has served as lead counsel in the defense of multi-million dollar cost-recovery and enforcement actions brought by federal and state regulators under CERCLA, RCRA and analogous state statutes. In addition, for clients who have made (often massive) expenditures to investigate or remediate environmental contamination, Tom has been retained to prosecute cost-recovery claims to recoup a fair share of those costs from other potentially responsible parties.
Tom’s representations focus on high-stakes, “mega-site” environmental litigation, where the alleged contamination may spread across thousands of acres, or even hundreds of square miles, such as in cases involving the sediments of heavily industrialized rivers and bays. Ongoing and recent matters include:
- Defending affiliated companies against statutory and common law claims brought by state government to recover cleanup costs, property damage and economic loss allegedly incurred as a result of dioxin contamination in the Passaic River and Newark Bay.
- Prosecuting a 20-party cost recovery action—while simultaneously defending a state enforcement action—involving a client’s investigation and remediation of a 1,200-acre former chemical plant site along Lake Erie.
- Representing one of 10 defendants—and joining in the prosecution of multiple third party claims—to allocate $250 million in EPA-incurred response costs at a Superfund site near the Houston Ship Channel.
Over the years, Tom has also developed a challenging and rewarding practice representing religious institutions in a wide range of litigation and counseling matters. Tom has been hired as counsel to defend claims asserted against—and especially to enforce the property rights of—some of the country’s largest and most established religious denominations, including The United Methodist Church; the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He has been retained as counsel on litigation matters by the General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church; on personnel issues by the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church; and he currently is honored to serve as Chancellor of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Articles / Publications
“Fraud: the Longest Arm of the Law,” United States Litigation Yearbook 1998 (supplement to the December 1997-January 1998 issue of International Commercial Litigation) (Co-Authored)
Briefings, Seminars & Speeches
“Establishing Liability Under CERCLA: The Casual Nexus and the Alternative Liability Theory,” American Bar Association Seminar: Environmental Law, by Tom Starnes and Patricia Lin (March 2000)
“Resolution of Church Property Disputes in Secular Court,” Address at The Glorieta Conference of United Methodist Chancellors Glorieta, New Mexico (April 16-18, 1999)
“Restitution for Historic Wrongs: World War II’s Last Chapter,” Address at 93rd Annual Meeting of American Society of International Law Washington, D.C. (March 26, 1999)
“The Legal and Moral Implications of Art Restitution,” Address at B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum (September 4, 1997)
Professional / Civic Affiliations
Member
- The District of Columbia Bar Association
- General Council of Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church, Committee on Legal Responsibilities (1992-2000)
Practice Areas
Education
- JD, 1983, honors, George Washington University Law School
- BA, 1980, high distinction, University of Maine
Admitted
- District of Columbia, 1983
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
US District Court for the District of Columbia
