News Release

Blumenthal, Waxman Tapped to Lead ABA Environmental Committees

January 16, 2025

McGlinchey Stafford is pleased to announce that Michael Blumenthal has been named Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA)’s Business Law Section (BLS), and David Waxman has been selected as Chair of the Environmental Committee of the ABA’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section (RPTE)’s Land Use and Environmental Group. These three-year terms began in January.

As a former prosecutor for the State of Ohio, Michael concentrates on environmental transactional matters, regulatory counseling, and litigation. He handles matters including environmental compliance, representation before state and federal EPAs, environmental due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, brownfield redevelopment, audits, and state and federal permitting. He advises on risk level mitigation, counsels on transaction structures, oversees post-closing activities, and helps set up audit programs and other compliance safeguards. Michael also negotiates the environmental aspects of transactional agreements, regulatory consent agreements, and prospective purchaser agreements. He negotiates technically complex consent decrees with the U.S. DOJ, the U.S. EPA, and state agencies, and conducts extensive internal environmental audits. He currently represents medium to large manufacturing companies in establishing safeguards for alleged PFAS exposures.

With more than three decades of experience, David helps clients in the real estate industry translate business goals into the legal structure that will best achieve them. Serving a national client base, but with a focus on Ohio and other Midwestern states, David advises both individuals and organizations, including public companies, closely held businesses, lenders, and manufacturers. He advises clients in all manner of transactions and leasing arrangements and previously served as Chair of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Real Estate Law Section, as well as its annual Real Estate Law Institute.

The BLS Environmental Committee, of which Michael is Chair, assists business lawyers to better understand the complexities of environmental law, equips business lawyers with a sufficient basis to intuitively approach basic environmental risk management strategies, and engages to develop practical, effective, and innovative solutions to environmental issues. Its members come from the 30,000 members of the ABA Business Law Section, who practice in large global firms, small boutique firms, fortune 500 companies, small businesses, federal and state courts, government agencies law schools, and more.

The group David chairs, the Environmental Committee of the Land Use and Environmental Group within the RPTE, focuses on a wide range of environmental issues impacting the ownership, operation, use, management, and financing of real estate, including evolving environmental issues stemming from climate change, and monitors trends and recent developments in environmental law at the federal, state, and local levels. The Real Property Trust and Estate section of the ABA comprises more than 15,000 lawyers who focus on legal aspects of property use, ownership, development, transfer, regulation, financing, taxation and disposal.