Michael S. Giannotto
Areas of Practice
Michael Giannotto, a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and a member of its Environmental Practice, specializes in counseling and complex litigation in several areas, including environmental law, toxic torts and insurance coverage disputes.
Work for Clients
For over 20 years, Mr. Giannotto has advised and litigated on behalf of numerous corporations and trade associations involved in mining, manufacturing, and defense contracting in connection with all of the major federal environmental laws and their state analogues. These include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Water Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Mr. Giannotto also has extensive experience litigating toxic tort and complex insurance matters on behalf of insurers and multinational mining and manufacturing companies. His toxic tort cases have involved product-created toxic torts (such as asbestos-related injuries) as well as environmental toxic torts (such as releases to the environment from manufacturing facilities). The complex insurance matters have run the gamut from coverage disputes involving asbestos-related or environmental toxic torts to disputes with governmental entities over reimbursement of insurance costs incurred by a government contractor under the National Defense Projects Rating Plan. Mr. Giannotto has tried many cases to judgment, and has briefed and argued numerous cases before federal and state appellate courts. Some of the clients for whom Mr. Giannotto has performed extensive work in recent years are: Newmont Mining...more » For over 20 years, Mr. Giannotto has advised and litigated on behalf of numerous corporations and trade associations involved in mining, manufacturing, and defense contracting in connection with all of the major federal environmental laws and their state analogues. These include the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Water Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know Act, and Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Mr. Giannotto also has extensive experience litigating toxic tort and complex insurance matters on behalf of insurers and multinational mining and manufacturing companies. His toxic tort cases have involved product-created toxic torts (such as asbestos-related injuries) as well as environmental toxic torts (such as releases to the environment from manufacturing facilities). The complex insurance matters have run the gamut from coverage disputes involving asbestos-related or environmental toxic torts to disputes with governmental entities over reimbursement of insurance costs incurred by a government contractor under the National Defense Projects Rating Plan. Mr. Giannotto has tried many cases to judgment, and has briefed and argued numerous cases before federal and state appellate courts. Some of the clients for whom Mr. Giannotto has performed extensive work in recent years are: Newmont Mining Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, General Electric Company, Antofagasta Minerals, Johnson Controls, Inc., CNA and Rockwell Automotive. less »
Professional Activities
Mr. Giannotto is a member of the American Bar Association’s Section on Natural Resources and the Environment.
Publications/Presentations
Mr. Giannotto is a frequent speaker at conferences dealing with environmental issues. His publications include “EPA’s Developing Strategy for Increased Regulation and Oversight of the Hardrock Mining Industry” (43 Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, Chapter 14, 1997); “The Uncertain Effects of Environmental Justice on the Mining Industry” (1999 Mining Lawyers Conference, National Mining Association, 1999); and “Environmental Justice and the Mining and Energy Industries” (21 Energy & Min. L. Inst., Chapter 4, 2001).
While attending law school, Mr. Giannotto served as a Senior Editor of the Harvard Law Review .
Professional Experience
Mr. Giannotto was a partner at Shea & Gardner prior to its combination with Goodwin Procter in 2004. Prior to his work at Shea & Gardner, he served as a law clerk to Justice Morris Pashman of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Bar and Court Admissions
Mr. Giannotto is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and New Jersey, as well as to the bars of various federal courts around the country.
Honors and Awards
In 1997, the Secretary for Natural Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia appointed Mr. Giannotto to a blue ribbon panel to investigate and evaluate the Water Quality Program of the Commonwealth’s Department of Environmental Quality. The results of that report were later published (see Water Quality Program of the Department of Natural Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Institute for Regulatory Science, 1997). Mr. Giannotto has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Mining Law and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Environment Law.
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School, 1978 (magna cum laude)
B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1975 (summa cum laude)
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