Mr. Hartman engages in a national litigation and counseling practice, with an emphasis on matters involving environmental issues, the regulation of chemical and biological materials, as well as hazardous substances and wastes. He represents companies in civil and criminal investigations, trials, and appeals primarily involving federal environmental laws and regulations. He also conducts independent investigations of internal corporate activity and counsels clients regarding corporate compliance programs, and homeland security matters relating to the environment. In addition, Mr. Hartman counsels clients regarding the environmental aspects of various types of business activities, including mergers and acquisitions, and SEC disclosure matters. Mr. Hartman also represents clients in Congressional investigations regarding lobbying, ethics, and other issues.
Mr. Hartman has handled cases in federal courts throughout the country on a wide range of environmental issues. For example, he was co-counsel in one of the longest federal criminal environmental cases in history, and successfully litigated the validity of a variety of federal regulations. He has also represented clients in other types of civil and criminal litigation involving federal regulatory programs, including antitrust, labor relations and health care. Mr. Hartman has handled over 60 appeals in federal and state courts around the nation, many of which involved challenges to agency regulations.
For more detailed information, please see Mr. Hartman's Extended Biography.
Prior to joining K&L Gates in 1992, Mr. Hartman served in a number of positions in the United States Department of Justice, including Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resource Division (1991-92), Deputy Assistant Attorney General (1989-91) and Deputy Assistant to the Attorney General (1989). As Acting Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Hartman was responsible for overseeing all U.S. government litigation arising under federal environmental, natural resource, energy and related laws. He was responsible for civil and criminal prosecutions arising under federal environmental law, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility prosecution, two of the largest cases of their kind. He also handled the first appeal of a sentence for an environmental crime imposed under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, and represented President George H.W. Bush in a challenge to the President’s authority to conduct negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Mr. Hartman was also responsible for directing a wide variety of other environmental litigation, including the defense of regulations issued by federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior, Fifth Amendment “takings” cases, mineral leasing royalty claims, Endangered Species Act matters, and constitutional litigation. He has overseen matters ranging from the New Bedford Harbor Superfund case in Massachusetts to the spotted owl litigation in the Pacific Northwest, and was responsible for eleven cases in the United States Supreme Court.
He also served on several senior-level administration policy groups, including the Domestic Policy Council Wetlands Task Force and the Department of Energy Environmental Restoration Interagency Review Group.
Mr. Hartman has testified before Congressional committees in the development of a wide variety of legislation, including the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. During his service as Deputy Assistant to the Attorney General, Mr. Hartman was a member of the Attorney General’s Judicial Selection Committee. In 1992 he received the Edmund J. Randolph Award for outstanding service.
Mr. Hartman served in state government, as Chief Counsel to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, and Deputy General Counsel to the Governor of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Hartman served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Horsehead Industries, Inc. Horsehead was one of the largest privately held companies in the United States, according to Forbes Magazine.
He was also the Editor-in-Chief of The EPA Enforcement Manual (Thompson Publishing Company) and has published and lectured for numerous organizations, including the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, the Washington Legal Foundation, Corporate Legal Times, the National Law Journal, the Environmental Law Institute, and the American Bar Association. He has also appeared on several television and radio news programs, including the CBS Evening News, Frontline, and Wisconsin Public Radio. He also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for Environmental Law 360.