Peoria – Jon S. Faletto, a former in-house counsel and attorney for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, has joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as a partner in the firm’s Peoria office. Mr. Faletto’s practice focuses on environmental litigation and compliance counseling, including helping clients develop comprehensive compliance strategies.
As part of the firm’s Environmental Practice Group, Mr. Faletto joins more than two dozen attorney across the country in providing regulatory advice and litigation counsel involving traditional environmental protection laws, toxic tort defense, risk management, indoor environmental quality and occupational safety and security.
Among others, Mr. Faletto will work with two key members of the practice group in Illinois, Charles Helsten and Harvey Sheldon. Both attorneys have held senior environmental positions in state government, as well as having worked in private practice for decades, representing clients ranging from individuals to members of the Fortune 100.
“Jon’s combination of private and public sector experience make him a very valuable addition to our environmental practice,” said Mr. Sheldon. “He has analyzed critical issues from both perspectives and his counsel will be a strategic asset to clients.”
With more than 20 years in practice, Mr. Faletto has vast experience counseling clients on litigation matters, compliance issues and the environmental impact of mergers and acquisitions.
He has successfully defended clients in both judicial and administrative enforcement actions and has handled non-enforcement litigation matters such as contract disputes, cost recovery and contribution actions.
Mr. Faletto’s litigation experience provides clients with valuable insights when they are faced with complex risk management issues. Mr. Faletto regularly counsels clients in developing permit applications, other required submittals and in negotiating with regulators to resolve compliance matters.
Prior to joining Hinshaw, Mr. Faletto was in-house counsel for a large engineering company, in private practice and served in the public sector. Mr. Faletto has written and spoken extensively in the area of environmental law, in Illinois and around the country. He is involved with a variety of community activities, including the Habitat for Humanity and the United Way.
Mr. Faletto received a J.D., cum laude, from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he was a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for Administrative Law. He received a B.S. in Environmental & Life Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP’s Environmental Group
Hinshaw & Culbertson’s Environmental Group represents a variety of clients in a wide range of environmental matters, including civil and criminal environmental enforcement cases, compliance counseling, disaster response, self-audits, development of internal compliance and risk management programs, sales and purchases of businesses and real estate, permitting, obtaining variances, rulemaking and legislative advocacy.
Hinshaw's regulatory and litigation experience includes in-depth involvement with a range of federal, state and international laws, including the Clean Air Act, RCRA (hazardous waste), Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Superfund (CERCLA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act, underground storage tank (UST) rules and remediation, wetlands, brownfields, surface mining law, the Montreal Protocol, coastal zone management, Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) regulations and the Homeland Security Department.
Additionally, Hinshaw's environmental practice has a strong national presence in environmental and toxic exposure litigation. The firm serves as national and regional litigation counsel in these kinds of cases for a number of Fortune 500 companies, privately held corporations and major insurance companies.
Beyond litigation, Hinshaw's attorneys are actively engaged in consulting with clients on loss prevention and risk management issues in their new ventures and ongoing operations. They also assist clients in developing internal environmental compliance and risk management programs.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with 475 lawyers in 25 offices coast-to-coast. The firm offers a full-service practice, with an emphasis in commercial and defense litigation, corporate, environmental, employment and construction law, as well as the representation of professionals in their liability matters. The firm provides services to a range of clients in financial services, construction, health care, not-for-profit, insurance, legal, manufacturing, real estate, retail, transportation and other industries. Firm clients also include government agencies, municipalities and schools.
Hinshaw was founded in 1934. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, and maintains offices in 12 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.