AREAS OF EXPERTISE & FOCUS

Lou has extensive experience with environmental issues relating to water law litigation, the Great Lakes and related public trust issues, brownfields redevelopment, and other environmental regulatory and legislative matters. Among other things, Lou represents sewer districts serving two of Ohio’s largest cities in negotiations with US EPA and Ohio EPA. These districts have over $6 billion of Consent Decree commitments.

Lou has regulatory and litigation experience with the question of large scale diversions from the Great Lakes. He also has regulatory and legislative experience with the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and has advised clients regarding lakefront redevelopment plans, Great Lakes public trust issues and submerged land leases.

Other experience highlights include:

• Defend a county and several municipalities from U.S. EPA’s attempt to impose administrative orders for sewer maintenance.
• Represent the Cleveland – Cuyahoga County Port Authority in the litigation that compelled the US Army Corps of Engineers to maintain safe commercial navigation in Cleveland Harbor through timely dredging.
• Defend a municipality in a class action alleging basement backup liability during a flood event.
• Nanotechnology
• NPDES Permits
• Surface and Groundwater Issues
• Consent Decrees
• Water law litigation
• Regulatory and legislative matters
• Brownfields redevelopment
• Alternative Energy

Professional Involvement

• Cuyahoga County, Ohio Loaned Executive for water resources
• Served two terms as chair of the OSBA Environmental Law Committee from 2007 to 2009
• American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy and Resources
• Lakewood Lakefront Coalition, Chairman

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

• “Wet Weather Permitting: You Did It! You’re Finally Reaching the End of Your Long-Term Control Plan. Now What?,” NACWA Legal Conference, November 9, 2023
• “Water Rights and Water Law 101,” CWRU Engineering, October 26, 2023
• “A Changing Landscape: How the Hot Topics in Environmental Law are Shaping Ohio’s Future,” Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference, October 18, 2023
• “Regulatory Update: How the Hot Topics in Environmental Law are Shaping Stormwater,” Ohio Stormwater Association, October 5, 2023
• “Communicating with the Public on Wet Weather Consent Decrees and other water infrastructure programs,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 11, 2023
• “Nutrients: Important issues coming to a Great Lake near you,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 11, 2023
• “Water Law 101” and “Water Law 102”, Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 11, 2023
• Parma Water Summit, March 25, 2023
• “Leveraging Water Assets and Delivery of Efficient Government Services,” Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Staff March 20, 2023
• “The Strong-Arm of the Law: From Narrative to Numeric in Euclid’s Ohio’s NPDES Permit,” NACWA National Clean Water Law and Enforcement Seminar, November 17, 2022
• “Engineering Ethics: a Lawyer’s Perspective,” NESOWEA Supervisors & Ethics Seminar, November 3, 2022
• “Water Rights and Water Law 101,” CWRU Engineering, November 1, 2022
• “Water Law: Headlines and Hot Topics,” OTEC, October 25, 2022
• “Ohio Water Law 101,” OTEC, October 25, 2022
• “NE Ohio Stormwater Overview and Update,” NEOLDA, October 20, 2022
• “Regulatory Update & Emerging Stormwater Issues,’” Ohio Stormwater Association, October 5, 2022
• “Engineering Ethics: a Lawyer’s Perspective,” One Water, July 28, 2022
• “Euclid’s NPDES Permit and New Frontiers in Nutrient Regulation,” One Water, July 28, 2022
• “The Municipal Toolbox: Tools and Legal Strategies for Stormwater Management,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 13, 2022
• “Nutrients, Nutrients, Nutrients!” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 13, 2022
• “Ohio Water Law 102,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 13, 2022
• “Ohio Water Law 101,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 13, 2022
• “Integrated Wet Weather Improvement Plan for Lakewood, Ohio,” April 20, 2022
• “Nutrients and New Frontiers in Clean Water Act Regulation,”
  37th Annual Ohio Environment, Energy and Resources Law Seminar, April 1, 2022
• Parma Water Summit, March 24, 2022
• “Ohio Water Law 101,” Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Annual Partnership Meeting, February 28, 2022
• “Ohio Water Law 102,” Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Annual Partnership Meeting, February 28, 2022
• “Ohio Water Law 102: Basic Legal Issues,” 2021 Stormwater Conference, May 20, 2021
• “Ohio Water Law 101,” 2021 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 20, 2021
• “Ohio Water Law 101,” 2020 Ohio Stormwater Conference, August 27, 2020
• “2019 Infrastructure Funding: How to get it and spend it wisely,” Toledo, September 10, 2019
• “2019 Infrastructure Funding: How to get it and spend it wisely,” Cincinnati, June 25, 2019
• “Ohio Water Law 101,” 2019 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 9, 2019
• “Funding Stormwater Solutions: Legal and Practical Considerations,” 2019 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 9, 2019
• “Who Owns Which Ditch: The Basics of Ohio Ditch Law,” 2019 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 9, 2019
• “2019 Infrastructure Funding: How to get it and spend it wisely,” Cleveland, May 7, 2019
• “2019 Infrastructure Funding: How to get it and spend it wisely,” Canton, April 30, 2019
• “Integrated Wet Weather Improvement Plan for Lakewood, Ohio,” Wet Weather Partnership, April 25, 2019
• “Water Law 101,” Tinker’s Creek Watershed Partners Ethics & Engineering Professional Development Workshop, September 14, 2018
• “Adaptive Management in Ohio,” Wet Weather Partnership, May 17, 2018
• “Clean Water Act: New Developments and Opportunities,” Indiana MS4 Partnership, May 15, 2018
• “Ohio Water Law,” 2018 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 10, 2018
• “Legal Roundtable,” 2018 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 10, 2018
• “Toxic Blobs and Ohio Jobs: Ohio v. USACE and the Future of Lake Erie Dredge Management,” 33rd Annual OSBA Environment, Energy and Resources Law Seminar, April 13, 2018
• “Drinking Water: Public Health Priority,” Moderator, 33rd Annual OSBA Environment, Energy and Resources Law Seminar, April 12, 2018
• “Green Infrastructure and Integrated Planning,” CMBA Environmental Law Institute, December 8, 2017
• “Foundations of Water Law,” Cleveland Division of Water, December 5, 2017
• “Admin Law in its Golden Age-Why Its Currently All the Rage,” NACWA National Clean Water Law Seminar, November 15, 2017
• “Management of Green Infrastructure on Private Property,” with Kevin Campanella of Burgess & Niple, Stormwater Solutions Conference, November 9, 2017
• “Clean Water Act,” Stormwater Solutions Conference, November 9, 2017
• “The Safe Drinking Water Act and Current Trends and Developments in Water Law,” Greater Cincinnati Water Works, November 1, 2017
• “Current Trends and Developments in Water Law,” Cleveland Division of Water, October 31, 2017
• “Ohio Water Law and Clean Water Act 101,” Greater Cincinnati Water Works, October 25, 2017
• “The Safe Drinking Water Act,” Cleveland Division of Water, October 24, 2017
• “Clean Water Act 101,” Cleveland Division of Water, October 17, 2017
• “Ohio Water Law,” Cleveland Division of Water, October 10, 2017
• “Ohio Water Law and Current Trends,” Dayton Society of Professional Engineers, July 13, 2017
• “Changing Water Law: A Local Government Survival Guide,” Northeast Ohio Law Directors Association, June 8, 2017
• “Ohio Water Law: A Primer,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 11, 2017
• “Recent Developments in Environmental Law: Sovereign Immunity,” County Sanitary Engineers Association of Ohio 2016 Winter Conference, December 6, 2016
• “Hot Topics in Environmental Law,” Northeast Section of Ohio Water Environmental Association Supervisors Seminar, November 10, 2016
• “Can the King do Wrong? The State of Sovereign Immunity and Municipal Tort Liability,” NACWA, November 7, 2016
• “Water Law 101 for MWCD Communities,” Ohio Water Law and Community Opportunities for Innovative Water System Management presented by Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and McMahon DeGulis LLP, Canton, October 12, 2016
• “EPA Wet Weather Mandates and Integrated Planning,” Ohio Water Law and Community Opportunities for Innovative Water System Management presented by Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and McMahon DeGulis LLP, Canton, October 12, 2016
• “Water Law 101: Federal Clean Water Act Overview,” Ohio Water Law and Community Opportunities for Innovative Water System Management presented by Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and McMahon DeGulis LLP, New Philadelphia, March 22, 2016
• “EPA Wet Weather Mandates and Integrated Planning,” Ohio Water Law and Community Opportunities for Innovative Water System Management presented by Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and McMahon DeGulis LLP, New Philadelphia, March 22, 2016
• “Ohio Water Law,” 2015 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 7, 2014
• “U.S. EPA’s Integrated Planning Framework,” Lunch Speaker, 2015 Ohio Stormwater Conference, May 7, 2014
• “Maximizing Opportunities for Success: Pursuing Strategies to Optimize Cost-Effective Environmental Outcomes,”  NACWA 2015 Wet Weather Consent Decree Workshop, April 29, 2015
• “Green Infrastructure in Action: Examples, Lessons Learned & Strategies for the Future,” Environmental Law Institute, December 16, 2014.  Transcript: Green Infrastructure in Action: Examples, Lessons Learned, and Strategies for the Future
• “EPA Integrated Planning – What it means for planners,” APA Cleveland Planning and Zoning Workshop, October 24, 2014
• “EPA Integrated Planning – What it means in Lakewood for you,” Lakewood Rocky River Rotary Sunrise Club, October 8, 2014
• “Legal Options for Dealing with Basement Backups,” Ohio Stormwater Conference, June 5, 2014
• “Thinking Outside the Box: Going Beyond the Standard Language,” NACWA Wet Weather Consent Decree Workshop, April 30, 2014
• “Ohio Water Law: Overview of Legal Authority RE: MS4 Program Requirements,” The New Ohio EPA NPDES Permit for Small MS4s-What’s New and How to Get it Done?, NOACA Seminar, April 9, 2014
• “Nanotechnology as an Emerging Source of Litigation,” Panelist, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Litigation Section Meeting, November 20, 2013
• “Integrated Planning and MSDGC’s Lower Mill Creek WWIP Implementation,” NACWA Summer Conference & 43rd Annual Meeting, July 22, 2013

PUBLICATIONS

Lou is also a co-author, with Keely J. O’Bryan, of “Innovative Local Development Leverages EPA’s New Integrated Planning Framework,” published in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal in October 2015.

ACHIEVEMENTS & HONORS

• 2024 Best Lawyers^® “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Environmental in the Cleveland area.
• 2022 Notables in Law, Crain’s Cleveland Business.
• Named by Chambers & Partners as a leading practitioner in Environmental Law in Ohio, 2004-2021.
• 2021 Best Lawyers^® “Lawyer of the Year” for Environmental in the Cleveland area.
• Selected to the 2021 Ohio Super Lawyers list. Only five percent of lawyers in Ohio were selected.
• Nationally recognized in “The Best Lawyers in America” for Environmental Law (since 2008), Environmental Litigation (since 2011) and Water Law (since 2013).
• 2018 Best Lawyers^® “Lawyer of the Year” for Environmental in the Cleveland area.
• 2017 Best Lawyers^® “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Environmental in the Cleveland area.

EDUCATION

Lou received a BA in History, magna cum laude, from John Carroll University, where he was also the Outstanding History Scholar.  He received his MA in History from Kent State University, and a JD, summa cum laude, from Cleveland Marshall College of Law.