Richard A. "Rick" Horder

Rick Horder has engaged in the practice of environmental law and litigation for nearly forty years. As an Assistant United States Attorney from 1974 to 1977, he represented the U.S. EPA in numerous water and NEPA cases. From 1978 to 1989, he was Regional Counsel, and later Associate General Counsel, for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, where he was responsible for all environmental and toxic tort compliance and litigation company-wide. In 1989, he joined Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, a large Atlanta law firm, where he served as head of the Environmental, Land Use, and Natural Resources Practice Team in Atlanta.

Rick has had extensive experience in environmental litigation, as well as environmental enforcement, permitting, compliance and counseling. Among his areas of focus are the Clean Water Act, with particular emphasis on wetlands and jurisdictional waters, RCRA, CERCLA, EPCRA, the Endangered Species Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act.

His litigation experience includes cases involving all of those areas, and also asbestos, formaldehyde, PCBs, dioxin and other highly regulated substances. He has handled a large variety of toxic tort personal injury matters and represented clients in citizen suits and agency enforcement actions, particularly under the Clean Water Act, as well as suits seeking compensation for natural resources damages and property contamination. He has also been involved in numerous ADR matters, both as a client representative and as a mediator/arbitrator.

Representative Experience:

• Represented an owner whose property was contaminated by an off-site release of PCBs and solvents. The case went to trial in federal district court, resulting in a $20 million judgment for the owner.
• Represented the owner of a dry-cleaning supply business in Fulton County, Georgia, against a property owner’s $10 million claim that dry cleaning solvents had contaminated the property. The case was ultimately resolved for a minimal amount.
• Successfully defended numerous dioxin litigation matters, including a large class action in Mississippi alleging property damage to riparian owners as a result of dioxin contamination from NPDES-permitted discharges. In the same matter, successfully negotiated with insurance carriers for coverage of the costs of defense and settlement.
• Responsible for overseeing defense of a class action of over one million individuals in the Baton Rouge/New Orleans corridor alleging personal injury for exposure to drinking water contaminated with phenol from an NPDES-permitted discharge. The class was certified and litigation lasted approximately nine years, resulting in a favorable settlement. Again, successfully negotiated with insurers for coverage of defense and indemnity costs, and supervised litigation against the non-settling carriers.
• Participated on behalf of a PRP group in a claim brought by the State of Michigan and the United States involving remediation of 57 miles of the Kalamazoo River due to PCB contamination.
• One of two primary outside counsel for a multi-defendant, global environmental insurance coverage litigation for a Fortune 100 corporation against 18 primary and excess carriers. Involved in all phases of discovery, motions and argument, resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement for client.
• Represented a large petroleum marketer and convenience store operator in the sale of over 100 locations, favorably allocating environmental liabilities between the client and purchaser.
• Represented the City of Atlanta in a multi-billion suit by a citizen group, U.S. EPA, and the State of Georgia arising out of alleged violations of the Clean Water Act from the City’s POTWs and CSOs. Successfully negotiated a favorable consent decree.