Michael K. Stagg

Michael Stagg is a partner at Waller Lansden and focuses his practice primarily on the defense of environmental and toxic tort litigation and environmental and natural resources regulatory proceedings. He has extensive experience in environmental policy and law, including compliance counseling related to water, air, and waste issues; environmental auditing; natural resource issues; and real estate and corporate transactions.

Mr. Stagg defends entities against judicial and administrative actions brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC); other federal, state, and local governmental agencies; and citizen and environmental groups under environmental laws and other statutes and regulations. He currently represents a Tennessee county that owns and operates a landfill against lawsuits brought under federal environmental laws by a national environmental advocacy organization. He represented a major electric power producer in a Clean Air Act New Source Review enforcement action brought by EPA, and a large manufacturer against challenges brought by citizens alleging violations of various Clean Air Act permitting requirements. He also represents manufacturers, other commercial entities, and private and public utilities in toxic tort lawsuits alleging negligence, surface and groundwater degradation, air contamination, and personal and property damages. Mr. Stagg represented a natural gas transmission company in a PCB personal injury lawsuit in which the U.S. Supreme Court eventually denied certiorari in favor of the company.

In addition to representing clients in adversarial proceedings, Mr. Stagg provides counsel to companies regarding compliance with federal, state, and local environmental statutes such as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. He regularly represents manufacturers, utilities, developers, railroads, and others in environmental and natural resources permitting matters, which requires working with EPA, TDEC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. He works with companies in developing and implementing corporate environmental policies and practices. He also provides advice on environmental issues that arise in a variety of corporate and real estate transactions. Mr. Stagg assists clients in environmental regulatory and compliance audits and environmental permitting issues. Mr. Stagg also represents clients in administrative proceedings, including contested cases, in front of various state and local administrative agencies, boards, and commissions, including the Tennessee Departments of Commerce and Insurance, Health, Transportation, and Agriculture. Finally, he has experience in Tennessee campaign finance law, historic preservation law, and products liability law.

Mr. Stagg is strongly committed to land and resource conservation in Tennessee. He has worked for many years as a board member of and legal counsel to Historic Rugby, Inc. (HRI), a nonprofit organization based on the northern Cumberland Plateau dedicated to the preservation of the historic English village of Rugby and the conservation of surrounding lands. Through the efforts of HRI and Mr. Stagg, the organization has acquired more than one thousand acres of land using a combination of private donations, a Tennessee Heritage Conservation Trust Fund grant, U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy funds, TDEC funds, and direct sales of land to the State. Through partnership with TDEC, much of the land acquired by HRI is now preserved in the new Rugby State Natural Area. In addition, Mr. Stagg has represented The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee in defending its private property rights in the organization's Shady Valley preserves. He is a supporter of other land-use advocacy groups, including the Land Trust for Tennessee.

Mr. Stagg is a contributing author to The Clean Air Act Handbook, published by the ABA Press in 1997 and 2004 (third edition release pending) and to the ABA's Environment, Energy and Resources Law: The Year in Review for the years 1997 through 2004. He is the editor of and contributing author to the Tennessee Environmental Law Handbook, published in 2001 by Government Institutes. He is the author of various articles, including “State Recovery of Natural Resource Damages for Injury to Surface Water in Tennessee: Coming to a Road Project Near You?,” published in 2009. Mr. Stagg is also the co-author of “EPA Proposes Costly New Stormwater Runoff Requirements at Construction Sites,” published in 2009; “New Source Review: A New Year's Eve to Remember,” which appeared in Natural Resources and the Environment, Volume 18, Number 3, in 2004; “Air Emissions Standards and Guidelines Under the Clean Air Act for the Incineration of Hospital, Medical, and Infectious Waste,” which appeared in Environmental Law, Volume 28, Number 4, in 1998; and “State Environmental Audit Laws Advance Goal of a Cleaner Environment,” which appeared in Natural Resources and the Environment, Volume 11, Number 4, in 1997. Mr. Stagg regularly makes presentations to industry groups and trade associations regarding environmental issues.

Education

• LL.M., Environmental Law, with highest honors, George Washington University Law School, 1998
  • Recipient, Randolph C. Shaw Graduate Fellowship
  • Advisory Editor, The Environmental Lawyer
• J.D., University of Tennessee, 1994
  • Editor-in-Chief, Tennessee Law Review
  • Recipient, Dean's Citation for Extraordinary Contributions to the College of Law
  • Member, Moot Court Board
  • Member, American Inns of Court
  • Member, Phi Delta Phi
• B.S., Natural Resources Management, Colorado State University, 1982
  • President of the Associated Students of Colorado State University
  • Recipient of the Honors Senior Award from the College of Natural Resources
  • Member of Xi Sigma Pi natural resources honor society

Clerkships and Previous Affiliations

• Law Clerk to Hewitt P. Tomlin, Jr., Presiding Judge of the Western Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals
• Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division, United States Department of Justice

Professional Activities

• Member, Environment, Energy, and Resources Section; Litigation Section; and Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section of the American Bar Association
• Member, Environmental and Litigation Sections of the Tennessee Bar Association
• Member, Environmental Law Committee of the Nashville Bar Association
• Member, Federal Bar Association
• Member, Defense Research Institute
• Member, Air & Waste Management Association

Civic and Other Activities

• Member and Secretary, Board of Directors of Historic Rugby, Inc.
• Former Member and President, Board of Directors of Historic Nashville, Inc.
• Former Member and Chairman, Metropolitan Nashville's Board of Property Standards and Appeals
• Former Member, State of Tennessee Board of Examiners in Psychology
• Former Member and Vice President, Board of Directors of First Steps, Inc.
• Former Member, Steering Committee of the American Institute of Architects' Nashville Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team
• Instrumental in formation of Rediscover East!

Court Admissions

• Tennessee State Courts
• United States District Court for the Middle, Western, and Eastern Districts of Tennessee
• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Supreme Court of the United States
• Pro hac vice admissions in various federal and state courts across the United States