"A broad perspective on business and legal issues"
David L. Bell, Esq.
Position: Senior Advisor
Office: Cleveland, OH
Email: david@pilko.com
Phone: 216-513-1041
Fax: 216-932-6962
Biography
“The bulk of what I do is legal,” says Dave Bell, “but the most important part is figuring out exactly what the client’s problem consists of. Sometimes the solution to a legal problem is actually a solution to a practical business problem.” Dave cites an example from the days when Material Safety Data Sheets were first required by regulation. The client wanted new contracts (with penalties) that would require suppliers to provide the Sheets, but Dave helped them realize that the sheer volume of business they did with their suppliers provided sufficient leverage to ensure that the suppliers would comply with the regulations. “That saved them from having to redo a bunch of contracts,” he says, “and it also saved them from the exposure of renegotiating.”
Dave credits this kind of practical approach for his success. “What I find the most satisfying,” he says, “is developing client relationships where we trust each other and I’m able to help the client get their problems solved.”
Dave’s interest in law surfaced while he was a chemistry major at Case Western – he liked “the idea of being able to use analytical passion to change outcomes.”
His passion for analysis and law paid off in big ways for his career employer, BP Inc. In one of his most challenging cases, the neighbors of a BP chemical plant filed a billion-dollar class action suit related to hazardous waste disposal. “I was able to turn down the panic button up front,” he says. “A lot of technical information had to be absorbed and distilled to figure out a successful trial strategy – and how we’d tell our story in ways that would play well in the media.” BP won in the court of law and the court of public opinion.
Dave’s “most fun” case was an oil spill offshore Southern California about a year after the Exxon Valdez. “The media and regulatory attention was intense,” he relates, “and the chance to put together a world-class spill response, going from 0 to 60 in a nanosecond, was exhilarating. One of the things I’ve learned in the practice of law is that success has as much to do with predicting the reactions of the public and the regulators as anything else you do. You have to be focused not just on legal analysis, but on how you’ll assemble the facts that will be the story. That’s the creative side, projecting yourself forward to look back at the story.”
Asked about his “ecological niche” at Pilko, Dave stresses his integrative approach. “Because I’ve been a generalist, I’m able to bring expertise from several different directions,” he says. “I know a little bit about many different things, so I am able to figure out what questions to ask.”
When he’s not asking questions and helping clients solve problems, Dave enjoys playing his guitar and singing (he confesses to being a Paul Simon/Leo Kottke wannabe). He and his wife have three post-college children and a cottage on a beach in Michigan where they can watch the sunset.
Dave credits this kind of practical approach for his success. “What I find the most satisfying,” he says, “is developing client relationships where we trust each other and I’m able to help the client get their problems solved.”
Dave’s interest in law surfaced while he was a chemistry major at Case Western – he liked “the idea of being able to use analytical passion to change outcomes.”
His passion for analysis and law paid off in big ways for his career employer, BP Inc. In one of his most challenging cases, the neighbors of a BP chemical plant filed a billion-dollar class action suit related to hazardous waste disposal. “I was able to turn down the panic button up front,” he says. “A lot of technical information had to be absorbed and distilled to figure out a successful trial strategy – and how we’d tell our story in ways that would play well in the media.” BP won in the court of law and the court of public opinion.
Dave’s “most fun” case was an oil spill offshore Southern California about a year after the Exxon Valdez. “The media and regulatory attention was intense,” he relates, “and the chance to put together a world-class spill response, going from 0 to 60 in a nanosecond, was exhilarating. One of the things I’ve learned in the practice of law is that success has as much to do with predicting the reactions of the public and the regulators as anything else you do. You have to be focused not just on legal analysis, but on how you’ll assemble the facts that will be the story. That’s the creative side, projecting yourself forward to look back at the story.”
Asked about his “ecological niche” at Pilko, Dave stresses his integrative approach. “Because I’ve been a generalist, I’m able to bring expertise from several different directions,” he says. “I know a little bit about many different things, so I am able to figure out what questions to ask.”
When he’s not asking questions and helping clients solve problems, Dave enjoys playing his guitar and singing (he confesses to being a Paul Simon/Leo Kottke wannabe). He and his wife have three post-college children and a cottage on a beach in Michigan where they can watch the sunset.
Work Experience:
Environmental consulting practice – January 2004 to present:
- Counsel national clients regarding compliance, permitting, remediation and acquisition/divestment.
- Advise clients regarding implementation of US EPA Refinery Enforcement Initiative consent decree.
- Counsel clients regarding environmental risk transfer transactions, including development of a decision framework to evaluate the suitability of sites for risk transfer.
- Draft and negotiate agreements; resolve contract disputes.
Selected Projects
- Pioneered company-wide refinery-air enforcement settlement, the first of its kind, which established a constructive relationship with the regulatory agency and defined compliance requirements that were tailored to company’s business plan. The resulting half-billion dollar consent decree established an industry pattern that is used by 90% of refiners today.
- Achieved complete court and appellate victories as well as supportive media coverage in defending BP against a billion-dollar class-action case in which plaintiffs in the neighborhood of a BP chemical plant charged that disposal of hazardous waste in a half-mile-deep injection well compromised their ability to use their property.
- Saved “tens of millions” of dollars by negotiating a large-scale insurance-backed remediation remedy that helped separate the company from potentially extreme remediation costs at a Superfund project.
- Recovered substantial proceeds from environmental insurance by leading a team that prepared a company-wide claim and negotiated a successful resolution without filing suit. This approach – perhaps the first time in the industry that such claims were resolved without filing suit – far exceeded the expectations of the company’s insurance experts.
- Procured, adapted and implemented the BP Law Department’s case management system. Ensured training, monitored implementation, and drove adjustments as needed.
- Resolved numerous allocation and remedial design disputes at remediation sites, minimizing transaction costs and maximizing the flexibility of company to implement agreed outcomes.
- Counseled clients regarding a broad range of enforcement, compliance and planning issues arising under state and federal versions of Clean Air Act, RCRA, CERCLA, SARA Title II, TSCA, NEPA, Hazard Communication Standard, and OSHA Safety Management Rule.
- Advised corporation concerning maintenance of separate remediation subsidiary, as part of liability management strategy.
- Supervised outside counsel in occasional enforcement cases, regulatory challenges, and in defense of third-party claims.
- Provided counseling for remediation of spills and groundwater contamination.
- Conducted intensive hazardous waste compliance review of all potential waste streams at a major integrated chemical facility.
- Served on the Corporate Crisis Management Team, and participated in major spill responses.
- Counseled corporate environmental and major risk audit functions and conducted the privileged portion of audits.
- Advise U.K.-based parent corporation on adoption of international environmental policies.
- Conducted due diligence and negotiated environmental matters incidental to acquisitions/divestments, and resolved contract disputes associated with such transactions.
- Negotiated toxicology testing agreements, and counseled businesses regarding product stewardship and product liability exposure.
- Served as chief counsel for the Remediation Management function, and provided strategic and operational legal advice as part of management team.
- Exercised primary responsibility for environmental, health and safety legal matters for the $35-billion U.S. arm of BP. Businesses included oil exploration, refining, distribution and marketing, chemicals, mining and industrial products.
- Counseled business units and the corporation regarding broad range of compliance and planning issues arising under environmental laws.
- Chaired legal committee for the AN Group, a trade association for producers and users of acrylonitrile (1985-2003).
- Chaired the Subcommittee on Environmental and Health Law, American Petroleum Institute, 1989-90 (vice chair, 1987-88).
- Occasional speaker at CLE conferences.
- Emphasis on environmental law practice.
- Drafting and assisting multiple corporate transactions.
- Responsible for general representation of small corporate client.
- Case Western Reserve University Law School, J.D.: Order of the Coif, Moot Court, Dow Chemical Patent Law Scholarship
- CWRU, B.S. cum Laude, Chemistry
Ohio; U.S. District Court; Sixth Circuit
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Testimonials
"The people behind the firm make the face of the firm, and Pilko is outstanding."
--Chairman of the Board of Management, Large European Chemical Company