Brian D Israel

Brian D. Israel is the chair of the Environmental Practice Group at Arnold & Porter and is a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C., office. Mr. Israel's practice focuses broadly on environmental litigation and counseling, and he is one of the naton's leading lawyers for Natural Resource Damages (NRD) claims. Mr. Israel is lead counsel to BP in relation to the Deepwater Horizon NRD claim; he was also one of the trial attorneys at the Deepwater Horizon Clean Water Act penalty trial. Mr. Israel represents several Fortune 500 companies in some of the largest and most complex NRD matters across the country. He also represents clients in regulatory enforcement matters and contaminated properties, including toxic tort lawsuits.

Mr. Israel has spoken and written extensively about environmental law issues, including NRD, and he serves as co-chair of the annual NRD conference hosted by Law Seminars International. In 2017, he was recognized as an Energy & Environmental Trailblazer by the National Law Journal. Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Mr. Israel was an honors trial attorney in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he handled several high-profile environmental cases, including a large NRD claim related to the impacts of DDT disposal. In 1998, Mr. Israel was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for his accomplishments in a Clean Air Act jury trial. Mr. Israel received his BA in environmental philosophy from New College, University of South Florida, in 1991, and received his JD from New York University in 1995, where he graduated cum laude.