February 16, 2021
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that David Fotouhi has returned as a partner to the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. After serving for the past three and a half years in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), most recently as Acting General Counsel, Fotouhi has returned to Gibson Dunn and will practice in the areas of environmental litigation and enforcement.
“We are delighted that David has returned to Gibson Dunn,” said Ken Doran, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. “During his tenure at the EPA, David oversaw many of the agency’s high-profile cases and significant rulemakings. Our clients will benefit from the invaluable government experience and enhanced expertise David has gained over the past three and a half years.”
“David is an exceptionally talented lawyer, and we are very pleased to welcome him back to the firm,” said Daniel W. Nelson, Co-Chair of the firm’s Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort Practice Group. “He is a seasoned lawyer with a proven track record at the firm and excellent credentials. And during David’s tenure at the EPA, the agency made major regulatory changes under the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Clean Air Act, including new greenhouse gas regulations. This substantive experience, combined with his technical skills, makes David a very strong addition to our environmental litigation practice.”
“I’m thrilled to return to Gibson Dunn,” said Fotouhi. “As the scope and complexity of environmental challenges facing clients grow by the day, I look forward to helping them respond by broadening the scope of the firm’s offering in environmental litigation and high-stakes enforcement defense.”
About David Fotouhi
Fotouhi’s practice will focus on environmental litigation, including administrative law and regulatory challenges, enforcement defense, cost recovery actions, and mass tort litigation. His practice will also encompass agency rulemakings and adjudications and compliance counseling.
Prior to rejoining the firm, Fotouhi was appointed Acting General Counsel of the EPA in September 2020. In that role, he served as the chief legal officer of the agency, overseeing all areas of the Office of General Counsel and providing counsel to the EPA Administrator on agency rulemaking and policy. He also led development of litigation strategy on all defensive litigation against the EPA. Fotouhi joined the EPA in March 2017 as Deputy General Counsel and was promoted to Principal Deputy General Counsel in October 2018. Previously, he practiced law at Gibson Dunn from 2011 until 2017.
Fotouhi graduated in 2010 from Harvard Law School, where he served as Executive Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. He clerked for Judge Raymond W. Gruender of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.