Arthur J. Harrington

Art Harrington is a shareholder in the firm’s Environmental and Energy Strategies Practice Groups. He has more than twenty five years of experience in environmental and energy legal matters and extensive experience in litigation relating to these practice areas. Art also serves as mediator in environmental disputes.

Art is well-versed in all major state and federal environmental and energy programs. He has authored numerous articles on environmental and energy law and has spoken at more than 70 seminars on environmental and energy topics. Art is a co-author of A Brownfield Primer, a 250-page summary of environmental laws in Wisconsin that impact the redevelopment of contaminated property (published by the University of Wisconsin Law School). He also serves as an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law and Engineering Schools where he teaches renewable energy law courses.

Art has experience in federal and state environmental law, including advising clients on emerging contaminants such as PFAS/PFOS componds as well as representation in important waste water and Clean Air Act permitting. He also represents clients involved in Superfund sites and related insurance issues. He has experience in toxic tort litigation, remediation issues and permitting and enforcement matters involving hazardous waste, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

Art has been appointed by the DNR Secretary to serve as a member of DNR advisory groups regarding recommendations for changes in state environmental laws. These DNR advisory groups include the Air Management Study Group, Phosphorus Advisory Committee, the DNR Brownfield Advisory Committee and the Green Tier Advisory Group. Art is a founding member of the Brownfields Study Group, which was created in 1998 to evaluate Wisconsin’s current brownfields initiatives and recommend changes, as well as propose additional incentives for the cleanup and reuse of abandoned or underused properties with real or perceived former contamination.

Art also serves on the Board of Directors for WI ACES, a trade association devoted to educating members of the public and government about the need for policies and infrastructure to support electric and autonomous vehicles as well as the development of shared mobility services in Wisconsin.

Art also serves as the co-chair of the Public Policy Committee of the Midwest Energy Research Consortium.

Art has represented purchasers and body plant industrial facilities in numerous significant Brownfields transactions including the former Kenosha/Chrysler engine plant, 250 acres of former industrial propoerty located along Lake Michigan in Oak Creek, Wis. and Quad/Graphics/City of West Allis transactions. These transactions are three of the most significant Brownfields transactions that have been subject to the Wisconsin Land Recycling Act. In addition, he has experience in siting renewable energy projects and providing advice to equity investors in independent power projects.

Art has been selected for inclusion in every edition of Best Lawyers in the environmental law category since 1988. He is the inaugural past chair of the Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin and a past president of the Milwaukee Bar Association. He is also the inaugural chair of the Energy/Telecommunications Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin (1998-present). Art is a member of the Milwaukee Bar Association, American Bar Association, State Bar of Wisconsin, Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Federation of Environmental Technologists and Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association. Art has also been recognized by Chambers and Partners as a Band 1 attorney, the highest level of recognition, for the Natural Resources and Environment category in Wisconsin. Clients say: “His strengths are his vast knowledge, calm demeanor and communication skills,” and add that “he also has extreme diligence and great networking skills.”

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Economics, Art received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, and was the note and comment editor for the Wisconsin Law Review.