Courses

Environmental Law and Environmental Justice

Biography

Benjamin F. Wilson draws his litigation expertise from experience in both the public and private sectors. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Mr. Wilson graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1973 with an A.B. degree in history. While at Dartmouth, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and named both a Rufus Choate Scholar and a Senior Fellow. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1976.

After several years in private practice with the Atlanta, Georgia law firm of King & Spalding, specializing in litigation and tax matters, Mr. Wilson joined the Civil Division of the Department of Justice in 1979. At the Justice Department, he gained substantial trial expertise in commercial litigation matters, appearing on behalf of the government in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of Claims and district courts throughout the United States. While at the Department, he received Special Achievement Awards in recognition of his performance in 1981 and 1982. Prior to joining Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., Mr. Wilson joined the law firm of Rose, Schmidt, Chapman, Duff and Hasley as an associate in 1983. In 1985, he became a partner in the Firm, specializing in civil litigation.

Mr. Wilson joined Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. as a partner in 1986. He has served on the Firm’s Management Committee and has been a past Chairman of the Litigation Practice Group in 1991 and 1992. His present litigation practice as a partner with Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. encompasses a wide range of activities in both state and federal courts, including commercial litigation matters, environmental litigation, employment litigation, and regulatory matters, and trademark infringement matters. He has been lead counsel in several complex commercial and environmental litigation matters for major corporations and developers, including Ashland Inc., AT&T, AT&T Wireless, Bechtel, Black Entertainment Television, Clorox, ExxonMobil, General Mills, Howard University, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Kerr McGee, Norfolk Southern, Occidental Permian, Pitney Bowes and Waste Management. He has also spoken on numerous occasions on various commercial and environmental litigation topics.

Mr. Wilson also has represented a number of cities and local government agencies, including the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, District of Columbia Armory Board; the District of Columbia Sports Commission; the Port of Oakland, California; New Haven, Connecticut; and New Orleans, Louisiana, on Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act enforcement, Superfund and wetlands development matters. He has served as lead counsel on several major environmental litigation matters on behalf of municipalities, which involve construction law claims and disputes. These included lawsuits against manufacturer of heat treatment systems and sludge drying systems for wastewater treatment plants.

Mr. Wilson has served as lead environmental counsel to the District of Columbia Sports Commission on the project to build the new MCI Arena for the Washington Bullets professional basketball team and Washington Capitals professional hockey team. Mr. Wilson also served as lead environmental counsel to the District of Columbia Stadium Armory Board on the proposed football stadium for the Washington Redskins. He has addressed issues related to the siting of the arena, as well as environmental issues related to historic preservation, soil contamination, air, ground traffic, noise, visual impacts and wetlands.

Mr. Wilson is experienced in dealing with cases involving the impact of the filling of wetlands and the obligations to comply with federal and state environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Specifically, he has become involved in both regulatory and litigation issues arising out of the filling of wetlands as part of the expansion of airports and stadium projects. He has served as lead counsel in numerous “Superfund” cases and on environmental audits and assessments pertaining to the sale of corporations and their assets.

Mr. Wilson has represented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) on a wide variety of environmental issues pertaining to the sale and ownership of real property, and on wetlands and Endangered Species Act litigation. He has also served as legal counsel for the FDIC and RTC on several complex commercial litigation matters.

Mr. Wilson has counseled small and developing businesses throughout his career. He has also counseled on a variety of commercial contract matters and negotiated player contracts on behalf of professional athletes.

A member of the bars of Georgia and the District of Columbia, Mr. Wilson is active in the American Bar Association; the National Bar Association, where he has served as Chairman of the Environmental, Energy and Public Utilities Section; and the Washington Bar Association.

Recently, Mr. Wilson was selected to serve on the Policyholders Committee of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Elections and Ethics of the District of Columbia; Co-Chairman of the Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Healthy Babies, Inc.; Chairman of the Board of the Dwight A. Mosley Memorial Fund; was formerly Chairman of the Advisory Board of WAMU public radio; and he has also served on the Boards of Funds for the Community’s Future and the Advisory Board of the National Association for Public Interest Law.