Andrew Thompson is a Partner in the Environmental/Land Use Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP and a member of the Firm’s Sustainability Practice Group.
Mr. Thompson’s practice includes environmental, commercial, and insurance-related litigation in state and federal court, as well as in state administrative court. He has represented and advised clients in connection with a range of environmental and commercial issues, including defending enforcement actions by the U.S. EPA and state environmental agencies, toxic tort litigation, Clean Water Act permitting and compliance, insurance coverage litigation, hazardous waste, Clean Air Act permitting and compliance, groundwater contamination, environmental cleanup and emergency response, and other environmental matters. Mr. Thompson serves as an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Law teaching a course in water law and environmental litigation.
Mr. Thompson is a Board Member for the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at the Emory School of Law, a member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, on the advisory board of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Inc., and is a Class of 2012 graduate of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership.
From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Thompson served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable R. Lanier Anderson III, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Mr. Thompson received his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, in Politics from Wake Forest University in 1994, where he was a Carswell Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1997, he received his J.D., with distinction, from Emory University School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. While at Emory, he served as a Notes and Comments Editor of the Emory Law Journal.
Mr. Thompson is admitted to practice before the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Mr. Thompson’s representative experience includes the following:
Board Member, Turner Environmental Law Clinic, Emory School of Law
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
Alumni Advisor, Emory School of Law’s Environmental Law Society
Advisory Board, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Inc.
Presenter on Clean Water Act Citizen Suits at Georgia State Law School, Environmental Law Course, September 30, 2024, Atlanta, Georgia
Panelist on Clean Water Citizen Suits: Defense Litigation and Settlement Strategies, Strafford Publications On-Line Webinar, June 27, 2023
Panelist on Ethical Issues in Environmental Cases in Administrative Court, Environmental & Administrative Law Sections of State Bar of Georgia, February 28, 2023, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on Strategies for Groundwater Contamination Litigation, Strafford Publications Groundwater Webinar, May 24, 2022
Panelist on Clean Water Citizen Suits: Defense Litigation and Settlement Strategies After Maui Decision, Strafford Publications On-Line Webinar, February 15, 2022
Panelist on Environmental Law Practice, University of Georgia Law School, October 28, 2021, Athens, Georgia
Panelist on Clean Water Citizen Suits: Defense Litigation and Settlement Strategies, Strafford Publications On-Line Webinar, March 23, 2021
Presenter on the Defense of Clean Water Act Citizen Suits at University of Georgia Law School, Environmental Law Course, October 1, 2020, Athens, Georgia
Presenter on Environmental Law Developments at the Consulate of Mexico, November 7, 2019, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on Developments in Federal and Georgia Environmental Law at Engineering Law and Ethics Seminar, September 25, 2019, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on the Defense of Clean Water Act Citizen Suits at Georgia State Law School, Environmental Law Course, November 6, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on the Fundamentals of Water Law at Georgia Tech, Water Resources Planning Course, September 10, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on Techniques for Defending Groundwater Contamination Litigation, Strafford Publications Groundwater Webinar, June 5, 2018
Presenter on Groundwater Permitting, Regulation, and Litigation at Georgia Water Law & Regulation Seminar, September 27, 2017, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on CWA Permit Shield Defense at State Bar of Georgia Environmental Section Seminar, July 24-25, 2015, Hilton Head, South Carolina
Presenter on Negotiating Resolution of CWA Citizen Suits at Georgia Water Law & Regulation Seminar, February 27, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia
Presenter on Recent CWA Federal Court Cases at Georgia Water Law & Regulation Seminar, March 19, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia
Featured in “Advocates for a Sustainable World,” Emory Lawyer Magazine, Summer 2014
“The Anatomy of a Groundwater Contamination Case,” In-House Defense Quarterly, Summer 2012
“The Sophisticated User Defense: It’s Not Just For Drug Companies Anymore,” Georgia Bar Journal, February 2012, Volume 17, Number 5
Consulting Firm Conducting Environmental Testing Not Liable For Not Reporting Exceedances
Property Owner’s Refusal to Allow Clean Up Could Lead to RCRA Liability
“A Win-Win For Environment, Economy,” Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 10, 2011
