Meet Nick

As for background, I left a downtown Indianapolis firm in 2014 to advance my professional pursuits and gain a better work-life balance (my son was born just 2 months later). My entire legal practice has been in the environmental arena, and more specifically, it’s been focused on navigating clients from discovery of contamination to final cleanup. As part of my bailiwick, I secure third-party funding sources to pay for the environmental investigation, remediation, and legal fees. I pursue responsible parties, tap insurance policies, seek reimbursement from the Excess Liability Trust Fund, and maximize assistance from federal, state, and local grants, including Indiana’s Brownfield Program.

Every day I work with IDEM, and I have for a decade. I make phone calls rather than write lengthy, formal letters. I manage sites from start to finish with the philosophy that it is critical to set the goal first and then devise the strategy. I remain proactive in moving the matter.

I close transactions involving known or suspected contaminated properties at least monthly, and I am engaged in both federal and state litigation on environmental claims. I have even argued in front of the Indiana Supreme Court. Because of my work, I have been recognized as a Super Lawyer every year since 2012.  I have sites in nearly every county across the entire state, and with all types of chemicals in soil, groundwater, and air.

I represent municipalities, businesses, and individuals on environmental matters, responsible parties and those impacted by releases, landowners and tenants, and dry cleaning operators and factory owners. From power plants and Fortune 500 companies, to a widow with a vacant corner gas station lot. They come to me because environmental strategy is what I do.

Finally, my educational background is summarized as president of Pike High School in Indianapolis, graduating magna cum laude from Notre Dame with dual major in psychology and German, and then cum laude from IU Bloomington law school (where my coursework was largely environmental law). In between Notre Dame and law school, I worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including with the Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia and then with the white-collar crime squad from the Indy office.

10 Facts About Nick

1. Nick held top secret clearance while working for the FBI (yes, it included a polygraph)
2. If he wasn’t an attorney, Nick would be an NFL referee
3. He enjoys snowboarding, soccer, and mowing the grass
4. Nick is currently learning to play piano with his daughter
5. A charity of choice is the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, Indiana
6. His favorite early job was at Mallow Run Winery
7. Nick once lived in Austria and speaks German
8. He met his wife, Jessica, on the first day of law school
9. At age 17, Nick wrestled a burglar and held him until the police arrived
10. Saturdays start with pancakes and coffee