Earth & Water Law LLC is pleased to announce that eight of our attorneys have been recognized in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. The attorneys are recognized across a range of environmental, energy, administrative and regulatory, litigation, and insurance practice areas.
This recognition is distinct from Best Law Firms®, which recognizes law firms rather than individual attorneys. E&W was previously recognized in the 2026 Best Law Firms® rankings for multiple environmental, energy, insurance, and administrative law practice areas.
2027 Best Lawyers Recognitions
Charles S. Carter
Charles S. Carter has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2005. This year, he is recognized for his work in Environmental Law in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Charlie advises clients on environmental regulatory and litigation matters involving permitting, rulemaking, compliance, and enforcement, drawing on nearly a decade of service in senior legal and policy roles at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Charles D. Case
Charles D. Case has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 1989. For 2027, he is recognized for four practice areas in Washington, D.C.:
- Administrative / Regulatory Law
- Energy Regulatory Law
- Environmental Law
- Litigation – Environmental
Charles represents businesses, industry associations, educational institutions, and governmental entities on complex environmental compliance, regulatory, permitting, remediation, and enforcement matters.
Tammy L. Helminski
Tammy L. Helminski has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2016. This year, she is recognized for her work in Environmental Law in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Tammy advises corporations, trade associations, municipalities, and other regulated parties on environmental compliance and remediation, with experience addressing emerging contaminants such as PFAS and environmental regulatory matters at the state and federal levels.
Leonard A. Miller
Leonard A. Miller has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2006. For 2027, he is recognized for two practice areas in Washington, D.C.:
- Environmental Law
- Litigation – Environmental
A pioneer in environmental law, Len helped establish the framework for modern federal air and water pollution regulation during his 12 years with the EPA and has since advised major corporations, startups, and industry clients on environmental regulation, enforcement, and chemical-sector matters.
David Montgomery Moore
David Montgomery Moore has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2025. This year, he is recognized for his work in Energy Law in Ellijay, Georgia.
David represents businesses in complex environmental and energy regulatory matters, government investigations, permitting, and litigation, drawing on his former service with the EPA and extensive experience with water, stormwater, and infrastructure development issues.
Lindene Patton
Lindene Patton has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2021. For 2027, she is recognized for Insurance Law in Washington, D.C.
Lindene brings extensive experience at the intersection of law, science, technology, and business, advising clients on insurance, risk management, climate-related risks, sustainability, resilience, and complex litigation and recovery matters.
Paul C. Sarahan
Paul C. Sarahan has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2016. This year, he is recognized for two practice areas in Austin, Texas:
- Environmental Law
- Litigation – Environmental
Paul focuses on complex environmental, infrastructure, utility, and transportation matters. His practice includes permitting, remediation, enforcement defense, environmental auditing, regulatory counseling, litigation, and transactional support, and is grounded in more than three decades of experience, including his former role as Director of the Litigation Division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Mary Ellen Ternes
Mary Ellen Ternes has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2007. For 2027, she is recognized for three practice areas in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:
- Administrative / Regulatory Law
- Environmental Law
- Litigation – Environmental
In addition, Mary Ellen has again been named the 2027 Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” for Administrative / Regulatory Law in Oklahoma City. The “Lawyer of the Year” distinction is awarded to a single lawyer in each practice area and metropolitan area who receives the highest overall peer feedback. She received this recognition previously in 2026, 2023, 2020, 2019, 2016, and 2011.
Mary Ellen combines more than 40 years of experience in chemical engineering and environmental law with extensive experience at EPA and in industry, advising clients on complex regulatory, transactional, remediation, and litigation matters involving energy, manufacturing, air quality, hazardous waste, infrastructure, and emerging environmental issues.
About Best Lawyers Peer-Reviewed Recognitions
Best Lawyers’ peer-review methodology makes these individual recognitions especially meaningful. The organization’s process includes confidential evaluations from lawyers practicing in the same geographic and practice-area communities, with recognition based on the feedback received through that process.
E&W is proud to celebrate Charles Carter, Charles Case, Tammy Helminski, Leonard Miller, David Moore, Lindene Patton, Paul Sarahan, and Mary Ellen Ternes for their continued recognition by their peers and their contributions to the legal profession
