Rick McNeil is a partner resident in Irell & Manella LLP's Newport Beach office. He chairs the firm's environmental practice group and co-chairs the firm's land use group. He also has nearly 25 years of experience in environmental and land use law and litigation. In 1984-85, he clerked for the late Honorable Aubrey E. Robinson, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he worked on a major Clean Air Act case involving acid rain.

In his environmental and land use litigation practice, Mr. McNeil has litigated dozens of environmental cost recovery, property damage and personal injury actions, including CERCLA actions, RCRA actions, Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act actions, state common law actions, including toxic tort cases and cases alleging nuisance, trespass and negligence, and environmental criminal matters. He also has extensive experience in land use, planning, zoning, constitutional takings and CEQA litigation, and recently won a case under CEQA challenging the environmental review of a major project proposed in Orange County.  He has represented parties in connection with numerous federal and state Superfund and non-Superfund sites, including the Stringfellow Acid Pits, the Operating Industries, Inc. Site, the Newmark Superfund Site, the Burbank Superfund Site, the Glendale Superfund Site, the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site and several out-of-state sites. In addition, Mr. McNeil has successfully litigated several Proposition 65 cases and several large, multi-site environmental insurance coverage actions on behalf of policyholders. 

In his environmental and land use administrative and counseling practice, Mr. McNeil has represented companies in the aerospace, electronics and high technology, real estate development, oil, chemical, steel, automotive, general manufacturing, waste disposal, health care and printing industries in a wide variety of matters in the air quality, water quality and hazardous waste areas. He regularly appears before and negotiates with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, various Regional Water Quality Control Boards, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California Air Resources Board, the California Coastal Commission, the USEPA and many municipalities and other governmental entities. In addition, Mr. McNeil has represented purchasers and sellers in hundreds of real estate transactions or corporate transactions involving the transfer of real estate and has been involved in many brownsfields projects in California and elsewhere. He also regularly negotiates environmental insurance policies on behalf of policyholders.

Mr. McNeil was named to the Los Angeles Daily Journal’s “Top 20 Lawyers Under 40,” its list of the top 20 California attorneys under 40 years of age.  In addition, Mr. McNeil has been selected for inclusion in Southern California "Super Lawyers" by Los Angeles Magazine every year that the list has been published.

Representative Matters

Representative litigation matters include:

• Defended a landowner in a groundwater pollution case involving releases from several gas stations (resulted in a judgment of nonsuit for the landowner, which was upheld on appeal)
• Defended an automobile manufacturer in a large chlorinated solvent contaminated groundwater case involving federal Superfund and state claims (resulted in a favorable judgment, which was upheld on appeal)
• Defended an oil company against claims brought by a developer of a shopping center involving petroleum contamination of groundwater (successfully settled)
• Defended an aerospace and munitions contractor in a products liability case (won on summary judgment)
• Filed a petition for administrative mandamus against a water district proposing a project that would divert the flow of groundwater currently being captured and remediated by an industrial client (pending)
• Successfully challenged under CEQA a project involving a proposed project by the LADWP at the Stone Canyon Reservoir in Bel-Air
• Defended criminal proceedings against a fertilizer manufacturer for allegedly illegally disposing of hazardous waste (settled with payment of a modest civil penalty and no incarceration)
• Defended criminal proceedings against an aerospace company for allegedly illegally disposing of hazardous waste (settled with payment of modest civil penalty and no incarceration)
• Defended a suit against an asbestos manufacturer brought by the State of California for soil remediation and damages (pending)
• Prosecuted a property damage action against a former property owner and environmental contractor for disposal and exacerbation of hazardous waste (all remediation costs and attorneys’ fees recovered in settlement)
• Defended a chemical company in a toxic tort case (pending)
• Defended a sports and gaming complex racetrack in a Proposition 65 case (settled for $2,500 after successful rulings on post-trial motions)

Representative administrative matters include:

• Defended an enforcement action by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board ("RWQCB") concerning alleged storm water violations for an industrial business adjacent to the Los Angeles River
• Advised a game reserve respecting proposed enforcement by the LA RWQCB for allegedly unauthorized discharges of wastes
• Defended an enforcement action against a precision metal product manufacturer for alleged violations of its NPDES permit to discharge to the Los Angeles River
• Defended corrective action proceedings brought by the Department of Toxic Substances Control against several industrial businesses
• Negotiated acceptable disposal options for contaminated dredge sediments with the Santa Ana RWQCB, the California Coastal Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Advised companies on endangered species and critical habitat issues respecting proposed development
• Provided advice regarding TMDL's development for Upper Newport Bay
• Contested an administrative civil liability issued to an oil company before the Central Coast RWQCB
• Advised builders regarding dewatering and treatment options for contaminated ground water under residential high-rises in Oakland and San Francisco
• Defended a steel company in an Order for Abatement proceeding before the SCAQMD Hearing Board and in a Los Angeles County Superior Court case alleging significant RECLAIM violations
• Defended a furniture manufacturer in an Order for Abatement proceeding before the SCAQMD Hearing Board alleging excessive emissions of toxic air contaminants
• Defended a prefabricated tub and shower manufacturer in an Order for Abatement proceeding before the SCAQMD Hearing Board alleging nuisance violations

Professional Activities

• Mr. McNeil is a member of the American Law Institute, the Litigation and Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Sections of the American Bar Association, the Litigation and Environmental Law Sections of the California State Bar and the Environmental Law and Diversity in the Bar Sections of the Orange County Bar Association. In addition, Mr. McNeil served on the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California Environmental Law Section between 1993 and 1996. Mr. McNeil also is active in promoting diversity within the legal profession and also supports outreach programs for inner-city youth in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

Publications

Mr. McNeil is the author of "Proposition 65, Asbestos and the Real Estate Industry," California Real Property Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 29-34 (Spring 1988)

Seminars & Speeches

• "Environmental Insurance and Other Third Party Risk Transfer Mechanisms," 2001 State Bar Environmental Law Conference, Yosemite, California, October 25 - 27, 2001
• "Managing Known Environmental Issues," sponsored by AIG Insurance and Miller & Associates, Palm Beach, Florida, May 24 – 25, 2001
• "Managing Environmental Issues in Real Estate Lending & Securitization Transactions," sponsored by AIG Insurance and Miller & Associates, Scottsdale, Arizona, October 1 - 3, 2000
• Co-Chair, "California Environmental Trial Academy," State Bar Environmental Law Section, Coronado, California, May 31 - June 2, 1996
• "Swimming Toward A Safe Harbor: EPA's Lender Liability Rule," State Bar of California Environmental Subsection of the Real Property Section, San Diego, California, November 13, 1993
• "Information Lead 1993," California Chapter of the Environmental Information Association, Long Beach, California, August 26, 1993
• "Environmental Regulations and Financing Transactions: Their Impact on Lenders, Borrowers and Regulators," State Bar of California Environmental Subsection of the Real Property Section, Irvine, California, June 4, 1993
• "Environmental Aspects of California Construction Law Issues," Irvine, California, February 2, 1993
• "Environmental Concerns in Real Estate Transactions: The Developer's Perspective," CEB Presentation, Los Angeles, California, October 31, 1992
• "Managing Environmental Concerns: The Corporate Counsel's Perspective," Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California, October 1 and 2, 1992
• "The New EPA Stormwater Regulations," Joint Presentation by Irell & Manella and Hargis and Associates, Marina del Rey, California, July 26, 1991
• "Legal Requirements Under SCAQMD Regulation XV Ridesharing Seminar: Common Legal Concerns," Costa Mesa, California, October 23, 1990
• "Requirements for Publicly Owned Treatment Works," Executive Enterprises Water Quality Regulation Course, San Francisco, California, May 15, 1990
• "Current Developments in Environmental Law," Environmental and Energy Council, Orange County Chamber of Commerce, Santa Ana, California, May 11, 1989
• "Trade Secret Protection," AB2588 Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Seminar, Joint Presentation by Latham & Watkins and McLaren Hart, Universal City, California, April 26, 1989
• "Asbestos Abatement," Hazardous Materials and Water Pollution Subcommittee of the Environmental Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Los Angeles, California, April 14, 1988
• "Proposition 65 and SARA Title III - Interrelationships and Legal Implications," California Aerospace Environmental Association Winter Conference, Long Beach, California, February 17, 1988
• "Environmental Issues For Lenders," Pension and Real Estate Advisors Winter Meeting, Los Angeles, California, February 11, 1988

Bar & Court Admissions

• 1984, California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern California