Leslie Ritts

Leslie RittsLeslie Ritts has practiced environmental law for more than 30 years and is recognized as a national expert on the Clean Air Act, having appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in roughly 50 Clean Air Act cases. Her practice extends well beyond the Clean Air Act to other areas related to environmental compliance, including the following:

  • Clean Water Act and wetlands
  • Coastal and freshwater wetlands permitting
  • Superfund clean-ups in the Conservation Chemical and New Bedford Harbor cases
  • FIFRA registrations and suspensions
  • TSCA and REACH in the European Union

Ritts has written on hazardous air pollutants and toxic torts. She also represented EPA offices in litigation arising out of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Ritts Law Group, PLLC

The Ritts Law Group, PLLC, in Alexandria, Virginia was founded in 2007. Before opening her own practice, she was an equity partner at Hogan & Hartson, LLP, in Washington, D.C.for 13 years. She received her legal training as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Washington, D.C. under the tutelage of John Quarles, EPA’s first General Counsel. During the early 1980s, she served as a senior lawyer at the Environmental Law Institute, located in Washington, D.C., where her principal client was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She regularly speaks and writes on national environmental topics, most recently co-authoring the ABA’s Clean Air Act Manual chapter on hazardous air pollutants.

Court Admissions & Professional Associations

Ms. Ritts  is a licensed member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars.

She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, several United States Courts of Appeals, and several federal district and state courts.

She has served on the Federal Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, and participated in two of its subcommittees, the New Source Review Simplification Subcommittee and the Operating Permit Subcommittee.

Registered Lobbyist

A registered lobbyist, Leslie has been heavily involved in legislative activities in U.S. Congress affecting core environmental laws over the last two decades. In addition to representations of several national manufacturing trade associations, she served as Chairman of the Air & Waste Management Association’s (AWMA) Government Affairs Committee from 1993-1996 advising AWMA on public policy issues affecting the 17,000 member professional association.

Leslie is the author or co-author of many articles on environmental topics. She also speaks regularly at national legal and environmental professional conferences on environmental law issues.

Education

  • The College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, Williamsburg, Virginia
    • J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence – 1980
    • National Winner of the American Trial Lawyers Assn. Environmental Essay Contest
    • Editor, Environmental Practice News (now the William & Mary Journal of Environmental Law)
  • Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
    • A.B., Bachelor of Arts cum laude – 1977
    • Certificate in Sciences in Human Affairs (Civil engineering, Geology & Political Science)