Vicki J. Wright

Vicki Wright represents multi-national and Fortune 500 companies as well as mid-west based businesses involved in environmental, health and safety issues as well as products liability and toxic tort matters; whether from a compliance, enforcement or litigation perspective. She works proactively with clients in addressing greenhouse gas and climate change issues, alternative energy sources, waste management, OSHA and manufacturing/construction regulatory compliance.  Ms. Wright has handled a variety of matters including product recalls, environmental legacy disputes, Brownfields Redevelopment concerns, and a myriad of toxic exposure cases.  She has represented clients in self-disclosures and compliance proceedings before Federal and State agencies.  She has worked on cases in various state, federal and local settings and courts as well as with state and federal agencies.  Ms. Wright has coordinated and effectuated the obtaining, transferring and compliance as to environmental aspects of public/private infrastructure transactions and environmental and resource problems. Ms. Wright is often asked to negotiate complex disputes and address professional responsibility concerns.  She chairs the Firm's Professional Standards Committee and holds leadership roles in the Indiana State Bar Association and American Bar Association.

Representative Experience

• Effectuated the due diligence and transfer of over 100 permitted or regulated environmental activities for the operation of a public road
• Has handled a myriad of CERCLA and RCRA cases including indemnification claims (litigation, prp groups, technical committees)
• Resolved significant Clean Air Act violations for an international company through a Federal and State audit and self disclosure process
• Negotiated a municipality's combined sewer overflow long term control plan to judicial and agency resolution
• Resolved to completion legacy liability toxic exposure and contract requirements under a significant government contract with a Federal Agency
• Provided regulatory compliance advice and programs for various refinery operations located in Northwest Indiana

Education

• Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, Indiana (J.D., 1998)
• Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana (B.A., 1982)
• University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas (1992)
  • Kansas City, Missouri, Paralegal Certificate

Bar Admissions

• Indiana
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Professional Associations

• American Bar Foundation (Fellow)
• American Bar Association - Section of Environment, Energy & Resources: 2010 (Member - Book Publishing Board and Governance Committee), 2009 (Chair- Fall Meeting, Baltimore, MD), 2006 – 2009 (Council), 2004 – 2007 (Education Services Group), 2005 – 2007 (Chair - Quick Teleconference Committee, Special Liaison to Environmental Ethics Committee), 2005-2007, (Fall Meeting Planning Committee), 2005 – 2008 (Strategic Planning Committee, Strategic Response Committee), 2004 – 2005 (Planning Committee - Eastern Water Law Conference, Environmental Awards Selection Committee, Chair - Ethics Committee), 2002 – 2004 (Vice Chair - Ethics Committee)
• Indiana State Bar Association, 2004 – Present (Ethics Committee), 2007-2009 (Chair, Ethics Committee),  2006 – 2007 (Vice Chair - Ethics Committee)
• Indianapolis Bar Association – Environmental Section, 2005 – Present (Member, Executive Committee)
• Center for Professional Responsibility (Member)
• American Bar Association, “Earth Force” Project (Sponsor/Mentor, In-House Counsel Committee)
• ABA-SEER Katrina Special Task Force (Member)

Awards and Recognitions

• Who’s Who Legal USA: Environment 2006, 2007
• 2005 Public Service Recognition Award, ABA-SEER

Seminars and Presentations

• "Honor and Respect: A Professional Responsibility?" Moderator, ABA-SEER Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, September 18, 2008
• "Ethics Top Ten: Lay Cases and Discussion on Professional Responsibility", Indianapolis Bar Association, December 11, 2008
• Faculty, “The Lawyer’s Role Throughout the Life of an Indiana Business; Ethics Issues for Business Attorneys”, December 14, 2007, ICLEF
• Adjunct Faculty, Indiana University School of Law
• "When and How, if ever, is it Appropriate for the Government to Insist upon Waiver of Attorney Client Privilege in Environmental Enforcement Investigations? What Comes Next?", Panelist, ABA-SEER Meeting, Keystone, CO, March 2006
• "Digital Dangers: The Brave New (Ethical) World of Identification, Preservation and Collection of Electronic and Other Evidence", Moderator, ABA-SEER Meeting, Nashville, TN, September 24, 2005
• "The ABA Attorney Client Privilege Special Task Force: Important Issues Facing the Environment, Energy & Resources Lawyer", Moderator, Quick Teleconference, ABA-SEER, March 30, 2005
• "Faculty, New Ethics Rules", ICLEF, South Bend, March 18, 2005
• “Ethical Obligations in Alternative Dispute Resolution: Don’t guess what these are or aren’t....”,  Moderator and Panelist, 34th Annual Conference on Environmental Law, Keystone, Colorado, March 13, 2005
• "Multijurisdictional Practice-Unauthorized Practice of Law...Today", Presenter, Indianapolis Bar Association, December 2, 2004
• "Ethics Year in Review Applied to Environment, Energy and Resources Law", Moderator, ABA-CLE, ABA-CPR, ABA-SEER, December 1, 2004
• "An Ethical Storm: Corporate Disclosure Obligations Bring Together Ethical Codes of Conduct, Sarbanes-Oxley and Global Warming (including a case study involving the petroleum industry)", Moderator, 12th Section Fall Meeting, ABA-SEER, San Antonio, Texas, October 9, 2004
• "Disclosing Environmental Liabilities: What to do when EHS and Financial Reporting Issues Intersect", Panelist, 97th Annual Air and Waste Management Association Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana, June 25, 2004
• "MJP and Environmental Practice", Moderator, Quick Teleconference, ABA-SEER, June 15, 2004
• "Who’s the Client? Which Public is the Client? Disclosure and Advice to and From the Government", Moderator and Panelist, Eastern Water Law Conference, ABA-SEER, Hollywood, Florida, May 7, 2004
• "Professionalism Intertwined: A Comparative Evaluation, Moderator, 33rd Annual Conference on Environmental Law", ABA-SEER, Keystone, Colorado, March 14, 2004

Publications

• "The Attorney Client Privilege: the Burdened Privilege", Trends, Spring 2006
• "Ethics and the Attorney Client Privilege", So Twentieth Century, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, 51 Rocky Mtn. Min. L. IN. 55 4-1 (2005) (presented at the June 2005 conference)
• "The Confidences of Our Clients - What is the Current Status of the Attorney-Client Privilege?", Indiana State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Spring 2005
• "Ethical Considerations and Advisory Committees, Eastern Water Resources Conference, Section of Environment", Energy & Resources, ABA, May 2004
• "The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Act: Will It Help?", Indiana Manufacturers Association, April 2002