Recognized as both a “SuperLawyer” and “Lawyer of the Year” for his work as an environmental lawyer, Martin E. His work has included trial, appellate, and administrative proceedings at the local, state and federal levels, including argument before the United States Supreme Court. While serving as Massachusetts’ chief environmental prosecutor for the decade of the 1990s, he led the investigation an
d prosecution of companies for environmental practices that put health and safety at risk. He developed and implemented the state attorney general’s work environment safety initiative. Levin also prosecuted the precedent-setting civil action against General Electric for failure to notify environmental authorities of PCB contamination caused by company wastes used as residential fill. In addition, Mr. Levin drafted the Massachusetts public employee whistleblower protection law, and environmental endangerment law. In private practice, Mr. Levin has continued to provide creative advocacy and thoughtful counsel to businesses, individuals, and public interest advocacy groups. Levin brought the first successful environmental class action in Massachusetts, winning class certification for a thousand homeowners whose properties were contaminated by an oil spill off the Massachusetts coast. He shepherded the case through extensive discovery and motions practice over a period of five years. Levin won jury verdicts for his clients at trial, the defendants agreed to a $12.4 million settlement to compensate the homeowners. Other notable environmental cases have included a federal citizen suit for Clean Water Act violations, Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act challenges, and an appeal on behalf of a company that had suffered an adverse judgment denying compensation for contamination at an industrial site. In addition to his environmental practice, Mr. Levin has handled a variety of complex civil and criminal matters, such as insurance coverage disputes, representing companies and individuals in response to government investigations, and representing individuals in employment actions to recover unpaid wages. Levin serves on the Board of the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (“OSGATA”), is a Senior Fellow with the Council for Responsible Genetics (“CRG”), and is Co-Chair of the Lawyers Committee of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (“MassCOSH”). He has published in a number of professional journals, has taught at Harvard Law School, and has lectured before a variety of business, labor, professional, and academic audiences. He graduated cm laude from Yale College, where he was President of the Yale Debating Association. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School.
