Brad Marten has a great job, running one of the largest environmental law firms in Washington. But first he had to invent it. Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Marten came to Seattle for a judicial clerkship. Afterwards, he took a job as the 49th lawyer at Preston Thorgrimson Ellis & Holman (now 1,500-lawyer K&L Gates).
Love Canal and other high-profile environmental disasters had given Marten an interest in environmental law. But instead, he says, “They assigned me to the foreclosure department.” His first task was to bring a foreclosure action against the owner of a mobile home. Having grown up in a family closer to the family being evicted than to the bank, he couldn’t do it. “I figured I would last about three months at the firm if I didn’t find something else to do.”
So Marten told any partner who would listen about the new environmental laws and about how they would have a big impact on the way business was done. At one point, he got a shopping bag, filled it with the household cleaners under his sink and brought them to work. He spread them all out on a conference table and invited people to his first hazardous waste seminar.
“I think they thought I was crazy or at least wanted to know ‘Who was this kid?’” he says. “Looking back, I really appreciate how tolerant the partners were. Most people would’ve been fired for all of this. I think they thought I’d eventually get over it and go back to doing foreclosures.”
But there was one partner, Tom Allison, who was paying some attention. He had gotten a call from Gerry Grinstein, then CEO of Western Airlines. The company had gotten a notice about a leaking underground tank in Los Angeles and needed a lawyer to help them respond. Did anyone at the firm know anything about environmental laws?
Allison remembered the kid with the pesticides on the conference table and figured, “Why don’t we send the kid?” Marten was shipped down to LA, alone, to figure out what to do.
“That’s how I started,” he recalls. “K&L Gates is a great firm. They taught me to encourage lawyers to do what they love.”
As the practice grew, Marten and his partners got a lot more calls and together they eventually built one of the largest environmental practice groups in town.
“I’ve always had great partners,” says Marten. “There are just terrific people in this field — smart, dedicated and passionate about what they do.”
Marten went on to work on high-profile cases, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and worked on many of the largest and most complex environmental issues facing the region. He later left K&L Gates and joined with a friend, Rod Brown, to open an office for San Francisco-based Morrison & Foerster, and the two eventually opened their own “environmental boutique.”
Over the years — Marten has now been practicing environmental law for more than 25 years — Marten has earned a reputation not only as a lawyer, but as a law firm entrepreneur. He has had successes and failures, and is equally proud of both.
“Nobody who has succeeded has never failed,” says Marten, and lists some of his favorite gaffes. “For a while, we were issuing stock options to our lawyers,” he recalls. “It was a disaster, but we did get an article in Business Week.”
He sees many parallels between the environmental, political and economical landscape he encountered coming out of law school and the opportunities and challenges that new environmental lawyers currently face, with one issue looming large above all — climate change.
“This is simply the most exciting time there has ever been to be an environmental lawyer,” he says. “And it’s just starting to get interesting.”
Marten, who has a Masters degree in international relations from Yale, calls climate change “the first international environmental issue. I think most people now see that climate change and other environmental issues are about the economy and national security.”
“Look, we were all astonished three months ago when oil prices were about to hit $100 a barrel. Now it’s $115,” he says. “People are rioting in places like Haiti and in South America because the crops they depend on are going to produce fuel, not food. Anyone who thinks alternative energy is a fad or a luxury, needs to think again.
“It’s clear that we’ve got to reduce dependence not just on foreign energy, but energy in general. We’ll have to invest in and develop alternative sources and focus on efficiency — the health of the U.S. economy will turn on our success in doing that.”
Marten believes companies must be prepared to do business in a rapidly changing regulatory and competitive environment. The “first wave” of environmental laws took 10 to 15 years to develop, while current policy developments are measured in months or even weeks.
For example, when Marten and his firm helped put together the first regional climate change conference at the University of Washington School of Law just a year ago, only one state had a comprehensive climate change policy on the books — now there are dozens. The term “cap and trade” was not in the lexicon and the notion of mandated fuel economy standards and mandated renewable fuel requirements was confined to two or three states. Now, nearly every state has adopted or is considering legislation that will change how we use energy and the mix of energy we use.
Marten sees almost unlimited potential — for his clients and for law firms — to profit from this sea change. And, in typical fashion, he is gearing up.
“Climate change is an overlay issue — it impacts every area of law and business,” Marten says. “If you are a land-use lawyer, in addition to permitting server farms, you are going to be permitting wind farms. If you are a forest products company, you are in the energy business, not just the timber business.
“We’ll see new opportunities for intellectual property lawyers, protecting the entrepreneurs developing alternative energy projects; for real estate lawyers helping to build greener buildings and communities; for commercial lawyers and banking lawyers who are going to be negotiating and documenting carbon trades; really, for just about everyone in the commercial and public law fields and their clients.”
As a business owner himself, Marten has to “walk the talk” when it comes to addressing climate change. The firm has been recognized as a national leader by the EPA and the ABA in reducing waste and in energy efficiency. The firm has a half-time “sustainability director” who oversees its program. It is looking at opportunities, for example, to produce solar power on the deck outside its offices in the Safeco Center and meter the power back to the utility.
Marten strongly encourages his firm’s lawyers to stay up-to-date. “If I were a young lawyer, I would jump into this field,” he says. “Climate change is going to impact our environment, the economy and our society as a whole. There is a lot of discouragement among young lawyers because they work on issues that are not important to them. We encourage our lawyers to invest their time and energy into what matters to them.”
It’s clear that Marten works to surround himself with fellow “kids” of the world, who will pick up the torch and run with it.
“People ask, ‘What should I do?’ and I tell them, ‘It’s up to you! What are you interested in and why aren’t you doing it?’ Better get going.’” It’s a message we can all take to heart.
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