ROBERT L. GRAHAM, Partner Publications · Professional Activities Chicago Office Office: (312) 923-2785 Fax: (312) 840-7785 Email: rgraham@jenner.com  Add to Outlook Contacts

Robert L. Graham is the founder and Chair of Jenner & Block’s Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law Practice and the co-author of the nationally recognized environmental law textbook, Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, Third Edition (Aspen Publishers, 2004), which is currently in use in many of the nation’s law schools.  Mr. Graham also serves as Co-Chair of Jenner & Block’s Climate and Clean Technology Law Practice.  He is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.

Mr. Graham is a nationally recognized authority in environmental, health, safety, natural resources, and energy matters, including disputes involving the National Environmental Policy Act, Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, natural resource damages, and toxic torts.  Not only did he literally help “write the book” in those areas, but he has also handled numerous cases nationwide involving those types of claims for over 25 years.

Mr. Graham is currently a member of the board of the Environmental Law Institute.  He has also served on the board of advisors of Shepard's Environmental Liability In Commercial Transactions Reporter and chaired bar association committees on environmental law.  He has lectured on matters of environmental concern at numerous conferences and seminars, served as editor of Illinois Environmental Laws and Regulations, and written extensively on environmental law issues.  He also has more than a decade of experience teaching environmental law at both Northwestern University School of Law and Loyola University School of Law.

His environmental and energy law practice has specifically included representation before regulatory agencies, before courts, and among private parties concerning (i) the location, siting, licensing, permitting, and remediation of plants and facilities; (ii) toxic torts and environmental, health, and safety impacts pertaining to industrial, residential, and commercial developments; (iii) the applicability of federal and state statutes to disputes involving the operation and/or sale of businesses and real estate; and (iv) the handling of chemical spills and industrial accidents.  His clients have included Fortune 500 companies, municipalities, park districts, and citizens groups.

In addition to having a comprehensive environmental and energy law practice, Mr. Graham has broad experience in all types of contractual and business tort disputes, RICO and fraud litigation, securities litigation, and litigation involving the legal protection of computer software, trade secrets, and proprietary rights.  He has represented clients in trial, regulatory, and transactional settings before federal and state courts and agencies across the country.  He has also handled appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Illinois Supreme Court, and numerous other federal and state appellate courts.

Mr. Graham’s broad range of experience also extends to civil rights matters.  His cases have involved commercial speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, fair housing, disability rights, criminal procedure, and the death penalty.  He has also represented the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District in cases involving allegations of discrimination in hiring, firing, and compliance with federal court consent decrees.  In addition, he has represented private companies accused of terminating employees wrongfully and in violation of applicable statutes.

Mr. Graham also has extensive experience in class action litigation.  He has successfully defended numerous cases brought as class actions in federal courts throughout the country.  He has also successfully represented plaintiff classes in federal civil rights, RICO, and consumer fraud actions.  He has extensive experience in the enforcement of and the defense of federal consent decrees in class action cases.

For fifteen years, Mr. Graham was a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions in Civil Cases.  He is a former President of the Chicago Council of Lawyers.  He currently is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation.  He has served as a member of the ABA Commission on the Renaissance of Idealism in the Legal Profession.  Mr. Graham is a member of the Executives Club and a Board member of the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Convictions and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.  He also served as the Managing Partner of Jenner & Block from 2000-2004.

Mr. Graham attained his B.A., with highest distinction, from the University of Michigan and was a James B. Angell Scholar.  He attained his J.D from the Harvard Law School.  He is admitted to practice law in Illinois and California.  Mr. Graham has been an attorney with the Firm since 1972.