JAMES A. VROMAN, Partner Publications · Professional Activities Chicago Office Office: (312) 923-2836 Fax: (312) 840-7236 Email: jvroman@jenner.com  Add to Outlook Contacts

James A. Vroman is a partner in Jenner & Block’s Chicago office.  He is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Practice.  Mr. Vroman is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.

Mr. Vroman has been practicing law since 1977 and since 1986 has concentrated his practice on environmental law and toxic tort defense. 

Mr. Vroman has extensive experience in a wide variety of environmental matters and toxic tort matters. For example, he has represented litigation clients in CERCLA cost-recovery actions, both as plaintiffs and defendants.  In these matters he has encountered issues ranging from environmental “stigma” to technical impracticability to human health and environmental exposure risks. He has defended clients in RCRA, Clean Water Act and TSCA enforcement actions and in Superfund proceedings initiated by the EPA under 106, 107 and 122 of CERCLA. Mr. Vroman negotiated on behalf of a major client of the firm, a ground breaking CERCLA administrative order on consent which governed the remediation of 38 PCB-contaminated sites located in five EPA regions and nine states. In conjunction with this representation, he participated in environmental administrative proceedings in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee as well as in regions IV, V and VII of the EPA.  He has also represented and advised a major client as this client remediated a former Manufactured Gas Plant site under the Illinois Site Remediation Program.  The remediation of this MGP site has become the largest cleanup project under the voluntary Illinois remediation program.  Mr. Vroman’s responsibilities in this representation have included advising, and representing, the client as it implemented the concurrent remediation of the nearby residential properties.

Mr. Vroman has represented clients in dispute resolution proceedings involving allocation issues before mediators and arbitrators.  He has counseled transactional clients on environmental considerations in corporate and real estate matters and has supervised environmental due diligence efforts for significant acquisitions and divestitures. Mr. Vroman also has extensive experience in counseling clients remediating or marketing “brownfield” properties, including the representation of a large public housing authority as it converts environmentally impacted properties into mixed income residential housing.

Mr. Vroman wrote the chapter, “Structuring the Deal and Environmental Issues in the Real Estate Contract,” in the recent IICLE Practice Handbook Environmental Law in Illinois Corporate and Real Estate Transactions.  He has published the following articles on environmental matters:  "EPA Arsenal:  No Right for Pre-enforcement Review," Chicago Lawyer, May 1990, "A Treble-Cost-Recovery Right Under CERCLA for Private Citizens," BNA Environment Reporter, September 1, 1989, "Disposal and Remedial Options Under the PCB Mega Rule," ELR News & Analysis, August 1999, "The Voluntary Performance of Environmental Remediation and AICPA Statement of Position 96-1, Corporate Real Estate and The Law," AECRE Newsletter, Summer 2000, "The Availability of Stigma Damages in Claims Against Environmental Consultants for Negligent Misrepresentation," The Guarantor, Spring 1994 and "Superfund Memoranda of Agreements - an Opportunity to Promote Development," BNA Environment Reporter, December 22, 2000.  Mr. Vroman is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences on environmental issues.

Mr. Vroman graduated from the University of Illinois in 1970.  After service in the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Vroman obtained his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law.  He is a member of the Order of the Coif and was articles editor of the University of Illinois Law Forum (law review).  He is a member of the bar of Illinois, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and several federal district courts.  He is a member of the American Bar Association and a member of the ABA’s sections of environment, energy and resources and tort and insurance practice.  He is also a member of the Chicago Bar Association, and its Environmental Law Committee, and of the Illinois State Bar Association, and its Environmental Section.