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Tyler Burgess focuses on navigating complex environmental disputes, including litigation in federal and state courts related to toxic torts, civil and criminal government enforcement actions, regulatory compliance issues, and challenges to rulemakings. With a robust scientific background, Tyler counsels on PFAS, emerging compounds, and other technical matters. Tyler has experience practicing under a range of federal statutes and state analogs, including the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Clean Air Act.

Before starting in private practice, Tyler was an honors trial attorney in the Natural Resources Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). At the DOJ, she defended federal agencies' decisions under NEPA as well as public lands, natural resources, and transportation funding laws. Tyler was twice awarded the Outstanding Performance Award for her work defending environmental reviews for major infrastructure projects.

Prior to law school, Tyler worked as an environmental consultant conducting wetland delineations and endangered species evaluations, designing mitigation plans, modeling climate change impacts, drafting NEPA documents, and securing environmental permits from federal, state, and local agencies. In addition, Tyler evaluated contaminated sites for potential inclusion on the National Priorities List under CERCLA.

Experience

  • Honeywell International in actions seeking contribution from oil companies for natural resource damages and cleanup costs for the remediation of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York.
  • Chemours in toxic tort lawsuits brought by water utilities and homeowners alleging contamination of drinking water and a lawsuit by the state Attorney General alleging natural resource damages from perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) at the company's facility in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
  • Renewable fuels manufacturer in petition for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Renewable Fuel Standard program rules.
  • Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority in dispute with Amtrak over rail corridor usage rights and property interests in the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak v. SEPTA, No. 1:19-cv-537 (D.D.C.).

Perspectives

Trump Administration, Federal Circuit Set to Jumpstart Investments in Nuclear Energy
Environmental Edge: Climate Change & Regulatory Insights
Best Lawyers in America 2025 Recognizes 91 Arnold & Porter Lawyers, Names Three as "Lawyers of the Year" and 80 as "Ones to Watch"
Welcome to the Neighborhood: Implications of Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Qualification Certification Improvement Rule for Tribal Nations
Speaker, American Bar Association’s Community Conversation
Environmental, Social, Governance: The Professional's Guide to the Law and Practice of ESG
Environmental, Social, Governance: The Professional's Guide to the Law and Practice of ESG
Clean Water Act
CCUS Projects & Environmental Law: The US Regulatory Landscape Affecting CCUS, EUCI
More

Recognition

Best Lawyers
"Ones to Watch" Environmental Law (Washington, D.C.) (2021-2025)
Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll
(2019-2021, 2023)
North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society
(2019-2023)

Credentials

Education

  • J.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, with honors
  • M.S., Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University
  • B.S., Forest Resources, University of Washington

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • California
  • North Carolina

Government & Military Service

  • Honors Trial Attorney, Natural Resources Section, U.S. Department of Justice

Activities

  • Co-Chair, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, Water Quality and Wetlands Committee, American Bar Association (2024-2025)
  • Vice Chair, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, Water Quality and Wetlands Committee, American Bar Association (2022-2023)
  • White House Council on Environmental Quality Federal Interagency Working Group (2017-2018)
Overview