Michael B. Schon is a partner in Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP’s Washington, DC office. He advises and represents energy, manufacturing, and trade-association clients in high-stakes environmental, energy, and administrative law matters, with a particular focus on Clean Air Act litigation, federal energy regulation, rulemaking strategy, and related regulatory disputes.
Mike regularly advises companies and trade associations on regulatory strategy and regulatory-litigation strategy, including how to engage effectively in rulemakings, position major agency actions for judicial review, and assess litigation risk. He helps clients navigate consequential disputes from beginning to end, developing comments and agency-facing advocacy, coordinating coalition strategy, and litigating major challenges in the federal courts of appeals and the Supreme Court.
His recent work has included significant matters before the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the Fifth Circuit, and federal district courts involving EPA regulations, Department of Energy efficiency standards, and state climate-related laws.
Before joining the firm, Mike served as Chief Counsel for Environment and Energy Litigation at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, where he led major state and federal regulatory litigation and worked closely with policy teams on rulemakings and related advocacy matters. He previously headed regulatory affairs and litigation for the Portland Cement Association, where he directed the industry’s strategy on environmental and workplace-safety matters, especially under the Clean Air Act.
Earlier in his career, Mike practiced at Baker Botts LLP and served as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. The Division awarded him a Special Commendation for Outstanding Service. He clerked for Judge Patricia K. Norris of the Arizona Court of Appeals.
He is admitted in the District of Columbia and Arizona, is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar, and is admitted in multiple federal courts of appeals.
Court Admissions
District of Columbia Bar
Arizona Bar
Unites States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits
United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Representative Experience
Supreme Court, Appellate, and Regulatory Matters
Secured a victory in the Supreme Court in Oklahoma v. EPA.
Secured a stay from the Supreme Court in Ohio v. EPA.
Led the challenge to Department of Energy appliance-efficiency rules in American Gas Association v. Department of Energy in the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court proceedings.
Secured a Fifth Circuit victory in Mississippi v. EPA overturning EPA’s disapproval of Mississippi’s state implementation plan.
Represents business interests in litigation challenging state climate-related laws, including Chamber of Commerce v. Vermont in the District of Vermont and Chamber of Commerce v. New York in the Northern District of New York.
Represents the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in litigation challenging EPA’s 2024 power plant greenhouse-gas rules in the D.C. Circuit.
Clean Air Act, CERCLA, and Regulatory Counseling
Led the U.S. Chamber’s efforts to intervene in defense of EPA’s withdrawal of the Clean Power Plan under Clean Air Act section 111(d). American Lung Ass’n v. EPA, No. 19-1140 (D.C. Cir.).
Successfully defended, as intervenor, EPA’s 2015 primary ozone NAAQS. Sierra Club v. EPA, 936 F.3d 597 (D.C. Cir. 2019).
Successfully challenged hazardous-air-pollutant standards affecting the cement industry. Portland Cement Ass’n v. EPA, 665 F.3d 177 (D.C. Cir. 2011).
Successfully defended, as intervenor, national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants. Natural Resources Defense Council v. EPA, 749 F.3d 1055 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
Counsels power, manufacturing, and other clients in response to agency information requests under the Clean Air Act and CERCLA, as well as related compliance, investigation, and enforcement matters.
Directed industry responses to EPA data-gathering, modeling, expert analysis, and comments in rulemakings affecting cement manufacturers.
Represented potentially responsible parties in CERCLA litigation, working with technical experts to support favorable settlements and coordinating with PRP groups at complex contaminated sites.
Trial and Enforcement Experience
Handled expert and fact discovery, dispositive and pretrial motions, and trial preparation in New Source Review litigation involving electric generating units and cement kilns.
Second-chaired a Clean Water Act enforcement trial at the U.S. Department of Justice, resulting in a favorable judgment.
Education
J.D., Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, 2004, cum laude
Pedrick Scholar
Staff Writer, Arizona State Law Journal
President, Environmental Law Society
B.A., Philosophy, Northern Arizona University, 1999, magna cum laude