{{insights.date}}
{{insights.type}}
{{insights.contentTypeTag}}
Phil Sandick
Senior Associate
Phil Sandick is a senior associate in our Environmental, Safety & Health Practice Group, based in Denver.
Phil represents public and private companies, as well as financial institutions and private equity sponsors, in matters covering a broad range of environmental issues, including transactional, regulatory compliance and litigation matters at both the trial and appellate levels.
Prior to joining private practice, Phil clerked with Judge Amy Totenberg in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He also served with the International Criminal Court on the court’s first sentencing, as well as with the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals.
Phil maintains an active pro bono practice, representing individuals seeking habeas release, asylum, criminal record expungement, innocence review and Section 1983 claims for civil rights violations.
Litigation
- Advised a mid-stream pipeline owner in 68 consolidated Natural Gas Act condemnation matters in trial and appellate court; established the propriety of using preliminary injunctions in the context of Natural Gas Act (NGA) condemnations in the Eleventh Circuit and successfully petitioned for the appointment of a commission to determine property value.
- Served as litigation counsel for multiple offshore wind developers in challenges to federal approvals, including under the National Environmental Policy Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, National Historic Preservation Act and Endangered Species Act.
- Served as a member of the class action defense team for Porsche Cars North America Inc. and Porsche AG in multidistrict litigation in the US and abroad in the Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” MDL.
- On behalf of a Native American tribe, defeated a motion to vacate a Clean Water Act consent decree covering the Everglades.
- Lead lawyer on an en banc Eleventh Circuit case providing prisoners with the ability to seek punitive damages for constitutional rights violations even if they lack physical injuries (993 F.3d 1353).
Regulatory/Compliance
- Advised on environmental enforcement and crimes matters in agency proceedings, as well as in federal district and appeals courts under multiple statutes, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and Energy Efficiency Improvement Act.
- Advised on multiple brownfields redevelopment projects, including under state voluntary cleanup programs.
Transactions
- Advised a public self-storage company on a merger creating total enterprise value of approximately US$47 billion.
- Advised a public agribusiness solutions company on an acquisition creating total enterprise value of approximately US$30 billion.
- Advised a luxury brand parent company on a US$8.5 billion equity acquisition.
- Advised a global leader in sustainable specialty chemicals on the acquisition of a textile coatings business carve-out.
Education
- Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 2014
- Northwestern University School of Law, LL.M., 2014
- Columbia University, M.A., 2009
- Columbia University, B.A., 2005
Admissions
- Colorado, 2025
- Washington DC, 2021
- Georgia, 2014
Courts
- U.S. Dist. Ct., M. Dist. of Georgia
- U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Georgia
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist of Georgia
Memberships & Affiliations
- Treasurer, Federal Bar Association, Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Section
- Member, Faculty of Federal Advocates