WHO WE ARE

D. DAVID ALTMAN

PRESIDENT
daltman@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 100

JUSTIN D. NEWMAN

VICE PRESIDENT
jnewman@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 106

ROBIN A. BURGESS

SENIOR ASSOCIATE
rburgess@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 107

AMY J. LEONARD

SENIOR ASSOCIATE
aleonard@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 108

JOYCE CURRIN

LEGAL ASSISTANT
jcurrin@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 101

ANNE ALTMAN

FINANCE
aaltman@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 111

JENNIFER O’DONNELL

PARALEGAL
jodonnell@environlaw.com
Phone: 513-721-2180, ext. 108

D. David Altman, President

Throughout his career, Dave has represented residents, business owners, cities and townships, solid waste districts, public water systems, and local and regional neighborhood and environmental organizations in groundbreaking damage suits, and law enforcing citizen suits that have had a lasting impact on environmental law.

Dave’s leadership on the environment was already evident in the early 1970s when he served on the state task force that oversaw the startup of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and on Cincinnati’s environmental task force, which he chaired for four of its first ten years. He also served four terms as the environmental chair of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers (now the Ohio Association for Justice) and chaired the Cincinnati’s Environmental Justice Working Group from 2005-2009. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and the Ohio General Assembly on environmental issues, including environmental secrecy and nuclear safety.

Dave is licensed to practice law in Ohio before the Southern and Northern Districts of the U.S. District Court of Ohio, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. He received his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law (1974), after graduating with honors with a B.A. from UC (1968).

Dave lives in Hyde Park with his wife, where they enjoy frequent visits from his new granddaughter.

Dave has continued to secure innovative environmental and law enforcement relief for clients including: allowing private citizens to use the federal Superfund cleanup law; resolving a fly ash disposal dispute with a community-wide settlement; getting residents with contaminated drinking water wells compensation and cleanup oversight under a federal consent decree; enforcing Clean Air Act violations and requiring cleanup of groundwater contamination and granting direct oversight rights to a city; forcing the entry of an improved federal consent decree requiring a sewer district to stop water pollution violations and establishing a first-of-its kind program to compensate victims of sewer backups; overturning a state’s permit decision for a landfill; obtaining consent decrees with citizen oversight for neighbors harmed by air pollution; and securing a liability finding against a chemical giant for contaminating a public water district’s wells with an unregulated, dangerous chemical. Dave has also been lead counsel in two plant explosion class actions, one of which led to independent, ongoing oversight by experts who report to the court and the class, and a medical program to monitor environmentally related health issues in the community.

Today, Dave and his staff continue to pioneer the uses of groundbreaking technology to help citizens identify environmental threats — to win justice for people who have been harmed by pollution and are frustrated by inaction from an overburdened, underfunded, or unresponsive EPA.

Justin Newman, Vice President

Justin joined the firm as an associate in 2006 and became a name partner in 2017. During that time, Justin has worked to enforce environmental laws on behalf of those affected by pollution, including private individuals, small businesses, and environmental and labor organizations. These cases have been pursued under a variety of environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Justin is experienced in all aspects of complex litigation, from cross examining fact and expert witnesses to drafting and supervising the preparation of dispositive motions and appellate briefing – frequently on novel areas of environmental and tort law. He has particular skill and experience in tailoring litigation strategy to each client’s situation.

His recent leadership has helped the firm achieve for its clients: (1) a groundbreaking tort decision holding a major chemical company liable for its contamination of a drinking water supply; (2) the reversal and remand, on appeal, of a state air toxics rule, thereby requiring the agency to add potentially harmful chemicals to the rule; and (3) a Clean Air Act decision ensuring that a citizen suit could proceed to resolution despite efforts to use a government order as a “bar.”

Justin is licensed to practice law in Ohio, before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Ohio and the Northern District of Ohio, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, in 2006 from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. Before law school, he received his B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Wilmington College.

Justin lives in Loveland, Ohio with his wife and three children.

Robin Burgess, Senior Associate

Robin graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, cum laude, in 2012 with a J.D. and from the University of Florida, with honors, in 2001 with a B.A. in environmental science. Before attending law school, she gained broad experience in environmental science and policy, working as an environmental regulator with the States of Florida and Missouri and as an environmental specialist in the energy industry.

Since joining the firm in 2012, Robin has played an important role in environmental enforcement litigation, including extensive experience drafting and responding to fact discovery, analyzing innovative environmental issues, and working directly with technical experts.

Robin is licensed to practice law in Florida (Inactive, Admitted 2012), Kentucky (Admitted 2013), Ohio (Admitted 2017), and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Admitted 2017) and is a member of The Florida Bar and the Kentucky Bar Association.

She lives in Bellevue, Kentucky with her husband and is an active member of the Bellevue Neighborhood Association, a charity that works to promote and preserve the historic character and beauty of Bellevue’s neighborhoods.

Amy J. Leonard, Senior Associate

Since joining the firm in 1988, Amy has focused her practice on representing neighborhood groups, citizens, environmental organizations and local governments to address pollution problems in their communities.

Amy served on the City of Cincinnati’s Environmental Advisory Committee for four years, and chaired the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers’ Environmental Law Committee from 1998-2000. She has published Environmental Secrecy in Ohio (Ohio Trial Magazine, 1998); and The Rise of Neo-Scientists Advocating for Polluters and the Laws that Deter Them (Tulane Environmental Law Journal, 2007).

Amy is licensed to practice law in Ohio and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Ohio and the Northern District of Ohio, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Amy graduated cum laude from Tulane Law School in 1988, where she served as the founding editor of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal; during that time she also clerked at the Tennessee Department of Health and Environment, and the energy law section of the Louisiana Attorney General’s office. She graduated from the University of Tennessee with highest honors.

Amy lives in Amelia with her husband and two children.

Joyce Currin, Legal Assistant

Joyce is a seasoned Legal Assistant who has been with AltmanNewman for over a decade. Her keen eye and attention to detail, combined with her extensive experience and enthusiasm make her a valuable asset to each project and every client.

Anne Altman, Finance

After an extensive career as a finance specialist in the municipal bond industry, Anne joined AltmanNewman to assist with accounting and other fiscal responsibilities. She is a native of the area and a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. Anne lives with Dave in Hyde Park. When not working, Anne is thoroughly enjoying her first grandchild.

Jennifer O’Donnell, Paralegal

Jennifer came to the firm in 2003 with two decades of experience as a community organizer, primarily on environmental and energy issues in Ohio.

Since joining the firm as a paralegal, her role includes research; interviewing potential witnesses; aiding attorneys in discovery and trial preparation; monitoring environmental issues relevant to the practice; and assisting in local and statewide environmental advocacy. Jennifer served for five years as communications director and legislative aide for former Cincinnati Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, where she specialized in environmental initiatives, including legislation that led to the city’s enhanced curbside recycling program, and the electricity buying group program, which provides green electricity and savings to city residents and small businesses while abating approximately 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. She returned to the firm in 2014.

Jennifer is a graduate of Case Western University. She lives in Westwood.