Environment, Energy, and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award - Past Award Recipients
2012:
Brenda Mallory
The Section is pleased to announce Brenda Mallory as the recipient of the 2012 Environment, Energy, and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award. Ms. Mallory is a twenty-eight year attorney who has achieved the position of Principal Deputy General Counsel with the Office of General Counsel of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). Brenda had 17 years of experience in private practice when she relinquished her position as Chair of the Natural Resources group of Beverage & Diamond PC, a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm, to begin government service.
Ms. Mallory began working on Clean Water Act jurisdictional issues in the Wetlands Division of the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watershed. While serving in that position she was selected in 2002 to serve on the Whitehouse Taskforce on Energy Project Streamlining. She was subsequently selected by the Administrator’s Office to serve as Special Assistant in that office with responsibility for coordinating activities including the Senior Policy Council, Office of Water and OGC among others. Brenda was appointed Associate Deputy Special General Counsel where she sheparded critical waste water litigation to conclusion. Her achievements in that position led to her being named Acting Principal Deputy General Counsel. As a result of her outstanding work, in October 2005 she was named Principal Deputy General Counsel, where she serves as the Chief Operating Officer for OGC, managing a $61 million budget and a significant staff of 347 people. She is well-known among member of the Section of Energy, Environment and Resources (SEER), having served on the council and as an officer under a number of Chairs who treasure her many and varied contributions. She offers true leadership and brings insightful analysis combined with style and grace to all her endeavors.
This Award was presented at the 2012 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago in August 2012.
2011:
John C. Cruden, Steven G. McKinney, Bruce Gelber, and Nela Gelber
The Section is pleased to announce Bruce Stephen Gelber as the recipient of the 2011 Environment, Energy, and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award. Mr.Gelber presently serves as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Gelber is a career environmental governmental attorney who has worked with the U.S. Department of Justice since 1985. He began his career at DOJ as a trial attorney where he was lead counsel in United States v. Occidental Chemical Corp. (W.D.N.Y.) where the United States sought to recover $200 million spent in remediating the Love Canal Landfill in Niagara Falls, N.Y. After assuming the position of Principal Deputy Section Chief in 1995, Bruce negotiated numerous complex civil settlements including ones providing for comprehensive cleanup of the Hudson River in New York, the Housatonic River in Massachusetts and Connecticut and the Clark Fork River in Montana. Mr. Gelber has built coalitions and improved communications. He promotes fairness, training and equal opportunity within the Division and is an outstanding public servant that is recognized by his peers in government and the bar.
2010:
John C. Cruden, Section Chair 2009-10; Mike Pearce, Chair, Special Committee on Annual Awards; and Paul B. Smyth
The Section is pleased to announce Paul B. Smyth as the recipient of the 2010 Environment, Energy, and Resources Government Attorney of the Year Award. Mr. Smyth recently retired as the Associate Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior where he was one of the federal government's foremost experts in the fields of natural resources, energy, and environmental law. Mr. Smyth has worked for the Solicitor's Office for more than 35 years serving in numerous legal capacities within the Department of the Interior Solicitor's Office, including acting as the Secretary's interim Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals and Counselor to the Solicitor and Director of the Indian Trust Litigation Office. The Associate Solicitor position is one of the highest ranking career positions within the Solicitor's Office. In this position, he supervised all the legal work for the Department involving minerals and offshore alternative energy matters for the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and minerals matters for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
