&BEDVIAERIMDOGNED?rc
Principal
1350 I Street, N.W.
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005-3311
(T) (202) 789-6023
bwi lson@bd law .com
PRACTICES
• Appellate Litigation
• Citizen Suits
• Civil Rights/Employment
Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• Environmental
+ Environmental Litigation
• Litigation
• Media, Entertainment, and
Sports Law
• NEPA and State NEPA –
Environmental
• Pro Bono Litigation
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Superfund/CERCLA
Toxic Tort and Product
Liability
• Wetlands – Environmental
EDUCATION
• Dartmouth College
(A.B./History, magna cum
laude, Phi Beta Kappa,
1973)
• Senior Fellow, Rufus Choate
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Benjamin F. Wilson
Benjamin F. Wilson is the Managing Principal of Beveridge & Diamond,
P.C. He joined the Firm as a Principal in 1986 and has been a past member
of the Firm’s Management Committee and past Chairman of rhe Litigation
Practice Group. His present litigation practice encompasses a wide range of
activities in both state and federal courts, including commercial litigation
matters, environmental litigation, employment litigation, and regulatory
matters. He has been lead counsel in several complex commercial and
environmental litigation matters for major corporations and developers.
Mr. Wilson also has represented a number of cities and local government
agencies on Clean Water Act Enforcement and wetlands development
matters.
Mr. Wilson draws his litigation expertise from experience in both the
public and private sectors. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Mr. Wilson
graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1973 with an A.B.
degree in history. While at Dartmouth, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa
and named both a Rufus Choate Scholar and a Senior Fellow. He received
his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1976.
Currently, Mr. Wilson is serving as lead counsel in a major chromium
cleanup litigation in New Jersey. He served as lead counsel for a number of
municipalities including: the City of New Orleans; the Sewerage_ and Water
Board of New Orleans; the District of Columbia Water and Sewer
Authority; the Metropolitan Water District of Greater Chicago; the San
Antonio Water System; and the City of New Haven, Connecticut, among
others.
Mr. Wilson is experienced in dealing with cases involving the impact of the
filling of wetlands and the obligations to comply with federal and state
environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and the Endangered
Species Acc. Specifically, he has become involved in both regulatory and
litigation issues arising out of the filling of wetlands as part of the
expansion of airports and stadium projects. He has served as lead counsel in
numerous “Superfund” cases and on environmental audits and assessments
pertaining to the sale of corporations and their assets.
Mr. Wilson has served as lead environmental counsel to the District of
Columbia Sports and Entertainment Commission on the project to build
the new Verizon Center for the Washington Wizards professional
basketball team and Washington Capitals professional hockey team. Mr.
Wilson also represented prospective developers on the proposed football
stadium for the Washington Redskins. He has addressed issues related to
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Benjamin F. Wilson, continued
Scholar
♦ Harvard University (J.D.,
1976)
BAR ADMISSIONS &
MEMBERSHIPS
• Georgia
• District of Columbia
♦ U.S. Court of Appeals,
Federal Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th
Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals,
District of Columbia Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit
♦ U.S. Court of Claims
• U.S. District Court, District
of Columbia
• U.S. District Court,
Northern California
♦ Supreme Court, Georgia
• U.S. Court of Appeals,
District of Columbia
• U.S. Court of Appeals,
Georgia
• American Bar Association
(Vice Chair, Environmental
Justice Committee, Section
of Individual Rights and
Responsibilities, 2003-2004)
• Life Member of the Fellows
of the American Bar
Foundation
• Federal Bar Association
• National Bar Association
(Past Chairman, 1987-1998),
Environmental, Energy and
Public Utility Section
• Gate City Bar Association
• Georgia Conference of
Black Lawyers
• Chairman, Board of
Elections and Ethics of the
District of Columbia
(1990-2002)
• Past Chairman, Washington
the siting of the arena, as well as environmental issues related to historic
preservation, soil contamination, air, ground traffic, noise, visual impacts
and wetlands.
Mr. Wilson has represented financial bodies on a wide variety of
environmental issues pertaining to the sale and ownership of real property,
and on wetlands and Endangered Species Act litigation, as well as several
complex commercial litigation matters.
After several years in private practice with the Atlanta, Georgia law firm of
King & Spalding, specializing in litigation and tax matters, Mr. Wilson
joined the Civil Division of the Department of Justice in 1979. At the
Justice Department, he gained substantial trial expertise in commercial
litigation matters, appearing on behalf of the government in the United
States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of
Claims and district courts throughout the United States. While at the
Department, he received Special Achievement Awards in recognition of his
performance in 1981 · and 1982. Prior to joining Beveridge & Diamond,
P.C., Mr. Wilson joined the law firm of Rose, Schmidt, Chapman, Duff
and Hasley as an associate in 1983. In 1985, he became a partner in the
firm, specializing in civil litigation.
Mr. Wilson has counseled small and developing businesses throughout his
career. He has also counseled on a variety of commercial contract matters
and negotiated player contracts on behalf of professional athletes.
A member of the bars of Georgia and the District of Columbia, Mr. Wilson
is active in the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association,
where he has served for 15 years on the Environmental, Energy and Public
Utilities Section (including serving as past Chairman), and the Washington
Bar Association.
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Mr. Wilson serves as an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law at the
Howard University School of Law. In 2010, Mr. Wilson was named to the
Board of Directors of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
He was recognized by the National Bar Association Corporate Law Section
when he received its coveted Outside Counsel Award for his excellent work
and service on behalf of his clients, and his work promoting diversity in the
profession. Recently, Mr. Wilson was feted for his work organizing the
Diverse Partners Network in Washington, D.C., in the July/August issue of
Diversity e:!r The Bar in an article entitled “DC Diverse Partners Network.”
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&DIAMOND?
Benjamin F. Wilson.
Lawyers’ Committee for
Civil Rights & Urban Affairs
• Member, Northwestern
Mutual Insurance Company
Board of Trustees
♦ Member, Maryland/DC
Chapter of The Nature
Conservancy Board of
Trustees
♦ Member, National
Environmental Justice
Advisory Council
• The Environmental Forum
profile, “The Defender”
• Diversity and The Bar
article, “DC Diverse
Partners Network”
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He was also named to the Board of Trustees of the Maryland/DC Chapter
of The Nature Conservancy.
In 2009, he received the Wiley Branton Award for outstanding
achievement in civil rights law by the Washington Lawyers Committee for
Civil Rights and Urban Development (WLC). The Environmental
Leadership Program’s (ELP) Mid-Atlantic Network also honored the work
of Mr. Wilson with “A Celebration of Leadership: Remembering Dr.
King’s Environmental Legacy with Benjamin Wilson.” In 2008, the
Environmental Law Institute (ELI) published a profile on Mr. Wilson in
The Environmental Forum. In the profile, “The Defender,” ELI notes that
Ben “sees representing business and governmental clients not only as a
mandate to achieve their goals but as an opportunity to benefit the
environment and civil rights.”
Mr. Wilson was also appointed to the National Environmental Justice
Committee as one of three representatives of Corporate America in
2004. He also serves as Co-Chairman of the American Bar Association
Environmental Justice Committee which received the Committee
Excellence Award in 2004 for the Section of Individual Rights and
Responsibilities. Mr. Wilson has also served as both a member (2003) and
Chairman (2004) of the Policyowners’ Examining Committee for
Northwestern Mutual. From 1990 to 2004, he served as Chairman of the
Board of Elections and Ethics of the District of Columbia. He has served
two terms as Co-Chairman of the Washington Lawyer’s Committee for
Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. He has served as the Chairman of the
Board of Directors of Healthy Babies, Inc., Chairman of the Board of the
Dwight A. Mosley Memorial Fund, Chairman of the Advisory Board of
WAMU public radio, Member of the National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council, and he has also served on the Boards of Funds for the
Community’s Future and the Advisory Board of the National Association
for Public Interest Law. He is AV Peer Review Rated.
PUBLICATIONS
Use of Supplemental Environmental Projects to Address Environmental
Justice
A Private Sector Guide to Community Relations
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