Matthew Zane Leopold is an American attorney at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and former government official who served as the Assistant Administrator of the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

(General Counsel). Prior to assuming this role, Leopold was a lawyer with the law firm of Carlton Fields.

Professional background

Leopold previously served as general counsel of the Florida Department of Environment Protection. He was also an attorney at the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

's Environment and Natural Resources Division. Leopold's legal practice focuses on environmental law, policy, and litigation. He has represented the state and federal governments on complex environmental litigation, including '' Florida v. Georgia'' and ''United States v. BP Exploration and Production, Inc.'', which addressed the 2010 ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Leopold also represented Florida in litigation related to the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

. He previously served as an environmental policy advisor for former

Florida Governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...

Jeb Bush. He is a graduate of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and Florida State University School of Law. Leopold announced his intention to leave the Environmental Protection Agency in September 2020, and joined

Hunton Andrews Kurth Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is an American law firm created by the merger of Hunton & Williams LLP and Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP on April 2, 2018. The firm has offices in 20 cities, primarily in the United States. History Hunton & Williams (formerl ...

as a partner in October 2020.

References

External links

Biography at Carlton Fields
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold, Matthew Living people University of Florida alumni Florida State University College of Law alumni Florida lawyers Trump administration personnel People of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Year of birth missing (living people)