Monty Cooper

Partner

Overview

Harmon L. (Monty) Cooper is both a counselor and trial lawyer, focusing on product liability, environmental, and complex civil litigation. He has litigated a wide variety of tort, product liability, and commercial cases across the country, advising clients in high-exposure litigation in numerous venues. He has defended major oil companies in product-liability litigation and property-damage claims arising from environmental issues.

He has also counseled clients in non-litigation matters, including regulatory and legislative issues affecting renewable energy and mining companies and negotiations with state environmental agencies across the country concerning environmental and property-transfer laws.  

Monty regularly shares his insights, including publishing articles and speaking on panels across the country concerning a wide variety of topics affecting his clients, including environmental and mining matters, changes in the U.S. tax code that affect multinational corporations regarding environmental enforcement, and updates concerning environmental justice.

Public Service, Education, and Recognition

Monty is active in his community. He is a former chairman of the board of directors for the Redevelopment Authority (RDA) of Prince George’s County, MD, which works to redevelop, revitalize, and preserve targeted communities within the Washington, D.C. Beltway.

Monty received a B.A. in American Studies from Georgetown University, where he served as a writing center tutor at the university's Writing Center. While attending the College of William and Mary Law School, he was a notes editor for the William and Mary Law Review, a member of the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, and a Benjamin Rush Scholar. 

After law school, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Patrick Michael Duffy of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. 

While in private practice, he has been honored numerous times, including on Thomson Reuters’s 2023 List of “Stand-out Lawyers.” In 2021, Monty received the ABA-SEER Chair Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Section because of his work leading the Section’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. He has also received a Certificate in Sustainable Capitalism & ESG Online from Berkeley Law Executive Education.

He is a member of the bars of Maryland, District of Columbia, and South Carolina.

Career & Education

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    • U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina
      Law Clerk, Hon. Patrick Michael Duffy, 2004–2005
    • Maryland
      Special Assistant State’s Attorney, Prince George's County, 2014
    • U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina
      Law Clerk, Hon. Patrick Michael Duffy, 2004–2005
    • Maryland
      Special Assistant State’s Attorney, Prince George's County, 2014
    • Georgetown University, B.A., American studies
    • College of William & Mary, M.P.P., public policy
    • College of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law, J.D., notes editor, William and Mary Law Review
    • Georgetown University, B.A., American studies
    • College of William & Mary, M.P.P., public policy
    • College of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law, J.D., notes editor, William and Mary Law Review
    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland
    • South Carolina
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
    • District of Columbia
    • Maryland
    • South Carolina
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
    • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • Professional Activities and Memberships

    • Council Member: American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources
    • Board Member: Environment and Energy Study Institute
    • Corporate Counsel Conference CLE Planning Committee Member, National Bar Association Commercial Law Section

    Professional Activities and Memberships

    • Council Member: American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources
    • Board Member: Environment and Energy Study Institute
    • Corporate Counsel Conference CLE Planning Committee Member, National Bar Association Commercial Law Section

Monty's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.08.24

EPA’s Busy April for CERCLA and PFAS:
New CERCLA Authority, an Enforcement Escape Hatch, and the Continued Search for Viable Cleanup Technologies

On April 19, 2024, EPA signed the highly anticipated final rule designating two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).  At the same time, David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance of the EPA, released an enforcement policy memorandum that provides “direction to all EPA enforcement and compliance staff about how EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion under CERCLA in matters involving PFAS, just as EPA exercises enforcement discretion regarding other hazardous substances.”  This alert summarizes key points from the enforcement policy and flags various uncertainties that lie ahead. ...

Representative Matters

  • Representing an oil company as national litigation counsel, in federal courts, including the District of Maryland, in numerous MTBE cases in which private water companies, public water utilities, and state agencies allege that MTBE is a defective and unreasonably dangerous product that has contaminated public drinking water supplies.
  • Successfully defended a major U.S. automobile manufacturer at trial in a wrongful death suit involving claims of alleged defective brakes. After a week-long jury trial in a Maryland (Montgomery County) Circuit Court, the company obtained a defense verdict.
  • Representing a financial institution in negotiations with state environmental protection departments, including concerning the remediation and sale of contaminated property (e.g., brownfields). Relevant laws include environmental due diligence and property-transfer rules in multiple states.
  • Successfully represented a technology company in cases implicating Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which provides immunity to online platforms from civil liability based on third-party content.
  • Successfully represented an oil company, in federal court in the District of Arizona, against CERCLA and common-law claims seeking contribution for environmental remediation costs.
  • Advised energy companies regarding environmental-related requirements and tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.
  • Advised a government contractor concerning compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) health and safety regulations and guidance.
  • Advised a locomotive manufacturer regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainability initiatives proposed by the Biden administration and counseled an oil company concerning the creation of an internal ESG risk matrix.
  • Provided counsel to mining companies regarding regulatory and legislative matters related to the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
  • Successfully defended a global information-technology company, in federal court in the District of Columbia, in product liability litigation brought by plaintiffs claiming catastrophic injuries from an allegedly defective electronic device.

Monty's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.08.24

EPA’s Busy April for CERCLA and PFAS:
New CERCLA Authority, an Enforcement Escape Hatch, and the Continued Search for Viable Cleanup Technologies

On April 19, 2024, EPA signed the highly anticipated final rule designating two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).  At the same time, David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance of the EPA, released an enforcement policy memorandum that provides “direction to all EPA enforcement and compliance staff about how EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion under CERCLA in matters involving PFAS, just as EPA exercises enforcement discretion regarding other hazardous substances.”  This alert summarizes key points from the enforcement policy and flags various uncertainties that lie ahead. ...

Recognition

  • Thomson Reuters Names 16 Crowell Lawyers as “Stand-out Lawyers”
  • The National Black Lawyers: Top 100 Lawyers, 2021
  • Washington Business Journal: 40 Under 40 for Greater Washington, D.C., 2018
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland: Exceptional Service Award, 2017
  • Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers: Rising Stars, 2013-2015
  • National Bar Association: Nation’s Best Advocates, 40 Lawyers Under 40 Award
  • Lawyers of Color: Inaugural Hot List, Mid-Atlantic Region
  • Prince George’s County (MD) Social Innovation Fund:  40 Under 40 Award
  • Next City (National Urban-Affairs Magazine): Vanguard Award
  • Leadership Maryland, Class of 2015
  • Maryland’s The Daily Record: VIP List, 2015

Monty's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.08.24

EPA’s Busy April for CERCLA and PFAS:
New CERCLA Authority, an Enforcement Escape Hatch, and the Continued Search for Viable Cleanup Technologies

On April 19, 2024, EPA signed the highly anticipated final rule designating two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).  At the same time, David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance of the EPA, released an enforcement policy memorandum that provides “direction to all EPA enforcement and compliance staff about how EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion under CERCLA in matters involving PFAS, just as EPA exercises enforcement discretion regarding other hazardous substances.”  This alert summarizes key points from the enforcement policy and flags various uncertainties that lie ahead. ...

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Monty's Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.08.24

EPA’s Busy April for CERCLA and PFAS:
New CERCLA Authority, an Enforcement Escape Hatch, and the Continued Search for Viable Cleanup Technologies

On April 19, 2024, EPA signed the highly anticipated final rule designating two types of PFAS as hazardous substances under section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”).  At the same time, David M. Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance of the EPA, released an enforcement policy memorandum that provides “direction to all EPA enforcement and compliance staff about how EPA will exercise its enforcement discretion under CERCLA in matters involving PFAS, just as EPA exercises enforcement discretion regarding other hazardous substances.”  This alert summarizes key points from the enforcement policy and flags various uncertainties that lie ahead. ...