Bob Lawrence is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and a member of the Natural Resources Department.

He has practiced environmental law for over twenty five years, and has extensive experience in environmental litigation and administrative proceedings, permitting, compliance and enforcement matters, and successful resolution of environmental issues in a wide range of transactions.

Mr. Lawrence began his legal career as an intern and law clerk for the Environment Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation, where he worked on water quality standards, NPDES permitting, and uranium mining and milling issues. He then served as an Assistant Regional Counsel in EPA Region 8 for three years and was the lead lawyer at EPA responsible for six CERCLA natural resource damages (NRD) cases, CERCLA response actions at numerous mining and milling sites, including uranium sites, and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

Mr. Lawrence has been in private practice since 1987, focusing on compliance, permitting and enforcement under federal and state regulatory programs (especially hazardous waste and Clean Water Act § 404 and stormwater matters), toxic tort and NRD litigation, Superfund cleanups, contribution and cost recovery cases, and Clean Water Act and RCRA citizen suits. He has taken a major CERCLA NRD case through a multi-month trial, and achieved favorable resolutions/settlements for his clients in several other NRD cases. Mr. Lawrence led a team of lawyers through a class action toxic tort jury trial at a large vapor intrusion site (where plaintiffs sought several hundred million dollars in damages but were only awarded a small fraction of this amount). His client prevailed in another major class action toxic tort lawsuit at a mining site in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Lawrence and another DGS partner tried a RCRA criminal case in federal court in Colorado which resulted in acquittal of his corporate client on all charges. Mr. Lawrence counsels his clients on environmental crisis management. He continues to work on uranium exploration, mining and milling matters, Brownfield development, CWA stormwater and 404 permitting/compliance issues, and creative solutions to environmental considerations in transactions. He has represented clients on numerous matters involving environmental claims asserted by Indian tribes, and spoke in January 2009 at the University of Colorado School of Law on Religious Freedom Restoration Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and First Amendment claims.

Mr. Lawrence is a founding regent and member of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® since 1995, and was also selected by The International Who’s Who of Environment Lawyers and the Denver Business Journal as one of the best lawyers for environmental work. He has been listed as a leading lawyer in Colorado and as a "Band One" leading individual in environmental law in Chambers USA for many years. He was a member of the Advisory Council of the Environmental Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association and is a member of the Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law Section of the American Bar Association. Mr. Lawrence is the Region 8 Reporter for the ABA Environmental Crimes and Enforcement Committee. He is chairperson for the Natural Resources Section of the Boulder Bar Association. In addition, he is on the Board of Advisors of the Toxics Law Reporter. Mr. Lawrence is on the Board of the University of Colorado Law School Alumni Association, the Colorado Legal Aid Foudation, and the Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence, and is active in pro bono service.