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About the Opportunity

Epiq Counsel is seeking an Environmental & Regulatory Counsel to support our client, a leading downstream energy company, in its Houston legal department.

This is an interim engagement for an environmental lawyer who is comfortable being the day-to-day answer for the business. You'll counsel refining and midstream clients on compliance questions as they arise, dig into the facts behind environmental matters, prepare responses to federal and state agencies, and support financial assurance and legal proceedings reporting. It is a hands-on, advisory role inside an established in-house environmental practice — practical counseling with direct exposure to the operations it supports.

About the Client

Our client is a major integrated downstream energy company with significant refining, midstream, and marketing operations across the United States. Its legal department is embedded with the business, and its environmental and regulatory attorneys work directly with facility, operations, and corporate stakeholders on compliance, enforcement, transactions, and reporting. This role reports to the Vice President & Deputy General Counsel for Litigation, Employment, Environmental & Regulatory.

Key Details

• Engagement Type: Interim engagement (Epiq Counsel model)
• Duration: Approximately three months
• Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week
• Work Model: On-site in Houston, TX
• Start Date: As soon as available
• Client Exposure: Direct collaboration with the Deputy General Counsel, refining and midstream business clients, and governmental agencies
• Compensation: $222,000–243,000 annualized @ 40 hours per week ($107–117/hr) + full benefits
• Benefits: Market-beating benefits in the alternative legal services space (including healthcare, paid vacation, paid holidays, bar dues, engagement support, coaching, and more.

Responsibilities

Compliance Counseling (primary focus)

• Provide day-to-day regulatory and compliance counseling to refining and midstream business clients on environmental and regulatory matters
• Advise on air emissions, industrial and hazardous waste, water quality, wetlands, endangered species, contaminated properties, PSM, RMP, and related reporting and registration requirements
• Conduct legal research and deliver clear, practical written guidance

Agency Interaction & Enforcement

• Investigate facts underlying environmental matters and prepare responses to federal and state governmental agencies
• Support enforcement resolution and negotiations with regulators

Reporting & Filings

• Support SEC legal proceedings reporting
• Prepare RCRA and UST financial assurance filings
• Support environmental due diligence and corporate or commercial transactions as needed

Qualifications

• JD from an ABA-accredited law school and an active license in good standing to practice law in Texas or another U.S. state
• Eight or more years of experience in environmental and regulatory law, including experience supporting energy, refining, midstream, downstream, oil and gas, petrochemical, or similar industries
• Experience providing day-to-day compliance counseling and advising business clients on environmental and regulatory matters
• Experience with governmental agency interactions, enforcement resolution, environmental due diligence, and corporate or commercial transactions
• Working knowledge of federal and state environmental and regulatory requirements, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, CERCLA/Superfund, EPCRA, NEPA, TSCA, RCRA, OSHA, and PHMSA, and related fuels or renewable fuels requirements
• Strong legal research, writing, communication, negotiation, collaboration, judgment, and organizational skills
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, SharePoint, document comparison tools, and responsible use of AI-enabled legal technologies
• Able to work on-site in Houston, TX

Preferred Experience

• Texas bar admission
• Prior in-house experience at a refining, midstream, oil and gas, or petrochemical company
• Direct experience with TCEQ and EPA Region 6
• Prior interim or secondment experience in an in-house legal department

Why This Role

This is a chance to do substantive environmental and regulatory work inside a sophisticated energy legal department — counseling the business directly, engaging with agencies, and owning matters rather than supporting from the sidelines. It's well suited to an experienced environmental lawyer who wants a defined-term, high-impact engagement in Houston, with the flexibility and support of the Epiq Counsel model.

About Epiq Counsel

Epiq Counsel is an innovative legal services talent provider that offers meaningful work and flexibility to sophisticated, credentialed lawyers and legal professionals. Our lawyers work on a wide variety of matters for leading organizations across the U.S. Epiq works hard to provide our diverse legal talent with challenging, high-quality work that does not require sacrificing flexibility or control. We take the time to understand each legal professional's practice areas, experience, and preferences to ensure alignment with sophisticated interim in-house opportunities. Leverage our network to work with organizations in need of top-tier legal services, and take the next step in your career by joining a vibrant community of Epiq legal professionals.

It is Epiq’s policy to comply with all applicable equal employment opportunity laws by making all employment decisions without unlawful regard or consideration of any individual’s race, religion, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expressions, transgender status, sexual and other reproductive health decisions, marital status, age, national origin, genetic information, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, veteran or family status or any other basis protected by applicable national, federal, state, provincial or local law. Epiq’s policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on any of these impermissible bases, as well as any bases or grounds protected by applicable law in each jurisdiction. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. Epiq is pleased to provide such assistance and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request. Pursuant to relevant law, where applicable, Epiq will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.