Forest Products

Perkins Coie’s Forest Products attorneys work with leading wood and paper products companies, investors in commercial forest lands, land managers, mills and other industry players to develop solutions and defend their legal rights.  Whether the issues are traditional forest industry concerns, technical issues affecting forestry and forest products manufacturing and marketing, or optimizing value and other issues affecting operations, our multidisciplinary team fully understands industry trends and regulations and can readily advise clients on the right course of action.

We also collaborate with clients, elected officials, agency leaders and associations to promote improvements in government policies, regulations and laws affecting the forest products industry.  In some instances, when government activities go too far, we have responded to, and successfully litigated against, unlawful government restrictions, and we have helped to defend programs and regulations, striking an appropriate balance between the interests of regulators and the regulated industry.

The Forest Products industry group is able to assist our clients on a wide range of matters that impact their businesses.  These matters include environment and natural resources, real estate and land use, labor, insurance coverage, occupational health and safety, litigation, product liability claims, antitrust, securities, business transactions, intellectual property and information security.

How We Can Help

• Collective Bargaining Agreements
• CWA, NEPA and ESA Compliance Issues
• Federal Land Exchanges
• Federal Land Management Issues
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
• Forest Fire Investigation and Claims
• Habitat Conservation Plans
• Insurance Coverage Audits and Claims
• Litigation
• Permitting and Environmental Compliance
• Product Liability Claims including siding
• Remediation of Mill Sites; CERCLA, RCRA issues
• Sales and Acquisitions of Forest Land, Facilities and Other Assets
• State and Federal Legislative Advocacy, Rulemaking, Administrative and Regulatory Proceedings
• Tax

Representative Experience        

• Insurance coverage litigation (forest products industry): Recovered $52.5 million in settlement for Louisiana-Pacific
  
  
• Defended Boise Cascade in nationwide consumer protection class action alleging defects in manufactured wood siding.
  
  
• Represented Weyerhaeuser Co. in a variety of issues, including NPDES and special use permits; regulatory compliance issues; stormwater, NEPA and ESA issues; defense of CWA litigation; legislative drafting; Title V CAA permitting; PSD/NSR enforcement defense; water supply; and real estate due diligence.
  
  
• Successfully defended multidistrict antitrust price-fixing class action regarding Canadian lumber.
  
  
• Served as counsel for defendant-intervenors Idaho Association of Counties in ESA, NFMA and NEPA claims and in connection with Idaho National Forest roadless area rule.
  
  
• Served as counsel in transactions, disputes and claims litigation in Board of Contract Appeals and Court of Federal Claims regarding national forest timber, road and other sales and procurement contracts with the USDA Forest Service.
  
  
• Served as counsel to pension fund for domestic and international investments in commercial forest lands.
  
  
• Served as counsel for small and large acreage exchanges of national forest for private lands in several Western states.
  
  
• Served as counsel for conservation easement for forest land tract in Idaho.
  
  
• Served as counsel in developing initial Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP) under the ESA, and amending existing HCPs.