Brian M. Collins

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Brian is a trial attorney with extensive courtroom experience. He has supervised large legal teams, provided legal advice and counseling to senior decision-makers, and managed complex, politically sensitive cases. Brian has represented companies in complex litigation, investigations, and arbitrations. His experience advising senior agency officials, developing administrative records, and defending those decisions in litigation provides clients with unique insights into navigating large infrastructure permitting projects that require federal statutory approvals, and how to manage litigation risk as well as defend projects in litigation.

Representative Litigation

• Directed defense of multibillion-dollar tribal trust litigation, overseeing discovery, expert development, and trial strategy.
• Defended a metal plating company in a Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) enforcement matter. 
• Represented an amusement park in a CWA enforcement matter relating to wastewater discharges. 
• Defended the US State Department, Department of Transportation, and Coast Guard in litigation challenging multiple agency approvals for the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario.
• Defended multiple federal agencies in litigation over approvals for a multibillion-dollar copper mine involving challenges under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Forest Management Act (NFMA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Mining Law of 1872.
• Defended the US Department of the Interior, the Minerals Management Service, and the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management in litigation challenging the agency’s rulemakings in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Regulatory Compliance

Brian advises on public lands and federal permitting; energy, mining, and infrastructure development; federal rulemaking; and regulatory counseling. He routinely briefs leadership on emerging environmental law risks, policy initiatives, and compliance strategy. Brian has counseled on complex compliance matters involving the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), NEPA, NFMA, ESA, cultural resources, and water law. 

Representative Compliance Matters

• Provided extensive counsel on how revisions to the CWA definition of Waters of the United States would impact USDA stakeholders.
• Led strategy in approvals related to a multibillion-dollar copper mine.
• Provided legal guidance on the modernization of locatable minerals regulations for the United States Forest Service (36 C.F.R. Part 228A), the first significant revision of the rules in 50 years.
• Advised federal land management agency on implementation of the Ninth Circuit decision in Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 33 F.4th 1202 (9th Cir. 2022) (the “Rosemont” decision), regarding mining claimant’s rights to access federal public lands for mineral development.
• Provided strategic advice and counsel on USDA’s promulgation of Department-wide NEPA regulations in the wake of the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration, 121 F.4th 902 (D.C. Cir. 2024).

Personal Interests

In his free time, Brian enjoys attending his daughter’s swim meets, hoping the Las Vegas Raiders return to NFL relevance, hiking, and traveling with his family.