McGuireWoods partners Gregory Hinojosa Evans, Aaron Flynn, Makram Jaber and Allison Wood were recognized in “The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Environmental Lawyers – The Green 500.” This year marks the fourth time Lawdragon has named the McGuireWoods quartet among the nation’s go-to lawyers for environmental law matters.
Evans was honored for environmental litigation. He is recognized nationally as a top trial attorney who excels in difficult, novel and important environmental cases. His notable accomplishments include serving as first-chair trial counsel in Asarco v. Atlantic Richfield Co., where he won a CERCLA judgment for copper mining giant Asarco in a $200 million groundwater cleanup at a Montana Superfund site. In 2022, then-U.S. Rep. Adam B. Schiff nominated Evans to serve on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, which advises the EPA administrator on issues affecting children’s health. Evans, co-leader of McGuireWoods’ environmental litigation practice group, has been named an MVP for environmental litigation by Law360 and an Energy & Environmental Trailblazer and Winning Litigator by The National Law Journal.
Lawdragon recognized Flynn for environmental law, especially air quality. He represents utilities, national trade associations, oil and gas companies, and manufacturers on major environmental litigation and regulatory matters. He also resolves complex regulatory issues before the EPA, at the White House and through his litigation experience across the country. Flynn focuses on reducing and managing clients’ regulatory burdens and liabilities under federal environmental statutes, including the Clean Air Act. In 2024, Lawdragon included him on its list of “500 Leading Energy Lawyers.”
Jaber co-leads McGuireWoods’ environmental enforcement and regulatory counseling practice group. Lawdragon honored him for environmental litigation, especially air quality. A former engineer with more than 20 years of legal experience, Jaber partners with clients to obtain and defend permits, defend enforcement actions, and represent their interests in federal rulemaking proceedings and related Courts of Appeals litigation. His experience includes matters involving Clean Air Act programs, with a focus on the EPA’s New Source Review permitting program and regulation of hazardous air pollutants.
Wood was recognized for environmental law and climate change. She guides clients through politically charged, precedent-setting matters, including several landmark cases involving climate change before the U.S. Supreme Court. Wood co-leads McGuireWoods’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) task force, which helps clients achieve company-specific ESG goals. In June 2024, Wood and Jaber led the McGuireWoods team that won a rare U.S. Supreme Court stay in a case involving a challenge to the EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan, a federal program that seeks to regulate ozone-forming emissions from power plants and other industrial sources in 23 states.
“Greg, Aaron, Makram and Allison are skilled lawyers and trusted advisers who excel at guiding clients through high-stakes environmental disputes, precedent-setting cases, rulemaking proceedings and compliance challenges,” said Benjamin L. Hatch, chair of the firm’s Environmental & Mass Tort Litigation Department. “The national recognition they receive year after year is a fitting tribute to the impact of their work.”
McGuireWoods’ environmental lawyers are experienced in permitting, enforcement defense, rulemaking, litigation, project development and crisis management and they act as agency liaisons at the federal, state and local levels. The group includes former governmental regulators and lawyers with technical backgrounds in engineering and the natural sciences who work with clients to provide cost-effective ways to solve problems.