W. Blaine Early III
Dr. Early's Ph.D. in Biology and experience as a college professor help set him apart as an environmental lawyer, where technical expertise is an important complement to the practice of law. His legal practice is a broad approach to environmental law that includes a focus on water and land issues, agriculture, natural resources and energy, and the intersection of surety law and environmental regulatory matters. He counsels clients on environmental compliance and environmental considerations in real estate and business transactions and is active in civil and administrative litigation.
Corporate Sustainability Best Practices...Using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager to Boost Profits and Promote Sustainability
28th Annual Business & Industry's Sustainability & Environmental, Health and Safety Symposium, Cincinnati, OH, March 26, 2019e
Compliance With Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Regulations and Unusual Stormwater Conditions
The Remains of Water Quality Regulation
Best Practices in Sustainability: Zero Waste, Cradle-to-Cradle, Life Cycle Assessment
Current Issues and Perspectives on SMCRA Reclamation Bonding
Managing the Risks of Climate Change
14th Annual Kentucky Environmental Conference, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Lexington, Ky., February 10, 2016
Complying with your KPDES Permit Part 2: Details
The Goods, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, May 2015
Stormwater is Everyone's Challenge
Read It, Do It, Document It: Complying with your KPDES Permit, Part 1: Implementing Plans
The Goods, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, January 2015
Waters, waters everywhere: Does the proposed definition of waters of the United States expand the Clean Water Act's reach?
Trends, Vol. 46 No. 2, published by the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, November/December 2014
Facing High-Tide Successfully: Getting Stormwater Policies Put into Practice
Environmental Compliance and Drinking Water Protection: The Roles of Permits, Plans, and Reports
17th Annual Kentucky Environmental Permitting & Reporting Conference, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, August 20, 2014
You Thought You Had a Permit for That Discharge?
17th Annual Kentucky Environmental Permitting & Reporting Conference, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, August 19, 2014
From Production to Market
Kentucky Regulatory Changes in Water Quality Standards
Development of Kentucky Water Laws
Stormwater Regulation, It's Time to Get Serious
2013 Kentucky Chamber of Commerce 16th Annual Environmental Permitting & Reporting Conference, August 21, 2013
Legal and tax issues for energy generation in Kentucky
Natural resources law update: Issues in surface mining
Water-related initiatives concerning central Appalachian coal mining
Reclamation Bonds, The Law of Commercial Surety and Miscellaneous Bonds
Trends in Water Quality Issues for Appalachian Mining
The Balancing Act of Biofuels
Intergovernmental Cooperating and Coercion in Environmental Law
Kentucky Water Laws and Regulations
Environmental/Reclamation Financial Assurances: Back to the Future
56th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Annual Institute, Banff, Alberta, Canada, July 22-24, 2010
Big Waters: Everyone's Resource but Whose Responsibility?
Property Rights in a Sustainable World: More than Minerals and Surface
Biofuel Production and Water Quality
Toilet to Tap and the Clean Water Act
Newsletter of the Water Quality and Wetlands Committee, American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, April 2008
Carbon Concerns: Law, Policy, and Business
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed: The Marriage of Nuisance and Environmental Regulation
Mold Litigation & Risk Management
The Blending of Bankruptcy and Environmental Law Issues
Managing Risks of Mold
Defending mineral mining operations against citizens' suits alleging unauthorized water pollution
Defending power plant's wastewater discharge permit against citizens' challenge
Counseling clients on the validity of permit requirements and challenging permits when necessary
Part of the legal team for surety companies addressing bankruptcy, mine reclamation, black lung and workers compensation issues
Led the legal team on behalf of a major metropolitan area to challenge a wastewater discharge permit upstream of the city's drinking water intake and to protect upstream source water
Counsel to major animal agriculture producers in litigation and compliance with environmental laws including Clean Water Act, CERCLA, EPCRA, waste and common law nuisance
Counsel for real estate and business transactions and mineral, natural gas and oil development
Represented parties in litigation involving water intrusion and mold growth in buildings
Defending manufacturers in actions alleging exposure to toxic materials such as lead in the workplace and homes
Ethics Committee, Member
Lexington Environmental Commission, Vice-Chair
Bluegrass Tomorrow, Executive Board
Upper Cumberland River Watershed Watch, Board Member and Pro-Bono Legal Counsel
Watershed Watch in Kentucky, Inc., Board Member
cum laude
University of Kentucky College of Law
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Order of the Coif
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Journal of Natural Resources & Environmental Law
University of Louisville
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Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
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Associate Member of Society of Sigma Xi
DePauw University
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Phi Beta Kappa
Law is Blaine's second career. He served on the biology faculty of Cumberland College (now the University of the Cumberlands) in Williamsburg, Ky., from 1979 until 1993, chairing the department (1984 to 1993) and earning the rank of full professor. Prior to joining the firm in September 1998, Blaine was Judicial Law Clerk to Hon. Jennifer B. Coffman, United States District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, in London, Kentucky. Blaine is current vice-chair of the Lexington Environmental Commission and is a member of the Executive Board of Bluegrass Tomorrow. He is a member of the board and pro-bono legal counsel for the Upper Cumberland River Watershed Watch and is a member of the board of the state-wide organization Watershed Watch in Kentucky, Inc. Blaine is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation. He is a former chair of the Water Quality and Wetlands Committee of the American Bar Association's Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources; former chair of the Natural Resources Section of the Kentucky Bar Association; and, a former president of the Kentucky Academy of Science.
Best Lawyers in America®, Energy Law, Environmental Law and Water Law (2007-20)
Kentucky Super Lawyers® (2016-19)
International Law Office and Lexology, Client Choice Award for Excellence in Client Service (2015)
Robert N. Clay President's Award, Bluegrass Tomorrow Awards Breakfast (2010)
Best Lawyers in America Honors 75 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2020
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Best Lawyers in America© 2020 has recognized 75 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys as selected by their peers in 49 areas of practice. Forty-three of those attorneys selected have been honored for 10 consecutive years or more.
28th Annual Business & Industry’s Sustainability & Environmental, Health and Safety Symposium
Sharonville Convention Center, 11355 Chester Road, Cincinnati, OH 45246
The 28th Annual Sustainability and EHS Symposium is the one conference you’ll want to attend. Attendance will give you the competitive edge in meeting today’s complex regulatory challenges and help you manage differently in the changing business world.
Kentucky Super Lawyers Honors 42 Stites & Harbison Attorneys for 2019
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The 2019 edition of Kentucky Super Lawyers recently honored 42 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in the Covington, Frankfort, Lexington and Louisville, Ky., offices. The publication named 33 attorneys to the Super Lawyers list and nine attorneys to the Rising Stars list.
Kentucky Chamber Appoints W. Blaine Early, III as Chair of Energy & Environment Council
LEXINGTON, Ky.—The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce recently appointed Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney W. Blaine Early, III as Chair of the Energy & Environment Council. He will serve a two-year term.
Best Lawyers in America honors 72 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2019
27th Annual Business and Industry's Sustainability and Environmental, Health & Safety Symposium
Duke Energy Center, 525 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio
This is the one conference you'll want to attend. Attendance will give you the competitive edge in meeting today's complex regulatory challenges and help you manage differently in the changing business world.
Kentucky Super Lawyers honors 51 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2018
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The 2018 edition of Kentucky Super Lawyers recently honored 55 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in the Covington, Frankfort, Lexington and Louisville, Ky., offices. The publication named 39 attorneys to the Super Lawyers list and 12 attorneys to the Rising Stars list.
Best Lawyers in America honors 79 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2018
20th Annual Kentucky Environmental Permitting and Reporting Conference
Chambers USA 2017 honors Stites & Harbison
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Chambers USA selected 22 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in Kentucky and Tennessee for inclusion in their 2017 guide. The Chambers USA guide ranks the top law firms and leading attorneys in the United States.
Regulatory Climate Under the Trump Administration
Stites & Harbison attorneys Rick Vance, Brian Bennett, Blaine Early and Dustyn Jones discuss the regulatory climate under the Trump Administration in this presentation to a live audience at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, Kentucky.
26th Annual Sustainability & EHS Symposium
Kentucky Super Lawyers honors 55 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2017
Best Lawyers in America honors 74 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2017
Kentucky Super Lawyers honors 64 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2016
Best Lawyers honors 72 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2016
Hot Topics in Banking and Real Estate Litigation
Stites & Harbison attorneys Rick Vance, Blaine Early, Chrisandrea Turner and Brian Pollock on Hot Topics in Banking and Real Estate Litigation.
Stites & Harbison Attorneys Earn 2015 Client Choice Awards for Superior Client Service
Sustainability and Biofuels
As the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for; you might get it." This describes the current state of biofuels.
Best Lawyers honors 89 Stites & Harbison attorneys for 2015
Eighty-nine Stites & Harbison attorneys honored by Best Lawyers in America for 2014
What do you do with an old power plant?
You don't miss it until it's gone: Drought highlights the importance of water management
Current and Emerging Legal Issues on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Blaine Early and Bill Gorton discuss the legal issues of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Court says the EPA and Corps of Engineers must follow the law
Seventy-five Stites & Harbison attorneys honored in Best Lawyers in America
Seventy-three Stites & Harbison attorneys honored in "Best Lawyers in America"
Not All Biofuels are Green
SEC Describes Disclosure Requirements on Climate Change
Seventy-two Stites & Harbison attorneys honored in "Best Lawyers in America"
Surety's Rights and Obligations Under SMCRA
Mold Fundamentals and the Law