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Julie Vanneman

Julie Vanneman

Shareholder

Julie Vanneman

Shareholder

Pittsburgh

D+1 412 297 4715

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Julie serves as the Chair of the Dentons Cohen & Grigsby (formerly Cohen & Grigsby) Environmental National Practice group. She counsels and represents clients on a range of environmental and workplace health and safety issues.

Julie’s occupational safety and health practice includes counseling on safety compliance programs, advising on responses to OSHA citations, representing companies in OSHA investigations and other matters arising out of a workplace crisis, and defending companies facing safety-related whistleblower complaints. She has worked with clients in a variety of contexts, including manufacturing, cannabis, and health and social services settings.

Julie provides environmental compliance counseling to clients proactively as well as in response to an agency investigation. As part of this work, she partners effectively with the client’s team and outside environmental consultants to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated response on technical and legal issues.

As part of her environmental practice, Julie regularly advises clients on remediation initiatives at contaminated sites, including complex cleanups under CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act).

A go-to resource for companies in crisis, Julie guides and supports clients in emergent situations. She manages root cause and internal investigations, provides advice on minimizing additional risks, and helps manage communications and workforce issues following catastrophic accidents or events.

Experience

Serves as common counsel for a group of parties implementing remediation work involving groundwater contamination at a Superfund site.
Negotiated a creative settlement with OSHA that modified the standard cited, with the goal of minimizing risks of potential repeat citations, and included an alternative abatement mechanism.
Obtained a settlement with OSHA that eliminated a penalty based on "lock out/tag out" issues and counseled client on proactive steps to reduce the risk of further citations.
Counseled a party responding to an emergent environmental concern, including guidance on managing a complex root cause investigation, negotiation of a consent order with the regulatory agency, and management of ongoing environmental compliance issues.
Represented a company in an OSHA investigation involving a workplace safety complaint under the National Transit Systems Security Act (NTSSA) where the agency concluded there was “no reasonable cause to believe” a violation had occurred.
Counseled companies on workplace safety and health issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, including providing advice on implementing new guidance, developing policies and protocols, and planning strategies for returning to work.
Negotiated an amicable resolution to an issue involving a restrictive covenant on a wetlands mitigation area, with no penalties imposed and with positive relations maintained among neighboring property owners.
Represented one of three companies in an $80 million CERCLA case involving more than 200 parties, working with counsel for the other companies, identifying hundreds of potentially responsible parties (PRPs); researching historical regulatory issues and industry changes; working with experts on technical issues; creating an allocation; litigating liability and, after a successful mediation, negotiating a site-wide settlement with the remaining parties and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (2021-2023), where she co-taught an Occupational Safety and Health Law course.

Recognition

Honors and Awards

Listed in the 500 Leading U.S. Environmental & Energy Lawyers by Lawdragon (2021, 2023, 2024)
David Stahl Memorial Award for highest grade average in graduating class at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Scribes Award for best Law Review Note

Insights

Co-author, “Why an OSHA Program in Colorado Matters to Cannabis Production Facilities Nationwide,” Dentons client alert, November 1, 2024
Co-author, "A Sea Change in Environmental Law: The Supreme Court Just Up-Ended Administrative Review and Enforcement As We Knew It," Dentons client alert, July 1, 2024
Co-author, "High-Hazard Retailers: Are You Ready for OSHA Inspections?," Law360, May 2024
Co-author, “New Reports on Potential Health Hazards from Occupational Exposure to Cannabis,” Dentons Insights, November 21, 2023
Co-author, “Workplace Violence: Risk Minimization Strategies for the Modern Workplace,” Dentons Insights, October 27, 2023
Co-author, "Global Employment & Labor Quarterly Review," Dentons Insights, February 2022
Co-author, "COVID-19 Policies and US Employers: Charting a Path Forward," Dentons client alert, January 24, 2022
Co-author, “Taking control of COVID-19 policies: How US employers can move forward while the vaccination mandate ping-pong match plays on,” Dentons client alert, December 8, 2021
Co-author, "OSHA Releases Long-Awaited Vaccination Rule: 3 Key Takeaways For Employers," Dentons client alert, November 2021
Co-author, "COVID Vaccines, Testing and OSHA: What President Biden’s Mandate Announcement Means for US Employers," Dentons client alert, September 2021
Co-author, "California adopts new workplace COVID-19 rules - 3 key takeaways," Dentons client alert, June 24, 2021
Co-author, "5 Key Takeaways From OSHA’s Recent COVID-19 Announcements," Dentons client alert, June 16, 2021
Contributor, “Dentons US COVID-19 Return-to-Work Toolkit,” Dentons client alert, June 3, 2020
Co-author, “Supreme Court Creates "Functional Equivalency" Test for Discharges to Groundwater,” Dentons client alert, April 29, 2020
Author, “OSHA obligations in the COVID-19 era," Dentons client alert, March 26, 2020
Co-author, “Keeping a safe workplace in the age of COVID-19 (US),” Dentons client alert, March 11, 2020
Author, "Making the Most Out of an OSHA Informal Conference," Cohen & Grigsby Workforce Solutions Newsletter - Issue Six, Fall 2019
Author, "Successor Liability for Environmental Liabilities," Cohen & Grigsby Commercial & Complex Litigation Newsletter - Hot Topics that Impact Your Business - Issue Two, Fall 2018

Activities and Affiliations

Presentations

Co-presenter, "The End of Chevron Deference: How the Most Recent Supreme Court Term Changed Administrative Rulemaking and Enforcement Nationally and in Pennsylvania,” Dentons Cohen & Grigsby Academy Presentation, December 2024
Panelist, "Cannabis Allergens in the Workplace: OSHA and Employment Law Issues," Dentons In-House Counsel CLE Webinar Series, July 2024
Co-presenter, "She Believed She Could, So She Did...A look at Practice Areas with Historic Underrepresentation of Women," Allegheny County Bar Association Women in the Law Division CLE presentation, March 2024
Co-presenter, “Growth Industry: Navigating Health, Safety and Regulatory Compliance in the Evolving Cannabis Workplace,” Perrin Conferences CLE program, December 2023
Co-presenter, "Labor & Employment Law Lightning Round: Hot topics, significant trends, and notable sea changes," Legal and Business Briefing, October 19, 2023
Co-presenter, "A Nonprofit’s Guide to OSHA Inspections," Business Insights for Nonprofit Professionals Series presented by Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, November 30, 2022
Co-presenter, “2022: Navigating the Workplace of the Future - OSHA Knocks on the Door: Are You Ready? Preparing for Inspections and Investigations,” Dentons In-house Counsel CLE Series, September 22, 2022
Presenter, “2022: Navigating the Workplace of the Future - Remote Working: Employment and Tax Law Considerations for Employers,” Dentons CLE Webinar, May 10, 2022
Presenter, “COVID Compliance for Employers: A practical look at the OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination ETS and other health and safety employment compliance issues in 2022,” Association of Corporate Counsel - Western Pennsylvania Chapter, November 18, 2021
Presenter, "COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Workplace: Worth the Shot?," Dentons CLE Seminar for In-House Counsel, June 2021
Moderator, "Breaking Into Sports and the Impact of COVID-19 on Sports," Allegheny County Bar Association CLE Program, April 2021
Moderator, “Balancing Acts: Navigating Employment Laws and Caregiver Needs in the COVID Era,” Allegheny County Bar Association CLE Program, November 2020
Presenter, “COVID-19 Vaccines in the Workplace,” Dentons Cohen & Grigsby Academy Presentation, March 2021
Presenter, “Successfully Navigating Workplace Health and Safety Issues in the COVID-19 Era,” Webinar with C4CS, LLC, September 21, 2020
Speaker, "Lessons from the US Experience," Employment and Labour webinar series, June 12, 2020
Presenter, "US COVID-19 top Employment and Labor issues to consider for your return-to-work strategy," Dentons webinar, June 5, 2020
Presenter, "Incident Response: Legal Issues," Cohen & Grigsby CLE Day, April 2019
Presenter, "Emergency Response and Crisis Management: Legal & Practical Issues for In-House Counsel," Cohen & Grigsby CLE Day, April 2018
Moderator, "Career Trajectories: Forging Your Own Path," Women in the Law Division of the Allegheny County Bar Association, April 2018
Presenter, "Emergency Response and Crisis Management," Cohen & Grigsby Academy, November 2017
Panelist, "Navigating a Return to Work: Surviving and Thriving Following Maternity (and other) Leave," Women in the Law Division of the Allegheny County Bar Association, October 2017
Presenter, "Energy 101: The Legal Life-Cycle of the Marcellus Shale," Cohen & Grigsby Academy, April 2016

Memberships

Member, Dentons US Region ESG Team (Environmental, Safety and Health)
Past Chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association Women in the Law Division
Pennsylvania Bar Association, Environmental and Energy Law Section

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Julie Vanneman

Julie Vanneman

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Experience

Recognition

Honors and Awards

Insights

Activities and Affiliations

Presentations

Memberships

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