Stoel Rives Partner Receives OSB Environmental and Natural Resources Section Annual Award

Portland, Ore. — Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to announce that partner Joan P. Snyder has received the Oregon State Bar Environmental and Natural Resources Section’s Annual Award, which recognizes her for her leadership, service, and outstanding contributions in the areas of environmental and natural resources law. Snyder was honored at the section’s annual meeting on December 11, 2018, in Portland.

Snyder’s nomination was supported by more than a dozen attorneys and consultants who work in environmental and natural resources law. Patty Dost and Margaret Kirkpatrick, longtime Portland environmental and natural resource attorneys, described Snyder as “the smartest and most technically knowledgeable lawyer that we know.” Anna Marie St. John, an environmental consultant, noted that Snyder “has the ability to understand and communicate complex scientific and engineering topics to clients and regulators” and also that she “is very well liked and respected by everyone in industry, consulting and the regulatory community.” However, as Scott Kaplan explained, “it may [be] on the personal level where Joan shines the brightest. Her warmth, humanity, mentoring and willingness to share her time and knowledge to help others are what stand out the most for me.”

Many of those who supported Snyder’s nomination commented on her dedication to mentoring junior attorneys, particularly women. Anzie St. Clair, an attorney at Larkins Vacura Kayser LLP, commented that Joan is “driven to support young women pursuing careers in the law and in science.” Krista McIntyre, the firm-wide leader of Stoel Rives’ Environment, Land Use and Natural Resources group, explained that “Joan is a role model for lawyers, and in particular for women lawyers designing their careers at private law firms. ... Her commitment to diversity and inclusion shows in the teams she builds to support client projects.”

Snyder is a partner in Stoel Rives’ Environment, Land Use and Natural Resources group. Her practice is focused in the areas of environmental law, natural resources law, environmental and natural resources insurance coverage, and health and safety law. She regularly advises clients on all aspects of state and federal cleanups, including the defense of natural resource damages claims, and has successfully resolved environmental and insurance claims through litigation in state and federal courts, in administrative hearings, and in arbitration and mediation.

Snyder has been selected by Chambers USA as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” in environmental law since 2006, and Best Lawyers^® has named her Environmental Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Portland three times – for 2019, 2017 and 2010.

The mission of the OSB’s Environmental and Natural Resource Section is to improve its members’ knowledge of environmental and natural resources law, and provide them with communication and networking opportunities, while encouraging professionalism and fostering ethical lawyering. The section offers its members various educational and networking events and publishes two regular newsletters.