Miller Canfield's Steven Chester Named in Michigan Lawyers Weekly Hall of Fame
Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that Steven Chester has been included in Michigan Lawyers Weekly's 2021 Hall of Fame.
Chester is one of the most highly respected environmental attorneys in Michigan. In addition to his work at Miller Canfield, Chester has spent the majority of his career in public service at every level of government, including serving as a Wayne County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, as Michigan Assistant Attorney General, the director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in Washington, D.C.
He is a member of Miller Canfield's Energy and Environmental Group, which represents clients with compliance, enforcement, permitting, litigation, and risk management in a variety of areas, including water quality, air emissions, waste disposal, wetland mitigation, asbestos abatement and environmental site assessments.
His notable private and public sector work includes:
- Served as environmental counsel for the purchaser of the RACER Willow Run "Arsenal of Democracy" site located in Ypsilanti Township, now home to one of the nation's premier automated and connected vehicle technology research and development facilities.
- Provided environmental transaction support to a Chinese-based client in the multimillion-dollar purchase of a sprawling float glass manufacturing complex.
- Served as a Michigan Cabinet Member responsible for the administration and oversight of Michigan's air quality, water and wetland resources, land management, and remediation and redevelopment programs.
- Represented both private and public sector clients in state and federal environmental litigation, and in appellate advocacy before the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court, and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Chester is the chairman of the nonprofit Center for Climate Strategies, which helps countries with climate change and energy programs to be implemented at the provincial or national level. The center has assisted 25 states, including Michigan, and numerous foreign provincial governments develop climate and energy plans. The small and nimble organization has also worked with China, Mexico, Congo, Ghana and the EU.
Chester is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Environmental Lawyers. He has been recognized in "Best Lawyers in America" for Environmental Law every year since 1995. He is an active member of the American Bar Association Section of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law and the SEMCOG Water Resources Task Force for Southeast Michigan. He served as an editor of the State Bar of Michigan Environmental Law Journal. Chester also served on the Small Business Clean Air Act Compliance Advisory Panel and was the director of the Air and Waste Management Association East Michigan Chapter from 1997 to 2001.