Louis (Luke) Dodge is a member of the firm’s Environmental Law Practice group and concentrates on complex environmental litigation matters, regulatory enforcement actions, and toxic torts. Luke’s practice is focused on pursuing and defending complex environmental litigation matters with a focus on contribution and cost recovery claims, corporate successor liability, natural resource damages, and soil and groundwater contamination.

Recently, Luke served as a member of LSSH’s trial team, trying a six-week multi-defendant CERCLA contribution action before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Luke played a key role in that trial, taking direct- and cross-examination of expert witnesses, arguing countless evidentiary objections, and shepherding hundreds of documents into evidence in a case that largely turned on so-called ancient records.

Prior to joining LSSH, Luke had a diverse array of experience in complex civil litigation, having represented corporate clients in federal courts across the country and in numerous state court actions. Luke assists and advises clients on regulatory matters and litigates claims involving Comprehensive Environmental Resource Recovery and Liability Act (CERCLA), the New Jersey Spill Act, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and other federal and state environmental matters.

Extended Profile

Prior to joining Langsam Stevens Silver & Hollaender LLP, Luke was a judicial law clerk in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey for the Honorable Rukhsanah L. Singh, U.S.M.J. Prior to clerking, Luke advised a diverse array of insurers on life and property/casualty insurance matters. In connection with that work, Luke serviced several clients as to insurance coverage issues arising from energy and utilities law liabilities in connection with the 2021 Texas winter storm and power outages.

Luke is a proud alumnus of Seton Hall Law School, where he served as Executive Editor of the Seton Hall Law Review. Luke was also a member of the Center for Policy and Research, where he contributed to an article analyzing a Guantanamo Bay detainee’s drawing of enhanced interrogation techniques employed at that facility and at black sites around the world. Luke also participated in Seton Hall’s Impact Litigation Clinic, where he co-authored an amicus brief submitted to the New Jersey Supreme Court, in which he successfully advocating for New Jersey’s adoption of rules preventing against implicit bias in the use of peremptory challenges to juror selection in State v. Andujar. Finally, Luke served as Vice President of Seton Hall’s chapter of the American Constitution Society.

Representative Experience

• Lead Plaintiff’s counsel in a CERCLA Litigation action with over one hundred Potential Responsible Parties (PRPs)
• Advised industrial manufacturing client on compliance with state waste disposal regulations in response to Notice of Violation
• Represented homeowner in nuisance and trespass dispute with neighboring property due to flooding from stormwater runoff

Awards and Affiliations

• Member of the New Jersey Bar Association

Community Involvement

• Member, Board of Directors | Speak, Inc.

Publications and Presentations

• Why Pa. Push For Brownfield Renewables May Not Be Enough (Law360 Expert Analysis)
• Supreme Court to Review State Law Climate Torts, with Implications for State Climate Superfund Push
• New Jersey Remedial Action Permit (RAP) Amendments
• Superfund or Superfluous: A Primer on the Fight Over State Climate Superfund Laws
• New Jersey’s Recycled Content Law: Compliance, Reporting, and Legal Stakes
• What’s On Your Hat? Re-examining Rule 26’s Protections for Dual-Hat Experts
• American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantanamo, Seton Hall Law School Center for Policy and Research (May 17, 2023) (Contributor)
• You Say Yes, I Say No: Insulating the Initiative Power Against Legislative Tampering in Voting and Electoral Reforms, 51 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1317 (2021)