Terry D. Avchen, Attorney

Terry D. Avchen received a Bachelor of Arts degree and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1974. In 1977, he graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles Law School as a member of both the U.C.L.A. Law Review and Moot Court.

In 1980, Mr. Avchen joined Wyman, Bautzer, Christensen, Kuchel & Silbert as an associate. He became a partner with that firm in 1984. In 1988, he became one of the founding partners of the Firm. Mr. Avchen serves as chair of the Environmental Practice Group and is one of the firm's senior partners.

Los Angeles Magazine recently named Mr. Avchen as one of its "2004 Super Lawyers." Mr. Avchen describes his practice as "dynamic, with an emphasis on complex matters." His clients include companies from all over the country. In the course of Mr. Avchen's years of experience as an environmental attorney, he has successfully represented numerous clients, including Bank of America, MGM Grand, Northern Trust, Huffy Corporation, MGM, Vintage Petroleum, Santa Fe Energy, Unocal, along with numerous real estate developers. His practice covers virtually every area of environmental law.

Recent representations include the following:

Complex Environmental Settlement. Mr. Avchen has recently been asked to help engineer a settlement involving an environmentally impacted property valued in excess of $200 million.

San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site. Mr. Avchen represented one of the major potentially responsible parties in negotiating and reaching a deal with EPA and local water purveyors in one of the largest and most innovative clean-up efforts of its kind.

Toxic Tort Litigation. Mr. Avchen currently represents a major industrial defendant in the Coordinated Groundwater cases pending in Los Angeles County. He has also successfully represented many other defendants in the San Fernando Valley Toxic Tort Litigation and has been involved in numerous toxic tort cases throughout the years.

Cost Recovery Litigation. Mr. Avchen successfully represented a major utility in cost recovery litigation against numerous oil companies and industrial companies. The case was resolved by payment to Mr. Avchen's client of all costs and attorneys' fees.

Oil and Gas Disputes. Mr. Avchen currently represents a publicly traded oil and gas company in a variety of environmental clean-up disputes.

Mr. Avchen has lectured widely on a variety of environmental topics, including complex real estate transactions, environmental insurance, Prop 65 and environmental law from a business perspective. Some of his publications include Responding to a CERCLA Section 104(e) Request for Information published in Los Angeles Lawyer and "Caveat Lender: Strategies for Secured Creditors to Avoid CERCLA Liability," published in The Corporate Counselor.

Mr. Avchen and his wife have been involved with People Assisting The Homeless (P.A.T.H.), an organization assisting homeless people on the west side of Los Angeles since 1984. They have been instrumental in the development of P.A.T.H., and in 1999 received the P.A.T.H. Founders Award. He coaches little league baseball and resides in Beverly Hills with his wife and their son.