Bernard F. Hawkins is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. He has substantive experience in all aspects of environmental law, toxic tort and pharmaceutical/drug and medical device litigation. 

Mr. Hawkins has devoted a substantial portion of his practice to air quality issues.  He has been involved in permitting, compliance counseling, and defending enforcement actions for multi-faceted stationary sources subject to provisions of the Clean Air Act, including those subject to Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) requirements, non-attainment requirements, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (“NESHAP”) provisions, New Source Performance Standards (“NSPS”) requirements, Title V operating permit requirements and other stationary source state permitting requirements derived from State Implementation Plans (“SIPs”).  Mr. Hawkins has served as Chair and as a Vice Chair of the Air Quality Committee for the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Environment, Energy and Resources Section. He currently serves as Vice Chair for the Climate Change Sustainable Development and Ecosystems Committee for the ABA Section of Environment, Energy & Resources. Mr. Hawkins also serves as a Vice Chair of the Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law Committee for the ABA’s Business Law Section. He was selected among national practitioners to author The New Source Review chapter of the ABA’s Clean Air Act Handbook, and for several years he served as editor of the Air Quality Committee Annual Report for the Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law’s Year in Review, a publication of the ABA and the University of Tulsa College of Law. 

Mr. Hawkins has significant experience in dealing with indoor environmental quality issues, including experience with response to issues involving mold, asbestos, dioxin, metals, PCBs, and chemical co-polymers. Mr. Hawkins counsels clients concerning compliance with applicable regulations and guidelines addressing indoor environmental quality, developing and preparing preventive maintenance and response plans to address indoor environmental quality issues, and in defending clients in enforcement actions and/or in litigation involving such issues. 

Mr. Hawkins has managed site remediation matters on a national and international basis for Fortune 500 companies. A leading U.S. manufacturer retained Mr. Hawkins to manage and resolve Superfund and RCRA cases across the country. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved Mr. Hawkins and his Group members to act as special environmental counsel for a major manufacturing company during the company’s bankruptcy process. Mr. Hawkins has served as lead counsel in the resolution of numerous CERCLA and RCRA cases. Recently, a leading corporate client retained Mr. Hawkins to coordinate the resolution of a chemical regulation dispute in all U.S. jurisdictions and numerous other countries. In addition to CERCLA and RCRA case experience, Mr. Hawkins has represented clients in cases involving Clean Air, Clean Water, TSCA, FIFRA, EPCRA, NEPA, and the Endangered Species Act. 

In the hazardous and solid waste arena, Mr. Hawkins has represented clients in permitting matters, compliance counseling, compliance dispute resolution, negotiation of consent orders and decrees, and in administrative appeals, including resolution of permitting appeals.

Mr. Hawkins has advanced undergraduate and/or graduate education in biology, physical chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, spectrometry, genetics, cell biology, embryology, histology, and gross anatomy. The application of his scientific knowledge enhances Mr. Hawkins’ effectiveness in counseling clients, and developing expert issues, including those raised in risk assessment evaluations and complex science-based disputes.

Mr. Hawkins applies his scientific background and legal training in working nationally on science-based litigation (including toxic tort, pharmaceutical/drug and medical device and environmental disputes), with a focus on expert witness issues. 

Mr. Hawkins is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2001-2012 editions), and was listed in the National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals. In addition to ABA leadership, Mr. Hawkins is a member of the Air and Waste Management Association, the American Chemical Society, the Carolinas Air Pollution Control Association, the Defense Research Institute, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Technical Committee and Air Subcommittee, and he is on the Board of the United Way of the Midland’s Tocqueville Society. 

Mr. Hawkins is a member of the South Carolina Bar, and he is admitted to practice before the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. 

In 1990, Mr. Hawkins earned a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of South Carolina School of Law where he was named to The Order of the Coif. As a law student, he served as Associate Editor in Chief of the South Carolina Law Review and was a member of the Order of Wig and Robe. In 1986, Mr. Hawkins earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology, magna cum laude, from the University of South Carolina, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.