Zausmer, P.C. is a Michigan law firm with a long-standing reputation for resolving complex environmental challenges. Our attorneys represent clients in high-stakes litigation, regulatory matters, and transactions involving contaminated properties, redevelopment, and enforcement actions. With decades of experience, we bring sharp legal strategy and deep regulatory knowledge to every matter, in court, at the negotiating table, and during site redevelopment.
Our environmental law team is led by Michael Caldwell, one of Michigan’s most respected environmental litigators. He has defended clients in some of the state’s most closely watched cases, including one of Michigan’s longest-running environmental enforcement actions. We handle disputes involving Superfund and Part 201 cost recovery, groundwater contamination, toxic torts, wetlands permitting, and environmental insurance. Our attorneys have successfully litigated class actions and defended against claims exceeding $100 million, while also securing multimillion-dollar insurance recoveries to fund cleanups.
Zausmer advises clients on structuring complex real estate and business transactions involving environmentally impacted sites. We negotiate prospective purchaser agreements, covenants-not-to-sue, and allocation provisions with regulators to mitigate risk and unlock value in redevelopment. Our work supports clients across sectors–manufacturing, industrial, municipal, and energy–seeking practical solutions that align business goals with environmental responsibility and long-term project success.
Our infrastructure and energy practices extend the firm’s environmental expertise into project development, permitting, and land use strategy. We help clients navigate permitting, land use, and litigation tied to renewable energy development, including utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage projects.
Steve Estey, who leads our renewable energy and real estate practice groups, brings decades of experience guiding complex infrastructure projects across Michigan. A former equity partner at an Am Law 200 firm, he represents Fortune 500 companies, utilities, and developers in zoning, siting, and entitlement matters. Steve regularly appears before planning commissions and municipal boards, forging productive relationships with decision-makers to secure project approvals. His team also handles eminent domain, easement disputes, and related litigation essential to advancing energy and infrastructure development.
Whether defending a major enforcement action, remediating a contaminated site, or guiding the development of clean energy infrastructure, Zausmer’s environmental and energy attorneys bring discipline, insight, and a track record of results. Our work helps clients meet today’s regulatory and reputational demands while positioning projects for long-term viability.
About Michael Caldwell
As leader of the firm’s environmental law practice and a member of the litigation team, Michael Caldwell brings a creative problem-solving mindset and a broad range of experience to his clients’ litigation, regulatory, and transactional needs. Не takes great pride in providing real value to his clients with results-oriented and cost-effective legal counsel.
Mike has represented Fortune 50 companies, municipalities, small businesses, and individuals in a variety of complex litigation matters, including environmental and general civil disputes. As one of the foremost environmental litigators in the state, he has handled cases, including class actions, involving soil and groundwater remediation claims, Superfund and Part 201 cost recovery, toxic torts, wetlands permits, mold disputes, and environmental insurance coverage in both state and federal courts. In one matter, he successfully defended an environmental suit seeking over $130 million in response costs, and in another case, he secured environmental insurance proceeds of $10 million.
Mike regularly leverages his ability as a litigator to obtain the optimal results for his clients. A prime example is his role as lead litigation counsel for a client mired in a politically-charged environmental enforcement action regarding one of the largest groundwater contamination sites in Michigan. After challenging the State of Michigan’s initial cleanup plan in court, he obtained court approval of the client’s proposed remediation program, which provided feasible and cost-effective protection for human health and the environment. His leadership was invaluable in the same matter when the discovery of another plume of contamination in a heavily congested residential neighborhood sparked further public outcry and calls for the company to rectify the problem with a technically infeasible government plan with a ruinous price tag. Mike helped the client weather the public relations storm and devised, litigated, and obtained judicial approval of a realistic cleanup plan that saved the client upwards of $60 million – all in the face of intense political opposition. In addition, he has also obtained successful results for clients in cases involving business contract disputes, insurance coverage claims, and other civil litigation matters.
Outside the courts, Mike has utilized creative strategies and out-of-the-box thinking to help developers and municipalities secure sites for electrical power generating plants, bulk petroleum distribution facilities, and residential developments on environmentally challenged properties, and has successfully negotiated prospective purchaser agreements and covenants-not-to-sue with both federal and state agencies in connection with such brownfield projects. He regularly advises clients on brownfield redevelopment, land use issues, and real estate conveyances. And as a member of several stakeholder groups that regularly meet with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Mike has helped shape the statutory amendments and administrative rules that comprise our state’s environmental laws. He is the Firm’s representative on the prestigious Environmental Law Network, an association of firms with elite environmental law expertise.
Mike earned his undergraduate degree from James Madison College at Michigan State University and his law degree from the University of Michigan. He is active with various sections of the State Bar of Michigan and served on the Environmental Law Section Council from 2009 to 2012. He has also received various honors, including selection by his peers to the annual lists of Best Lawyers in America, DBusiness Top Lawyers, and SuperLawyers.
About John A. Lewsley
An attorney in Appellate, Energy Infrastructure, and Eminent Domain practice groups, John Lewsley is a results-oriented lawyer who specializes in effective legal research, dispositive motions and complex appeals.
John works to ensure that clients are well-equipped with the information needed to confront challenging legal issues.
John began his career at the Michigan Court of Appeals as a research attorney. While there, he worked on appeals pending before one of the highest volume intermediate appellate courts. John’s work at the Court of Appeals involved a wide array of matters including complex commercial disputes, enforcement of foreign judgments, constitutional law issues, appeals from the Michigan Court of Claims, and novel questions involving statutory interpretation.
John received both his Bachelor of Arts in History and his law degree from the University of Michigan. While in law school, he served as a student attorney as part of the Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic, and as a Board Member of Michigan Law’s Privacy and Technology Law Association.
About Carla A. Valdes
Carla Valdes combines her extensive scientific expertise and legal insight to guide clients through complex environmental and eminent domain matters.
With a strong foundation in geology and years of experience in environmental research and enforcement, Carla brings a unique perspective to her legal practice. After earning a Master of Science in Geology from the University of Utah, she worked on high-impact environmental projects, including mercury contamination in the Great Salt Lake and groundwater contamination plumes. Her tenure at the EPA honed her skills in compliance enforcement and policy analysis, which now inform her strategic approach to litigation and client advocacy.
At Zausmer, Carla divides her time between environmental litigation and eminent domain matters. She handles high-stakes environmental cases, including those involving hazardous contaminants, and works on renewable energy initiatives. Known for her ability to navigate complex scientific reports and data, Carla conducts in-depth research to address issues at the intersection of environmental law and science.
Carla’s approach emphasizes meticulous preparation and a deep understanding of the scientific and regulatory frameworks that shape her cases. Whether drafting research memos on the environmental impacts of transmission lines or analyzing decades of data in groundwater contamination cases, she is dedicated to delivering thorough, well-supported recommendations to her clients.
