Panoramic: Automotive and Mobility 2025
Katherine Vanderhook-Gomez
Partner Global Regulatory
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Overview
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Experience
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Credentials
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Insights and events
Kathy is co-lead of the Chemical and Industrial Products Sector Group. She has unsurpassed expertise in environmental compliance and enforcement, drawing from her extensive experience across federal prosecution and corporate counsel roles. As a former federal environmental prosecutor and corporate environmental counsel, Kathy is well known at both the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency and has deep experience in compliance counseling and civil litigation across federal and state environmental statutes. At DOJ, she spearheaded civil enforcement actions for the EPA across major statutes including the Clean Air Act, CERCLA, Clean Water Act, and RCRA. Her deep understanding of both DOJ and EPA operations enables her to anticipate regulatory focus and navigate complex enforcement landscapes with strategic precision. Her corporate experience at a publicly-traded American multinational conglomerate demonstrates exceptional capability in liability risk management and addressing reputational harm from environmental challenges. Kathy excels at advising executives and technical teams on enterprise-level issues, particularly emerging contaminants like PFAS, while developing comprehensive environmental sustainability strategies. She skillfully manages complex commercial transactions involving contaminated properties and represents clients in intricate remediation and redevelopment negotiations with federal and state agencies.
Representative experience
Represent an international specialty chemicals company in complex air and construction permitting matters with state and federal governments.
Represent an international liquid chemical and gas tank storage company to successfully resolve alleged violations of the CAA in an enforcement investigation by DOJ and state environmental department.
Represent an international airline in negotiating costs and potential liability while managing PFAS contamination at a major airport.
Advise an energy company in resolving alleged RCRA violations and permitting issues at its largest petroleum terminal.
Represent a major multinational conglomerate before DOJ, EPA, state authorities, and foreign regulatory and legislative bodies related to a broad range of environmental issues relating to PFAS.*
Advised clients on environmental matters with enterprise-level potential impacts for a large, publicly-traded, multi-national manufacturing company.*
Provided environmental legal advice to executive management and business partners in environmental compliance and enforcement matters across federal and state environmental statutes.*
Represented clients before DOJ and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state environmental and natural resource agencies in environmental compliance and remediation matters. *
Led civil enforcement matters on behalf of EPA under the Clean Air Act, RCRA, Clean Water Act, CERCLA, and other environmental statutes as a member of US DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Section.*
*Matter handled prior to joining Hogan Lovells.
Credentials
Education
- J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude, 2002
- Master of Public Administration, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2002
- B.A., Swarthmore College, phi beta kappa, 1997
Bar admissions and qualifications
- District of Columbia
- New York
Court admissions
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit