LaJuana Wilcher decided to go to law school in the 1970s after working for the U.S. National Park Service as a naturalist and cave guide at the longest cave in the world, Mammoth Cave. Her ambition was not to be just a lawyer, but to be an Environmental Lawyer. In 1983, she became the Special Assistant to the General Counsel at EPA in Washington, DC, beginning a career of serving in a myriad of environmental law roles. She was nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA in 1989, where she was the national program manager for all things wet, setting policy for issues including wetlands, NPDES permitting, drinking water regulation, CSOs, stormwater regulation, water infrastructure and non-point source pollution. She has been the only woman in EPAs history to have served in that position. She was a partner in major international law firms in D.C. for over a decade before moving to her home county in southern Kentucky to practice law and to farm the 100 acres she bought at auction in 2003. She subsequently served as Secretary of the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. In private law practice,, LaJuana continues to represent large and small corporations, municipalities, individuals and associations in permitting, regulatory interpretation, legislative issues, enforcement matters, and litigation. During her career, she also developed and taught environmental law classes at Vermont Law School (summers) and at Vanderbilt University Law School (adjunct). Since becoming a farmer, LaJuana has raised and raced thoroughbred horses, grown a herd of grass- fed, antibiotic-free Angus cattle, and harvested alfalfa and orchard grass hay. She was elected serve on the Board of the Warren County Conservation District, and is a Certified Crop Advisor, a Master Grazer and a Master Cattleman. She has served on the Board of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac) (NYSE AGM) since 2019, and has been Board Chair since 2020.
Work Phone:
270-781-6500
Email:
lwilcher@elpolaw.com
Website:
https://www.elpolaw.com/attorneys/lajuana-s-wilcher
EPA Region:
Region 4 – (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, and TN)
Year of induction:
2020
Degrees:
B.S., Biology 1977, Western Kentucky University
J.D. 1980, Salmon P.. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University
Admissions:
District of Columbia
Kentucky
Court Admissions:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
U. S. Supreme Court
Professional Societies and Organizations:
American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy and Resources
Kentucky Bar Association
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors
American Water Works Association (Honorary Member)
Women Corporate Directors
Other Environmental Career Experience:
Special Assistant to the General Counsel, US EPA 1983 -1985
Assistant to the Deputy Administrator, US EPA 1985 - 1986
Associate, Partner, Bishop, Cook, Purcell & Reynolds 1986-1989
Assistant Administrator for Water, US EPA, 1989 - 1993
Partner, Winston & Strawn 1993-1996
Partner, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Green & McRae, LLP 1996 - 2002
Secretary, Kentucky Environmental and Protection cabinet 2003-2006
Partner, English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP 2002-2003, 2006-Present
Summer Professor, Vermont Law School
Adjunct Professor, Vanderbilt University Law School
Representative Publications:
Environmental Aspects of Real Estate and Commercial TransactionsEnvironmental Aspects of Real Estate and Commercial Transactions - Acquisition, Development and Liability Management, Co-author, Chapter 22 (Wetlands), American Bar Association, 2021
Wetlands and the Constitutional Balance, National Wetlands Newsletter, March-April 1995
From Flammable to Fishable, The Story of Improving U.S. Water Quality, water Pollution Law and Liability, June 1992