GC Influencers
Most Influential GCs - USA
Mitchell Bernard of Natural Resources Defense Council
Few organizations are as adept at using the justice system to pursue environmental causes as the National Resources Defense Council, which has brought lawsuits against the Trump Administration over 80 times within the past two years. In charge of this mammoth legal effort is the NRDC’s chief counsel, Mitchell Bernard, who coordinates a slew of environmental and human health litigation claims alongside a team of over 30 litigation specialists.
Bernard has spent almost three decades at the organization, having earlier held roles in private practice, the Department of Justice and, for a short period, as a lyricist and songwriter. Over the course of his career, he has brought a multitude of lawsuits against household name corporates as well as governmental agencies, with the organization’s current caseload including disputes over offshore oil and gas drilling, litigation challenging reductions to the Bears Ears National Monument and representing citizens of Flint, Michigan, in claims arising out of its water crisis.