Attorney at Butler Snow
Ms. Heusel is an attorney at Butler Snow with 15 years of experience as a professional engineer in both the public and private sectors. With this, she applies a practical mindset to help clients navigate the technical rigors of environmental regulations and find cost-effective solutions to today’s regulatory challenges.

Attorney and Member at Bone McAllester Norton
Ms. Jacobs concentrates her practice in the areas of environmental, regulatory, local government, land use and administrative law. She is an experienced regulatory lawyer and litigator who represents companies, local governments, and not-for-profit organizations in administrative, regulatory, environmental, zoning, land use, and municipal law. Ms. Jacobs has represented clients before administrative boards and at the state, federal, and local levels. Because of Ms. Jacob’s excellent work, clients can focus on their business and not be caught in protracted environmental litigation. She has successfully defended numerous businesses and local governments. Ms. Jacobs serves as the city attorney for Oak Hill.

Attorney and Partner at Butler Snow
Mr. Knight practices in Butler Snow’s Toxic Torts and Environmental Litigation Group. He has represented a wide variety of environmental clients including construction companies, financial institutions, manufacturing facilities, electric utility systems, real estate developers and energy companies. His experience ranges from state enforcement actions to the defense of federal citizen suits to matters of regulatory compliance and environmental remediation and brownfield projects. Throughout his practice, he has focused on issues involving the Clean Water Act, RCRA, CERCLA, ESA, TSCA (PCBs), FTC greenwashing and water allocation matters.

William L. (Bill) Penny has a wide range of environmental legal experience at the federal, state and local levels. He focuses primarily on advice and litigation regarding natural resource law, wetlands, water quality, and mining. He also represents clients in CERCLA litigation, RCRA matters, and brownfield redevelopment. Mr. Penny has represented numerous utilities and individuals in federal and state citizen complaints. He regularly counsels clients on environmental compliance issues and represents businesses in permit appeals, enforcement, and advocacy before federal and state environmental boards and agencies, including the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Penny was one of the founders and was the first chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Tennessee Bar Association, and in 2013 he was elected chair of ABA’s Section on Environment, Energy & Resources (“SEER”). He was the first general counsel for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and served as general counsel for the former Department of Health and Environment for many years. Mr. Penny is rated “AV Preeminent© Peer Review Rating” in Martindale-Hubbell. He is recognized in Chambers USA, since 2010 as tier 1 for environmental law. He was listed in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2005 for Environmental Litigation and Environmental Law, and was named as “Lawyer of the Year” on four occasions, including 2025. He has been named by Mid-South Super Lawyers since 2006 and was listed in the publication in either the top 50 or 100 lawyers in Tennessee numerous times. The Nashville Business Journal named him “Best of the Bar” at least 10 times since 2006. The Nashville Post listed him as “In Charge: Legal” at least eight times.

Professor of Law and the lead land use attorney at the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic at the West Virginia University College of Law
Before coming to WVU, Jesse Richardson was an associate professor at Virginia Tech. His research and experience focuses on land use law and water law. He began his legal career in private practice in his home town of Winchester, Virginia. Mr. Richardson has served on the board of directors of the American Agricultural Law Association where he was both President-Elect and President. Mr. Richardson previously served on the Virginia Water Policy Technical Advisory Committee. He was honored with the 1999 Professional Scholarship Award from the American Agricultural Law Association, the 2004 William E. Wine Award for a history of teaching excellence from Virginia Tech (the highest teaching award granted by the university), and the 2009 University Certificate of Excellence in Outreach.