Area of Emphasis
Rick Wiedman is a shareholder in the Environmental Group of Babst Calland. Mr. Wiedman has concentrated his practice in the areas of environmental business counseling and environmental litigation since 1980. He represents clients before federal and state environmental agencies, counsels clients on regulatory compliance issues, and advises on environmental considerations in a variety of business transactions. He also devotes significant time to the negotiation and prosecution of environmental permit and regulatory challenges, the defense of federal and state enforcement actions, and the representation of clients in remedial action/corrective action and cost recovery matters under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and their state counterparts.
His experience reflects the interrelationship of the major regulatory programs as they pertain to industrial activities. Many of the projects with which he is involved require the coordination of multidisciplinary efforts where creative engineering and technical approaches are often critical to the development and success of legal/regulatory strategy. In this regard, he works closely with experts and outside consultants in diverse fields including engineering design, analytical and applied chemistry, hydro-geology, marine biology, meteorology, and computer dispersion modeling.
Background
Mr. Wiedman earned his B.A, magna cum laude, from Tufts University in 1977. He received his J.D. in 1980 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1980, where he was Editor of the Case Western Reserve Law Review.
Memberships and Affiliations
Mr. Wiedman is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and American Bar associations. Mr. Wiedman served on the board of trustees of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation from 2009 to 2019 and was president from 2015-2017. He continues to serve on several Foundation committees. For the last fifteen years he has served on the board of the Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society where he served as president from 2012 to 2014. He continues to serve on the Chapter’s Board Development Committee.
Mr. Wiedman has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Energy Regulatory Law since 2025 and Environmental Law in the 2025 edition. He is rated by Martindale-Hubbell as AV Preeminent, Peer Rated for the Highest Level of Professional Excellence.
Publications/Presentations
Mr. Wiedman has lectured and served as a panelist at numerous seminars involving changes in environmental regulatory programs, enforcement initiatives, and environmental concerns in commercial transactions.
