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Tyler Williams

Tyler Williams helps clients navigate complex regulatory questions and high-stakes commercial disputes. He advises both corporations and not-for-profits on how to prepare for and address climate change. As a litigator, Tyler’s experience with complex disputes in both state and federal court enables him to take on fast-moving, high-stakes matters in a variety of settings.

Tyler works with clients in a number of industries, including technology, financial services, and energy, among others, using his substantive experience in various stages of litigation, including:

  • dispositive motions;
  • depositions; and
  • fact and expert discovery.

Tyler has first chaired numerous depositions and drafted successful motions at various stages of litigation.

He also maintains an active pro bono practice, including helping not-for-profits explore novel ways to respond to climate change. Tyler was also part of a cross-office Covington team that successfully challenged the government’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

As noted in our COP27 recap, this year’s climate summit in Sharm el-Sheik involved both the historic creation of a fund to compensate countries most impacted by climate change, as well as lost opportunities to adopt more ambitious and accelerated climate mitigation commitments.  Perhaps hidden between these headlines, President Biden announced an initiative with significant implications for federal contractors.  Under this proposal, the United States would become the first country to require major government suppliers and contractors to set science-based emissions reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement.  It would also require contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate risks. 

This initiative—the proposed Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule—would have wide-reaching impacts if ultimately finalized.  Collectively, the proposed rule would cover about 86 percent of the federal government’s supply chain GHG impacts and 86 percent of federal annual spending.  To put this in perspective, in the last fiscal year alone the United States purchased $630 billion in goods and services.

The comment period for the proposed Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule closes on January 13, 2023.  The proposed compliance requirements for major contractors would start two years after publication of a final rule.  If promulgated, this rule may be challenged in court along the lines of the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors. 

Continue Reading US Government Proposes Rule Requiring Major Federal Contractors to Disclose Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Establish Science-Based Emissions Reduction Targets

On October 5, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced its plan to streamline the typical review process for Mixed Metal Oxides (“MMOs”), including certain cathode active materials, which are key components in electric vehicles’ lithium-ion batteries, as well as clean energy generation and storage technology, including wind turbines and solar cells.  MMOs can