(T) (202) 789-6029

  dcannon@bdlaw.com
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1350 I Street, N.W.
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005-3311
Washington

• Corporate Transactional
• Environmental Audits and Compliance Assessments
• Environmental Due Diligence
• Environmental Management
• Multinational Corporate Assessments
• Environmental

• University of Alabama (B.S., Management, summa cum laude, 1978)
• Georgetown University (J.D., cum laude, 1981)

• District of Columbia
• U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• American Bar Association

Holly Cannon has been an attorney with Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. since 1981 and was the Managing Principal of the firm from 1996 to 2001. Her practice is concentrated in the areas of environmental transactions, managing environmental assessments and due diligence, and environmental and commercial counseling.

Ms. Cannon has counseled clients on a variety of environmental issues throughout her career. She regularly assists parties involved in corporate and real estate transactions in identifying and allocating the potential environmental liabilities associated with such transactions. This work includes, in particular, drafting and negotiating environmental representations, warranties, indemnities, covenants and other contractual provisions, as well as evaluating and implementing alternatives to traditional liability allocation mechanisms, such as environmental insurance policies.  A recent focus of Ms. Cannon’s practice has been "product stewardship" and similar measures enacted by US and foreign authorities to regulate product design, ban or restrict the use of certain chemicals, expand environmental labeling and certification programs, and manage end-of-life consumer and commercial products, including in particular the impact of such measures on transactions involving these regulated products. 

Ms. Cannon has acted as environmental counsel in a wide variety of transactions, and has helped many clients develop, evaluate and improve their environmental management systems and programs. Examples of her work include:

• The representation of one of two general partners in a joint venture formed to develop and operate a waste paper processing facility on a brownfields property.

• The evaluation of certain assets associated with the manufacture, formulation and registration of a fungicide product for the potential purchaser of the assets, and subsequent representation of the purchaser in connection with the acquisition of those assets and related rights and obligations necessary for commercialization of the product.

• The representation of a local redevelopment agency in connection with the successful early transfer to the agency of a former military installation. This work included the negotiation and drafting of agreements with the Department of the Army and with another local governmental entity regarding the terms and conditions of the transfer, including the scope of and responsibility for extensive environmental remediation activities. Also included as part of this project was the negotiation of a base-specific environmental insurance policy from a major insurer.

• The review and evaluation of the environmental management programs of a Fortune 50 company with subsidiaries manufacturing a number of different types of consumer goods. This review included an assessment of whether the environmental management programs being implemented likely would meet the definition in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines of an "effective program to prevent and deter violations of law." Recommendations were made to the parent company's management, and the review was then updated at a later date to determine whether the recommendations had been implemented or other improvements made.

Ms. Cannon often lectures on environmental due diligence topics, including the SEC's environmental reporting obligations. She has also addressed groups of corporate officials on environmental disclosure and related issues relevant to accountants and other corporate finance officials. She serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Environmental Education Foundation and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation. Ms. Cannon was selected by her peers as one of the world's leading environmental lawyers in "Who's Who Legal: USA Environment 2006" and "International Who's Who of Environment Lawyers" for 2008 and 2009.