Government Experience

  • Department of Justice: Environment & Natural Resources Division—Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Section (2009-2019)

Education

  • Johns Hopkins University, B.A. (2001) cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
  • Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. (2004) cum laude

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • New York

Amanda Shafer Berman

Partner
aberman@crowell.com
+1.202.688.3451

Amanda Shafer Berman is a partner in the Environment & Natural Resources and Litigation groups in the Washington, D.C. office. She is a lead member of the firm’s Appellate Practice group, as well as a member of the Education Practice and the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group.

Amanda draws on her extensive appellate and district court experience to achieve successful outcomes for clients in a wide variety of environmental and non-environmental litigation. She also advises clients on climate change issues, including existing and anticipated greenhouse gas emissions regulations. Amanda’s recent work at Crowell & Moring includes:

  • Obtaining dismissal of a challenge to a municipal water authority client’s expansion of a dam and reservoir, and the ongoing defense of that decision before the 10th Circuit;
  • Representing several chemical company clients in defending challenges to pesticide products before the 9th Circuit;
  • Successfully defending, in the 5th Circuit, a favorable decision below on behalf of a major beverage company in a trademark suit;
  • Representing an Ivy League university in several challenges to student disciplinary decisions brought under Title IX in federal district court;
  • Securing and maintaining an injunction barring application of a tariff on utility-grade solar panels at the Court of International Trade on behalf of a solar developer client;
  • Representing a college in regard to claims arising out of a student suicide;
  • Representing an aircraft manufacturer before the D.C. Circuit in litigation addressing the EPA’s first-ever greenhouse gas regulations;
  • Obtaining dismissal of breach of contract and discrimination claims brought against a local university in connection with its lease of property to a food vendor (D.D.C.);
  • Briefing on behalf of a railroad client in the 4th Circuit in defense of the dismissal of tort and contract claims; and
  • Successfully arguing before the 4th Circuit on behalf of an asylum-seeker, resulting in a precedential decision addressing several important points of immigration law.

Prior to joining the firm in 2019, Amanda served as a senior attorney in the Department of Justice’s Environmental Defense Section. She briefed and argued over a dozen cases in the federal Courts of Appeals, winning all matters in which a decision was rendered. These included seminal environmental cases defending the Obama Administration’s first greenhouse gas regulations for industrial sources as well as the “Clean Power Plan,” which Amanda defended in argument before the en banc D.C. Circuit.

Amanda is a five-time recipient of the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Excellence, and sits on the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee. Early in her career, she briefed appellate cases, conducted internal investigations, and litigated in numerous federal courts as an associate at another leading law firm.


Affiliations

Admitted to practice: District of Columbia, New York, U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Fifth Circuit, Seventh Circuit, and Ninth Circuit

Professional Activities and Memberships

  • Appointed to the D.C. Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Procedures (2017-2020 term)
  • Adjunct Professor at Howard University School of Law (2007-2013)

Speeches & Presentations

  • "Executive Action to Implement Federal Policy for Public Lands – History, Limitations, and Longevity," Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s 67th Annual Institute, Public Lands Section (July 21, 2021). Presenter: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Everything Electric Vehicles: The Electric Vehicle and the Environment," Crowell & Moring Webinar (May 20, 2021). Presenters: Amanda Berman, Jennifer Giblin, Thomas Lorenzen.
  • “Regulatory Roulette: The State of Play Under the CAA, CWA, and Other Environmental Statutes,” Institute of Energy Law Annual Conferences (March 24, 2021). Presenter: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • “The New Normal of ESG Virtual Conference: Rejoining the Paris Climate Change Agreement and Looking at the Green New Deal-Public Policy and Legal Implications for Corporate Counsel,” American Bar Association - Section of International Law (February 10, 2021). Panelist: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Biden First 100 Days: A Look at the Laws Impacting the New Administration’s Regulatory Priorities," Crowell & Moring Webinar (January 22, 2021). Presenters: Amanda Shafer Berman, Daniel W. Wolff, S. Starling Marshall, and Byron R. Brown.
  • "Part 1 - Higher Education and the Biden Administration’s Priorities: Are there significant changes ahead?" Crowell & Moring Webinar (January 19, 2021). Presenters: Amanda Shafer Berman, Caroline E. Brown, Astor Heaven, Laurel Pyke Malson, Rebecca L. Springer, Suzanne E. Rode, and Eli Berns-Zieve
  • "A New Day in DC: How the Administration May Take Action on Climate, Air, and Water Issues," American Foundry Society (December 17, 2020). Speaker: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Climate 2021: Preparing for the Legal, Regulatory, Policy and Shareholder Challenges Ahead," Crowell & Moring and Crowell & Moring International Webinar (December 9, 2020). Moderator: Ambassador Robert Holleyman; Panelists: David B. Blair, Thomas A. Lorenzen, Amanda Shafer Berman, Himamauli Das, and Joshua Boswell.
  • "Northern Plains Resource Council v. U.S. Army Corps and Nationwide Permits," Clean Water Act 2020: Law & Regulation Webcast (December 4, 2020). Presenter: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Climate and CAA Regulation Under the Biden Administration," Edison Electric Institute Webinar (December 2, 2020). Speaker: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Election 2020: Environmental Law and Policy," Crowell & Moring Webinar (October 28, 2020). Presenters: David Chung, Robert Meyers, Byron R. Brown, Paul Freeman, Amanda Shafer Berman, Elizabeth B. Dawson, and Amy Symonds.
  • "Two Roads Diverging: A Look at Federal Air and Climate Regulation in 2021," 29th Annual 2020 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite (October 16, 2020). Speaker: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Reexamining Indirect Discharges and the Clean Water Act After County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund," Strafford Publications, Inc. Webinar (July 29, 2020). Presenter: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Post Pandemic Litigation Outlook," ANA Legal Webinar (July 14, 2020). Presenters: Thomas P. Gies, Mana Elihu Lombardo, Holly A. Melton, and Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "COVID and The Courts," Crowell & Moring Webinar (June 11, 2020). Presenters: Mark A. Klapow, Amanda Shafer Berman, Andrew Holmer, Rochelle-Leigh Rosenberg, and Eli Berns-Zieve.
  • "Foreign Gifts and Contracts Reporting: Increased Compliance Risk for Higher Education," Crowell & Moring Webinar (April 9, 2020). Presenters: Laurel Pyke Malson, Amanda Shafer Berman, Nathiya Nagendra, and Eli Berns-Zieve.
  • "Endless Litigation—Past, Present, and Future—Over EPA’s "WOTUS" (Waters of the United States)," Edison Electric Institute, Washington, D.C. (March 11, 2020). Speaker: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "End of the Road? Examining the Trump Administration v. California over Vehicle Emission Standards," D.C. Bar, Washington, D.C. (February 25, 2020). Speaker: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Groundwater Indirect Discharges and CWA Regulation: Permitting Requirements in Light of Circuit Court Split," Strafford Webinar (May 23, 2019). Presenter: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Kisor v. Wilkie: The End of Auer Deference? Oral Argument Recap and Discussion of What's to Come," D.C. Bar, Washington, D.C. (March 28, 2019). Presenter: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Administrative Law: The Year in Review," D.C. Bar (2018). Moderator: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Climate Change, the Justice Department, and You," Department of Justice, ENRD Academy (2015 and 2016). Speaker: Amanda Shafer Berman.
  • "Women in International Law," American Society for International Law (2008). Panelist: Amanda Shafer Berman.

Publications


Client Alerts & Newsletters


Press Coverage


Firm News & Announcements

August 3, 2022 Crowell & Moring Files Amicus Brief Before Supreme Court on Behalf of HBCUs Leaders
June 1, 2022 Chambers USA 2022 Ranks 70 Crowell & Moring Lawyers and 37 Practice Areas Among Best in U.S.
May 20, 2021 Chambers USA 2021 Ranks 63 Crowell & Moring Lawyers and 30 Practice Areas Among Best in U.S.
March 5, 2021 Fourth Circuit Grants Petition for Review in Crowell & Moring and CAIR Coalition Asylum Appeal
January 4, 2021 Crowell & Moring Elects Nine New Partners and Promotes 18 to Counsel Positions
January 22, 2020 Crowell & Moring Files U.S. Supreme Court Brief on Behalf of the American Bar Association Calling for Review of When the Wrongfully Convicted Can Seek Damages
December 6, 2019 Preliminary Injunction Granted Against U.S. Government in Solar Energy Tariff Case