Channing J. Martin

Channing Martin is the founding member and past chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Group. He counsels clients on a wide variety of environmental issues and represents them before regulatory agencies and courts on such matters as the Clean Air and Water Acts, CERCLA, RCRA, Brownfields redevelopment and wetlands. Among other industry sectors, Channing regularly represents developers, manufacturers, utilities, petroleum companies and trade associations.

Channing is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® (2007-present) and was named the Best Lawyers® Richmond "Lawyer of the Year" for Environmental Law (2013). Ranked as a “Band 1” attorney in Environment, Channing has been recognized by Chambers USA since 2004.  Martindale-Hubbell has rated him an AV attorney, its highest rating. In addition, Channing has been named one of Virginia’s “Legal Elite” for environmental law by Virginia Business magazine (2015-present), and he was named to the 2018 class of "Leaders in the Law" by Virginia Lawyers Weekly.

He is a former officer and member of the Governing Council of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources (“SEER”). He is a past chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Virginia State Bar and is the founder and a past chair of the Richmond Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section. Among others, he has served on the ASTM Environmental Fiduciary Conduct Task Force, Virginia DEQ’s Air Toxics Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and DEQ’s Voluntary Remediation Program TAC.

Channing is author of "Virginia's Uniform Environmental Covenants Act:  A Solution in Search of a Problem," 60 Virginia Lawyer 49 (July 2011); “Voluntary Disclosure of Environmental Violations:  Is Mea Culpa a Good Idea or a Bad Move?” 6 ELR News & Analysis 10692 (June 2002); and Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks in Virginia (1993). He is a co-author of Brownfields Law and Practice (LEXIS Publishing 2023) and author of the Virginia chapter of Implementing Institutional Controls at Brownfields and Other Contaminated Sites (ABA Publishing 2012).

He frequently lectures on environmental law. His recent presentations have addressed civil and criminal environmental enforcement, endangered species considerations in commercial development, EPA’s Audit Privilege, Brownfields and environmental crisis management strategies. Other topics have included RMPs, RCRA permitting and corrective action, and Title V permitting strategies. He also has presented national survey courses on environmental law.

Channing is active in community affairs. He is a former chair of the board of United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg and was the campaign chair of the 2004 United Way campaign.

Before joining Williams Mullen, he served as law clerk to Justice A. Christian Compton of the Supreme Court of Virginia. He obtained his law degree and his undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University.