Top U.S. EPA Official Thomas Skinner 
Joins Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw

CHICAGO, IL (04/12/06) -- The international law firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Thomas V. Skinner, who has served as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's national compliance program and director of the EPA's Region 5. Mr. Skinner will officially join on April 15th as a partner.

During his tenure at the EPA, Mr. Skinner led the agency's 3,400 employee, $300 million budget national compliance program and had broad responsibility for ensuring compliance with federal law working with businesses, the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies, state and local governments, public interest groups and Congress. As head of USEPA Region 5, his responsibilities also included the implementation of federal environmental programs in the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

"Tom is nationally recognized as an outstanding lawyer with extensive experience in environmental compliance, regulatory, civil and criminal enforcement matters on the federal and state levels," said John Berghoff, Mayer Brown's Environmental Law Practice Group Leader. "His first-hand experience with the USEPA and Illinois EPA will be of enormous value to our corporate, real estate and finance clients. He brings to us a unique perspective of current environmental enforcement initiatives and the inner workings of the regulatory process."

Nominated by the President, Mr. Skinner led the EPA to record results as head of the enforcement and compliance program for the past two years. One of his additional roles included serving as the Great Lakes National Program Manager and the U.S. chairman of the Binational Executive Committee for the Great Lakes, which is the main forum for United States-Canadian discussion of Great Lakes issues.

Commenting on joining the firm, Mr. Skinner said: "Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw is one of the world's top international law firms, and is one of a handful of firms with top-notch full service environmental practices including a depth in both regulatory and litigation experience."

At Mayer, Brown, Mr. Skinner will be advising clients on a wide range of issues relating to environmental regulatory initiatives and enforcement. Based in the Chicago office, he will also work out of the Washington and Los Angeles offices.

Mr. Skinner is the second leading environmental partner to join the firm in 2006. In March, Cynthia Burch, who has conducted approximately 200 administrative hearings and numerous public meetings before U.S. EPA and California state, regional and local governmental agencies, joined the Los Angeles office from Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw's environmental practice area is one of the premier environmental law groups in the world focusing on litigation, transactions, and compliance matters. The group, operating out of US cities and European cities, has won plaudits from the major legal directories both in the US and Europe. Its growth has been fueled by its many successes in all fields of environmental law, and across several jurisdictions from victories in the courtroom and before administrative tribunals to helping clients avoid or manage every kind of environmental issue. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw is among the largest law practices in the world with more than 1,400 lawyers practicing in seven U.S. cities and six European cities.