Roberta "Bobbie" R. James, Counsel

Bobbie James is Counsel in Gordon Feinblatt’s Energy and Environmental Practice Group. For more than 25 years, Bobbie has helped shape, enforce, and apply environmental law at the highest levels of state and federal government before bringing that depth of experience to private practice.

Clients value Bobbie’s ability to combine practical business judgment with deep knowledge of environmental law and government decision-making. Having served as outside counsel, government litigator, and senior agency executive, she understands not only what the law requires, but also how environmental agencies evaluate complex legal and technical issues. That perspective enables her to help clients navigate regulatory challenges efficiently and solve problems that require an understanding of how environmental agencies actually think and operate.

In her practice, Bobbie represents commercial, industrial, energy, and real estate clients in a wide range of environmental and regulatory matters. Her practice includes defending clients in enforcement actions brought by the Maryland Department of the Environment, negotiating resolutions to complex compliance matters, advising on permitting and regulatory strategy, and helping clients minimize environmental risk before disputes arise. She regularly counsels clients on brownfield redevelopment, environmental due diligence associated with business and real estate transactions, asbestos and underground storage tank requirements, wastewater permitting, and compliance with Maryland's environmental laws and regulations.

Bobbie has developed a particular focus on Maryland's growing renewable energy sector. She advises community solar developers throughout the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) process before the Maryland Public Service Commission, represents developers in contested proceedings, and helps clients navigate the intersection of energy development and environmental regulation. She also has successfully represented commercial and industrial clients in obtaining waivers of utility tariff penalties before the Public Service Commission and regularly advises clients on environmental issues affecting infrastructure and development projects.

Before joining Gordon Feinblatt, Bobbie served as Assistant Secretary and Senior Policy Advisor at the Maryland Department of the Environment, where she advised the Secretary and senior leadership on high-profile litigation, enforcement, permitting, and environmental policy. Recently, she served as an Attorney-Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Earlier in her career, Bobbie spent more than fifteen years as an Assistant Attorney General representing MDE. She litigated complex civil and administrative enforcement actions, defended agency permitting decisions, advised agency leadership on environmental statutes and regulations, and represented Maryland in significant state and federal environmental litigation.

Bobbie earned an LL.M. in Environmental Law from The George Washington University Law School, a J.D. from New England School of Law, and a B.A. in Political Science from San Francisco State University. She is a Fellow of the Maryland Bar Foundation, previously served as Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section Council, has taught Environmental Law for Engineers and Scientists at Johns Hopkins University, and has published on a variety of environmental law topics.