(Washington, D.C. / November 14, 2013) Baker Donelson announces the addition of Ernest B. Abbott to the Firm's Washington, D.C. office.
Mr. Abbott, who joins as of counsel and a member of Baker Donelson's State Public Policy Group, concentrates his practice in the areas of emergency management and disaster recovery. He has extensive experience with the law, regulations, policies and procedures relating to eligibility for federal disaster and mitigation assistance, the coordination of federal, state, local, non-profit and private sector responders in catastrophic events, and the elements of the National Flood Insurance Program, including insurance, floodplain mapping and floodplain management. Mr. Abbott, a former general counsel of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), assists his clients with issues pertaining to the FEMA Public Assistance Program and is well versed in FEMA's administrative appeals process under FEMA's Public Assistance Program. He regularly represents applicants for public assistance in the arbitration process promulgated by Section 601 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and can advise clients on the new dispute resolution pilot process pursuant to the Sandy Recovery and Improvement Act of 2013. Mr. Abbott also has represented local governments, insurance companies and property developers on flood insurance, floodplain management and flood mapping controversies arising under the National Flood Insurance Program administered by FEMA.
Prior to his role at FEMA, where he managed all regulatory development and coordinated the legislative program for all FEMA agencies and created the FEMA Office of Dispute Resolution in the Office of General Counsel, Mr. Abbott worked as managing deputy general counsel of a $3 billion diversified natural gas company. He has also worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Interstate Commerce Commission. Mr. Abbott has extensive regulatory experience with management of critical infrastructure.
A 1976 graduate of Harvard Law School, Mr. Abbott has been an editorial board member of the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management since 2008 and has served on several committees and sections within the American Bar Association since 2002. He is also an associate member of the National Emergency Management Association and is admitted to the bar in Texas, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.