Area of EmphasisAlana Fortna is a shareholder in the Litigation, Environmental and Emerging Technologies groups of Babst Calland. Ms. Fortna’s practice involves complex commercial litigation with a focus primarily on environmental litigation. In her environmental practice, she has experience representing clients in large-scale cost recovery actions under CERCLA and state law statutes, actions seeking injunctive relief under RCRA, and citizens’ suits brought under various federal statutes and regulatory programs including the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. Her environmental litigation experience also includes representing businesses before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board in matters involving environmental permit appeals. Ms. Fortna also counsels clients on issues related to site remediation and pre-litigation matters involving responses to information requests, notice of liability letters and enforcement orders from state and federal agencies. She helps clients navigate environmental liability issues and negotiate settlements and consent decrees with state and federal agencies. Ms. Fortna also has experience defending clients in claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Title VII. She has represented clients in state court in Pennsylvania, as well as federal courts across the country. Ms. Fortna has significant federal appellate experience and has successfully handled appeals in the Seventh Circuit, the D.C. Circuit, the Third Circuit, and the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. She also leverages her litigation experience to help companies and other entities with emerging technologies strike a balance between innovation and risk management.
BackgroundMs. Fortna graduated with high distinction from The Pennsylvania State University in 2007 with a B.S. in Crime, Law and Justice, with an emphasis in legal studies. She received her J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 2010 where she graduated magna cum laude. While at Duquesne, Ms. Fortna was a member of the trial advocacy program and competed in the Buffalo-Niagara National Mock Trial Competition in Buffalo, New York. She was selected by members of the Duquesne faculty to be a member of the National Order of Barristers for her participation and performance as a student advocate. Ms. Fortna also served as a summer law clerk to Justice Debra Todd of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Publications/PresentationsPodcast, “Constitutional Environmental Litigation,” DRI, August 22, 2019.
Author, “Constitutional Litigation for the Environmental Lawyer,” For the Defense, DRI, June 2019.
Author, “Groundwater Conduit Theory and Its Impact on Superfund Sites, Waste Management Units,” The Legal Intelligencer, April 12, 2019.
Co-presenter, “Suing States and Local Governments Over Laws and Permits,” DRI Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, March 14–15, 2019.
Author, “What’s Emerging in the Drinking Water?,” The Voice, February 21, 2018.
Co-presenter, “CERCLA and Beyond: Environmental Update on Issues of Impact,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute, October 2017.
Author, “EPA Final Rule Adds Vapor Intrusion to Hazard Ranking System,” The Voice, February 15, 2017.
Moderator, “In the Know—Emerging Environmental Legal Challenges and Issues from an In-house Perspective,” Defense Research Institute, Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, March 2016.
Co-presenter, “Advanced Piercing the Corporate Veil,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute, June 2013 and June 2016.
Co-presenter, “The Litigation Hold: Why All Attorneys Need to Consider It,” In-house CLE, October 2014.
Co-author, “Labor Law Primer/Refresher on Strikes and Picketing,” the 29th Annual Construction Labor Symposium, April 2013.