John Irving joined Earth & Water Law as a partner in March 2021, where his practice focuses on defending clients in environmental enforcement actions, conducting confidential internal investigations, and ensuring the effectiveness of corporate compliance programs.

Irving recently served as deputy assistant administrator in EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), which coordinates and oversees nationwide compliance efforts and administrative, civil, and criminal environmental investigations under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and other environmental statutes.

Prior to joining EPA in 2019, Irving was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Holland & Knight LLP, where he practiced for nearly twelve years focusing on internal investigations, compliance, and white collar criminal defense – often in the context of environmental laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, congressional investigations, and the civil False Claims Act.

Irving’s prior experience also includes a decade with the Department of Justice as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, D.C., as Counsel to two Deputies Attorney General, and as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  Mr. Irving also served as Investigative Counsel to the Government Reform & Oversight Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, as Special Impeachment Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, and in the Office of Independent Counsel.