Kevin J. Bruno

Kevin J. Bruno
Partner
Environmental

Biography

Kevin Bruno is a partner in the New York and Princeton offices of Blank Rome. He previously served as co-chair of the firm’s Energy, Environmental, & Mass Torts practice group, and as co-chair of the firm’s policyholder-only Insurance Recovery practice group. He is currently a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. His practice includes environmental and mass tort litigation and compliance counseling to a broad spectrum of industries. Kevin has also spent his career representing policyholder clients in their pursuit of claims in multiple lines of insurance coverage, and provides counseling to clients in their placement of a broad array of first party and liability insurance products.

Kevin’s experience includes:

  • Defending clients in large-scale, environmental mass tort litigation, including lawsuits relating to alleged bodily injury and property damages from alleged exposure to air, surface water, and/or groundwater releases.
  • Representing policyholders in pursuit of insurance coverage, including general liability, first party property, environmental, products, professional liability, directors & officers’ liability (“D&O”), and fidelity insurance coverages.
  • Representing policyholders in their negotiation and placement of a full range of insurance products, from manuscripted policies to large-scale insurance programs, including general liability, first party property, environmental, directors & officers’ liability (“D&O”), and rep & warranty coverages.
  • Defending clients against private party, NGO, and government claims associated with alleged contamination arising from ongoing and/or historical operations.
  • Defending clients against lawsuits and criminal investigations brought by the government pursuant to state and federal environmental programs.
  • Representing clients in connection with private party cost recovery actions, and internal environmental audits and investigations.

Kevin is recognized in Chambers USA as a leading lawyer in environment law. Chambers notes that Kevin “draws on a deep understanding of environmental insurance law when litigating challenging claims and enforcement actions” and “…is valued for his familiarity with both state and federal environmental law and procedures. He is particularly strong at permitting and enforcement matters and is singled out for his ‘good client service, knowledge and responsiveness.’” Clients note that he is “a good, skillful litigator who prepares well, as well as excelling as a negotiator and communicator” and that “Kevin always exhibits the utmost professionalism while still being friendly and down-to-earth.”

Kevin was also selected to the “BTI Client Service All-Stars,” a listing of 113 attorneys based on interviews of more than 250 in-house corporate counsel at large and Fortune 100 companies, and has received numerous other recognitions, listed below.

Before joining Blank Rome, Kevin was a founding member of Robertson, Freilich, Bruno & Cohen, LLC. Prior to that, he was an associate and member of Hannoch Weisman, PC, and one of the original members of its environmental department and insurance recovery practice group.

Outside the Firm

Kevin also dedicates his time in the service of the legal community and the community in which he lives in various ways. He is a past member of the Board and Treasurer of the Law Firm Sustainability Network, a nonprofit organization of law firms and legal departments committed to promoting the benefits of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility within their firms and throughout the legal industry. He devotes his time to the Her Justice organization, seeking U-Visas for female victims of domestic violence and other crimes in New York City. At home, he is also President of his building’s Co-Op Board. He is an avid traveler, golfer, and scuba diver.

Experience

  • A large telecommunications company in connection with hundreds of lawsuits in state and federal court in the State of Hawaii arising from alleged environmental-related bodily injury, personal injury, property damage and wrongful death claims arising from the August 2023 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.
  • A large energy storage and marine terminal facility, in its defense against a putative class of thousands of households for alleged bodily injury and property damage resulting from their alleged exposure to a series of air releases from a formerly affiliated refinery, including as lead defense counsel in several one-week preliminary injunction trials and associated proceedings.
  • An oil exploration company, in its pursuit of directors & officers’ liability (“D&O”) coverage for the $220 million settlement of several securities class action matters and the recovery of nearly $30 million in defense costs.
  • A global chemical manufacturer, in national multidistrict litigation relating to alleged contamination of groundwater in numerous states, cities, and U.S. territories.
  • A commercial and residential real estate developer, in its pursuit of insurance coverage for environmental and property damage claims by two of the largest public utility companies in the United States. Damages in the underlying federal lawsuit were alleged to exceed $250 million.
  • One of the world’s largest oil refineries, in what were, collectively, amongst the most significant mass tort actions arising from alleged exposure to numerous air releases.
  • One of the nation’s largest global logistics and transportation companies, in all insurance-related regulatory, policy placement, and counseling matters, and as national coordinating counsel for all insurance litigation.
  • One of the nation’s largest media conglomerates, in pursuing insurance coverage against 85 insurance companies under 580 policies for environmental liabilities throughout the United States.
  • One of the world’s largest lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing companies, in pursuing insurance coverage for large-scale environmental liabilities associated with one of the company’s U.S.-based aluminum smelters.
  • A manufacturer of latex gloves, in pursuing insurance coverage for hundreds of products liability claims throughout the United States and assisted the client and defense counsel regarding a comprehensive settlement of all products-related claims.
  • One of the world’s largest satellite companies, in its pursuit of insurance coverage for a large-scale satellite loss.
  • The alleged successors to the United States Radium Corporation, in nearly 15 years of litigation and trials relating to radium-sourced products and tailings, including mass tort and property damage claims, as well as environmental claims asserted by USEPA and USNRC.

News & Views

See all News and Views

Recognitions

  • 2021, 2023, and 2025, “Lawyer of the Year” in Insurance Law in Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2011–2025, Litigation - Environmental in Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2007–2025, Insurance Law in Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2025, Thought Leader in Environment, listed in Lexology Index (formerly Who's Who Legal) 
  • 2024, “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation - Environmental in Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2022–2025, “Top 500 Leading Litigators in America,” listed in Lawdragon
  • 2011–2024, Environment Law, listed in Chambers USA
  • 2005–2025, New Jersey “Super Lawyer” for Insurance Coverage, listed by Super Lawyers
  • 2019–2022, Global Leader in Environment, listed in Who’s Who Legal
  • 2020, “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation – Environmental, Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America©
  • 2018, “Lawyer of the Year” in Insurance Law, Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America© 
  • 2018, “Client Service All-Star,” listed by BTI Consulting Group
  • 2017–2018, listed in Who’s Who Legal – Environment
  • 2010–2016, listed in Who’s Who in International Law
  • 1997–2016, AV Preeminent®, listed by Martindale-Hubbell®
  • 2014–2015, “Lawyer of the Year” in Environmental Law, Princeton, listed in Best Lawyers in America© 

Affiliations

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • New Jersey State Bar Association
  • New York State Bar Association
Professional Activities

Kevin has been appointed to multiple leadership positions within the American Bar Association (“ABA”).

  • February 2025, appointed to the ABA Section of Litigation's Council, which is the governing Board of the Section.
  • August 2024, reappointed to the leadership of the ABA Section of Litigation for his 15th term, and will serve again as one the Section’s three Leadership Development Coordinators for the 2024–2025 bar year.
  • September 2017, reappointed for an eighth term as the Section of Litigation’s Liaison to the ABA’s Standing Committee on Environmental Law, now known as the Special Committee on Section, Division and Forum Coordination
  • June 2016, appointed to a sixth term as co-chair of the Section of Litigation’s 2,000 member Environmental & Energy Litigation Committee

In addition, he previously served as co-chair of the Section’s Expert Witnesses Committee. These appointments are in recognition of his well-earned reputation as one of the nation’s leading litigation attorneys. In 2014, he was named a fellow of the American Bar Foundation in New York.

For many years, Kevin served as an adjunct professor of environmental law at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Credentials

Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court - New Jersey
  • District of Columbia
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court - Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York

Education

  • Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, JD
  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey at New Brunswick, BA, magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa; Rutgers Scholar

A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolades are based can be found here.

No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Related Services

Related Industries

LinkedIn icon X icon Email icon