Eva Fromm O'Brien, who joined the firm in 1986, is a partner in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s Houston office, where she heads up the firm's Environmental Law Department. Her legal practice focuses on environmental consulting and advising (solid and hazardous waste, superfund, underground storage tank, wastewater, and remediation issues), property damage and toxic tort litigation, business transaction matters, contested permit matters, and administrative and civil enforcement cases. She has also handled several criminal enforcement matters. Her administrative practice before the environmental agencies includes handling contested permit hearings and enforcement proceedings, oversight of remedial actions under various federal and state programs, and contribution/cost recovery actions. Ms. O'Brien also regularly provides advice to clients on questions involving regulatory interpretations. In addition, she utilizes her engineering background in conjunction with her legal experience to conduct and supervise environmental compliance audits.

Ms. O'Brien also assists the firm's corporate, real estate, and trust and estate attorneys with the environmental aspects of mergers and acquisitions and problems that arise from management of contaminated properties. She conducts the environmental aspects of the due diligence in these transactions, provides necessary contract language, and supervises the environmental consulting firms to ensure that the appropriate investigations are accomplished. In trust and estate matters, Ms. O'Brien provides counseling on management and ownership issues concerning contaminated or industrial properties.

Having a dual assignment in Fulbright & Jaworski's Litigation Department, Ms. O'Brien also handles environmental and toxic tort litigation. Ms. O'Brien has represented plaintiffs and defendants in superfund contribution and cost recovery actions. She represents clients in property damage and toxic tort matters where the damages result from air, water, or soil contamination. Ms. O'Brien has also represented a number of corporations in criminal proceedings. Ms. O'Brien is a past secretary, vice-chair and chair of the Houston Bar Association's Environmental Law Section. She is the former chair of the American Bar Association's Real Estate and Probate Section's RCRA and Underground Storage Tank Committee. She is included in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in American Women. She was also ranked among the top attorneys in Environment Practice Field in Texas according to Chambers & Partners, USA. Ms. O'Brien received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1978 from Syracuse University and a J.D. in 1985 from the University of Houston Law Center. She was admitted to practice in Texas in 1985.