Georgia names legal team in U.S. Supreme Court “water wars” case

Three Washington-based attorneys will lead Georgia’s defense against Florida in a water use lawsuit filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Seth Waxman, of the lawfirm WilmerHale; and Chris Landau and Craig Primis, of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, will lead Georgia’s legal team as special assistant attorneys general, Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Sam Olens announced Monday.

Also on the legal team are Atlanta-based attorneys Bruce Brown; and Todd Silliman and John Allen, of McKenna Long & Aldridge, who have worked on the water cases in the past.

Florida filed suit this month in the U.S. Supreme Court accusing Georgia of diverting too much water upstream to the detriment of the Apalachicola Bay oyster trade. Florida is asking Georgia to reduce its water use to 1992 levels.

Courts have recently sided with Georgia in the decades-long dispute, including an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling allowing metro Atlanta to tap into Lake Lanier for drinking water. The Supreme Court last year decided not to review that case.

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