Jennifer Smokelin is a recognized authority on environmental law, climate change policy, and energy transition, with deep experience advising clients across Pennsylvania, the mid-Atlantic, Texas, California, and the European Union. She serves as co-chair of Reed Smith’s global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice, where she focuses on the environmental and governance dimensions of ESG strategy and compliance. Jennifer also serves as one of the firm’s two Sustainability Partners, overseeing regional environmental sustainability initiatives across Reed Smith's Eastern U.S. offices and collaborating with global sustainability champions to advance the firm’s carbon reduction, recycling, and internal engagement goals.
Jennifer represents clients in a broad range of environmental and energy matters, including environmental civil enforcement and litigation, regulatory counseling, and transactional issues for energy, manufacturing, and industrial companies. She draws on her background in engineering and business to integrate regulatory compliance into practical commercial strategies, delivering solutions that account for both legal risk and operational realities.
Jennifer advises clients on the legal, regulatory, and business dimensions of current and emerging energy issues, organizational risk management, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Her practice encompasses carbon footprint assessments, net zero planning, CSR and climate-related corporate reporting, ESG compliance and benchmarking, carbon offsetting and neutrality programs, green energy initiatives, and renewables and alternative fuels regulation.
A prolific author and sought-after speaker, Jennifer has shared the stage with the White House special assistant to the president for energy and climate change and is regularly quoted in leading industry and legal publications including Law360, Bloomberg BNA, and Reuters. She has also completed the Stanford University Graduate School of Business’s Sustainability Strategies: Develop Initiatives to Transform Your Business program, reinforcing her interdisciplinary approach to sustainability initiatives and climate governance.
Jennifer is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, her alma mater, where she teaches Climate Change and the Law—a course designed to prepare the next generation of lawyers to navigate the science, law, and business of climate change.
- University of Pittsburgh, JD
- University of Pennsylvania, BSE
Education & Training
- August 20, 2026 — Pennsylvania Governor Signs Executive Order Imposing New Requirements on Data Center Development
Co-authors: Jeffrey G. Wilhelm, Megan S. Haines, Victoria L. Becker, Rachel E. O'Neill
Reed Smith Client Alerts - May 20, 2026 — Why ESG Due Diligence Should Be on Every PE Deal Checklist
Co-author: A.J. Wissinger
Private Equity Behind the Scenes - April 9, 2026 — Tackling Environmental Woes for U.S. Data Centers
Co-authors: Randa Lewis, Casey Snyder
Viewpoints - June 24, 2025 — Waste, Water…What Else? Tackling Environmental Woes for U.S. Data Centers
Co-author: Randa M. Lewis
Data Centers: Bytes and Rights - March 25, 2025 — California Legislature Moves to Set Integrity Parameters for Carbon Removal Credits
Co-author: A.J. Wissinger
EHS Law Insights - March 13, 2025 — EPA to Roll Back 31 Environmental Rules
EHS Law Insights - March 3, 2025 — Trump Administration Attempts Another Overhaul of NEPA
EHS Law Insights - October 23, 2024 — It’s Not Easy Being Green: ESG Claims and Potential Protections
Co-author: Carolyn H. Rosenberg
Insured Success - June 24, 2024 — Back to the Drawing Board? European Supervisory Authorities’ Recommendations for Reform of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
Co-authors: Claude Brown, Romin Dabir, Brendan Gallen, Tallat Hussain, Nicolas Walker, Bogomil Kukovski
Reed Smith In-depth - June 10, 2024 — The Biden Administration and U.S. Agencies Publish a Joint Policy Statement and Principles on Voluntary Carbon Markets
Co-authors: Todd Maiden, A.J. Wissinger, Clirae Bourke
EHS Law Insights - April 25, 2024 — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Designates Two PFAS Compounds as Hazardous Substances Under CERCLA
Co-authors: Peter Trimarchi, Megan Haines, Todd Maiden, Ben Patton, Nicholas Castriz, Randa Lewis
EHS Law Insights - March 11, 2024 — SEC Approves Long-Awaited Climate Disclosure Rules
Co-authors: Todd Maiden, Ben Patton, A.J. Wissinger, Peter Trimarchi, Mary Balaster, Megan Haines, Eric Schmoll, Sara Eddy
EHS Law Insights - February 6, 2024 — EPA Targets PFAS in RCRA Rulemakings
Co-author: Casey Snyder
EHS Law Insights - February 6, 2024 — New Year’s Resolution: Use the Correct ASTM Standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
Co-author: Casey Snyder
Viewpoints
ESG Advisory
Jennifer counsels clients on ESG strategy, assessment, and implementation, including responsible supply chain management, procurement contract review, and alignment with frameworks such as the GHG Protocol. She advises on waste and water reduction goal-setting, ESG benchmarking against peer organizations, and the development of corporate sustainability programs that meet evolving market and regulatory expectations.
Energy, Climate and Greenhouse Gas
Jennifer has argued before administrative tribunals on emerging Clean Air Act issues involving greenhouse gases, developed standardized carbon trading agreements in California and across the United States, and conducted due diligence on major carbon credit (avoidance and removal) projects, representing project developers and/or major corporate offtakers.
A delegate to the Paris Climate Talks (COP 21) and the Copenhagen climate negotiations (COP 15), she has led or participated on teams in some of the most significant air appeals and hearings on air aggregation issues for the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania.
Environmental Litigation
Jennifer represents clients in environmental civil enforcement and litigation matters under the Clean Air Act, CERCLA (Superfund), RCRA, and the Clean Water Act, as well as state law equivalents. Her experience includes groundbreaking air permitting aggregation litigation, successful Title V permitting challenges, and defense of toxic tort and property damage claims arising from the discharge of hazardous pollutants into air, soil, and groundwater.
She has managed complex expert teams in hydrology, fate and transport, and toxicology in connection with third-party property damage litigation for major multinational companies.
Environmental Due Diligence and Transactions
Jennifer is a key member of teams handling due diligence on major domestic and international acquisitions involving real estate and environmental risk. From single-property transactions to multi-parcel, multi-jurisdictional deals, she evaluates environmental assessments across diverse global locations and advises clients on deal structuring to mitigate environmental exposure.
She counsels real estate purchasers, including REITs, on qualifying as bona fide purchasers under CERCLA, asserting innocent landowner and contiguous property owner defenses, and obtaining liability protection under various state voluntary cleanup programs.
