Kenneth Komoroski of Earth & Water Law.

Longtime Big Law environmental lawyer Ken Komoroski of Pittsburgh has come out of retirement after just one year, joining a virtual law firm focused on environmental work.

Komoroski joined Washington, D.C.-based Earth & Water Law Group on Wednesday as a partner. Before retiring in October 2018, he was a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Pittsburgh.

Since his new firm is a virtual firm, Komoroski will continue to practice from Pittsburgh. He said he has been approached by several firms since he retired, but he wasn't pursuing anything. Then Brent Fewell, founder and chair of Earth & Water, reached out to him. The two lawyers knew each other from the Pittsburgh environmental bar, as Fewell previously worked in Jones Day's Pittsburgh office.

"When Brent presented what Earth & Water Law Group does, I was intrigued," Komoroski said. "I love solving problems. I have a lot of experience, a lot of relationships I don't use anymore, and it's a shame not to use them."

He also noted that his billing rate will be about half of what it was during his time in Big Law. While he "loved" his time at Morgan Lewis, he said, "the people I help solve problems didn't really benefit from it being such a large law firm."

While it's only his first day back in private practice, Komoroski said he hopes to pick back up at least several of his client relationships.

His work has touched on environmental, water usage and wastewater treatment matters involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state-level environmental regulators all around the country.

Komoroski started his career as an environmental engineer at chemical company PPG Industries, and later moved into the practice of law as an associate at Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote. He joined K&L Gates in 1992, and practiced there for nearly 19 years before he moved to Norton Rose Fulbright, where he was partner-in-charge of the Pittsburgh office, then Morgan Lewis in 2013.

Earth & Water launched in 2016, Fewell said. It now has 10 lawyers, as well as four professionals in its nonlegal strategic consulting arm, Earth & Water Strategies, he said, noting that it will soon add a fifth.

In addition to Jones Day, Fewell previously worked at Hunton & Williams and Troutman Sanders before starting his own firm.

"As with many big firms, there were sometimes challenges with conflicts and sometimes fee sensitivities," he said. "I had always thought about going out on my own and creating a virtual practice where client fees could be lower, and lawyers could have greater control over their client [relationships]."

In addition to having a lower cost structure and a virtual firm set-up, his young firm eschewed the traditional law firm naming conventions, going with "Earth & Water" instead of a list of partner names. The idea, he said, is to have "a more modern twist to practicing law."

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