Byron Taylor, ’90, Elected to Thurgood Marshall College Fund Board of Directors

THURGOOD MARSHALL COLLEGE FUND ADDS FOUR NEW CORPORATE LEADERS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

June 5, 2023 GlobeNewswire

Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) Board Chairman Charles Merinoff announced today the election of four new directors to the TMCF Board of Directors. Sean Lee from The Coca-Cola Company, Jeffrey J. Hurd from Equitable Holdings, Byron Taylor from Sidley Austin LLP, and April Payne-McMillan daughter of TMCF Founder Dr. N. Joyce Payne were unanimously elected during the May 25^th board meeting.

“We are thrilled to welcome these four new directors,” said TMCF Board Chairman and Co-Chairman, Breakthru Beverage Group, Charles Merinoff. “The diversity and depth of their experiences and perspectives, coupled with their passion for the mission of TMCF, will play an invaluable role in advancing the impact of our work.”

>>>>

Byron Taylor, Co-Leader of Sidley’s Environmental

Byron Taylor is a member of the Sidley Austin Executive Committee and co-leader of Sidley’s Environmental Practice group. His practice includes civil litigation, crisis response, compliance counseling, internal investigations, regulatory advocacy, and environmental aspects of transactions.

Byron assists clients and advises boards in high-stake matters following major environmental incidents, including matters that involve both environmental regulatory issues and related tort claims. He also frequently provides key strategic advice on regulatory and permit matters and defends clients against alleged violations of a variety of federal and state environmental laws. Some of Taylor’s notable cases include:

Representing a medical device sterilization company in regulatory litigation, permitting matters, and new rule development relating to ethylene oxide air emissions at multiple facilities across the country.
Assisting a petroleum refining company in obtaining the air emission construction permit for a major expansion and negotiating an innovative agreement with an environmental citizen’s group concerning the project.
Defending a petroleum refining company against claims of excess flaring and an upset event that included a release affecting a nearby neighborhood.
Defending a manufacturing company in a RCRA 3008(h) correction action matter concerning a currently operating facility.
Defending a Midwestern electric utility company in a Clean Air Act New Source Review enforcement matter that ultimately was dismissed by the federal court.
Defending an electric generating station against an interstate claim that emissions from the plant violated the law in the neighboring state.

Over the past several years, Byron has become well known for his work on complex Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act matters. Byron was named the Litigation — Environmental Law "Lawyer of the Year" in Chicago in the Best Lawyers’ 2013 edition. He also has been recognized as a leader in Chambers USA 2013-2022 in Environment: Litigation, which noted he "feels like a steady hand for clients in difficult negotiations." In 2019, Byron was named by Crain’s Chicago Business to its list of "Notable Minorities in Accounting, Consulting & Law."

Within the firm, Byron is a co-chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and serves on the Lawyer Training and Professional Development Committee and the Counsel Committee. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a law degree from The University of Chicago Law School.