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Vicki Marquis is a Partner in the firm’s Natural Resource Litigation and Environmental and Energy Practice Groups. She guides clients through the entire permitting process, including drafting and reviewing applications, responding to agency and public comments, and navigating MEPA and NEPA environmental reviews. Vicki also helps clients address compliance issues and respond to agency enforcement actions. Her  expertise includes water discharge permits issued pursuant to the Clean Water Act as well as hard rock and coal mine permitting.  

As an environmental litigator, Vicki has a successful track record advocating for industrial and natural resource development clients in state and federal courts, as well as before the Montana Board of Environmental Review.  Vicki collaborates with legislators, agencies, and industry groups on permitting and water quality issues, contributing to legislation and administrative rulemaking. Her knowledge also extends to air quality, endangered species issues, and due diligence assessments.

Compliance with the law and justice are the core principles of Vicki’s practice. She works hard to ensure she obtains favorable results for her clients while maintaining the highest standards of the law. Vicki enjoys seeing cases through from beginning to end. One of her career highlights is representation of a long-awaited new hard rock mine in Montana – from the initial permitting phase through litigation up to the Montana Supreme Court where the permit was affirmed. 

Vicki began her career as a chemist, working for a special metals company sampling, analyzing, and reporting compliance with their water discharge permit. She later worked as an environmental enforcement specialist for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and as coordinator for a local government watershed group. Her extensive knowledge in chemistry and environmental science enhances her current legal practice, enabling her to effectively navigate the complexities of environmental regulations and advocate for her clients in the mining and natural resources sectors.

Vicki is an active member of her community, volunteering through her church with Family Promise of Yellowstone Valley, a nonprofit dedicated to aiding families experiencing homelessness and helping them achieve lasting independence. In 2021, she retired from the Montana Army National Guard after more than 20 years of military service, including several years in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

In her free time, Vicki enjoys camping, spending time with her kids and grandkids, and curling up with a good book. 

  • The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch®, Environmental Law and Environmental Litigation, 2021-present

  • Montana Coal Council
  • Montana Mining Association
  • Montana Petroleum Association
  • Women in Mining, Montana Chapter

  • Served as lead water quality counsel for permitting and defense of the first new Montana hard rock mine permit issued in decades and the companion MPDES water discharge permit.  Montana Trout Unlimited v. Montana Dep’t of Env’t Quality, 2024 MT 36, 415 Mont. 214, 544 P.3d 163.
  • Successfully defended an agency MEPA environmental review for a client whose permit was jeopardized by the litigation. Vicki helped ensure the permit remained secure and that newly legislated legal requirements were recognized.  Water for Flathead’s Future, Inc. v. Montana Dep’t of Env’t Quality, 2023 MT 86, 412 Mont. 258, 530 P.3d 790.
  • Successfully defended an industrial client against enforcement of newly enacted zoning restrictions that could have forced immediate closure of the business. Egan Slough Cmty. V. Flathead Cty. Bd. Of County Comm’rs, 2022 MT 57, 408 Mont. 81, 506 P.3d 996.
  • Working with the agency, Vicki helped successfully defend an MPDES (Montana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) water discharge permit through district court and the Montana Supreme Court. Mont. Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. Mont. Dep’t. of Envtl. Quality, 2019 MT 213, 397 Mont. 161, 451 P.3d 493.
  • Successfully defended clients against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s alleged Water Quality Act violations. After lengthy litigation and multiple oral arguments, the Board of Environmental Review voided all alleged violations and dismissed the entire $200,000 assessed penalties. Montana Board of Environmental Review, Case Nos. BER 2015-01 WQ and 2015-02 WQ.
  • Worked with an industrial client and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to promulgate site-specific water quality standards that account for a naturally occurring pollutant, followed by implementation of those standards into MPDES permit limits. 2020 Mont. Admin. Reg. p. 1618 (ARM 17.30.618).
  • Successfully negotiated with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to resolve two air quality enforcement actions for separate clients.