Stephen C. Dickman

Biography

Stephen C. Dickman joined Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP in 1998 and is a partner in the firm’s Environmental and Administrative Law practice group. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Dickman had seven years experience in private practice as an environmental attorney and six years with the Texas Water Commission (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) as a staff attorney and hearings examiner. As part of his general practice of environmental law, Mr. Dickman represents clients in water quality, air quality, and industrial and municipal waste permitting and enforcement matters at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state's primary agency on environmental regulation. His practice includes representing clients in contested permitting cases before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, advocating for clients in environmental agency rulemaking matters, and advising clients on how to maintain environmental compliance in the most cost-effective manner. In particular, Mr. Dickman has extensive experience representing utilities, developers, cities and districts on water and sewer service contracts, rate cases, and regulatory compliance. Mr. Dickman also represents landowners affected by construction of electric power transmission lines in cases pending at the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

As an expert in Texas water law, Mr. Dickman helps clients obtain and defend surface water rights and helps land owners defend and maximize the value of their groundwater rights. Mr. Dickman also works closely with the firm’s real estate practice group to advise clients on how to minimize potential environmental liabilities in real estate transactions. For sites impacted by environmental contamination, Mr. Dickman advises clients on how to get sites cleaned up to regulatory standards under the various environmental remediation programs administered by the state.

Since 1989, Mr. Dickman has been certified in the practice of administrative law by the Texas State Board of Legal Specialization and currently serves on the Board’s Administrative Law Advisory Commission. Following graduation from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, Mr. Dickman obtained his certification as a Certified Public Accountant, although he no longer practices public accounting.

Mr. Dickman is active in Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas and does regular pro bono legal work for indigent clients. He also is active in his church and visits an Austin area nursing home on a regular basis to assist and advise elderly residents in various ways. Mr. Dickman is an avid golfer, a struggling chess player, and a fan of live music. He and his wife, Terri, reside in Austin and love to travel and attend the University of Texas sporting events.

Education & Honors

• St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, B.B.A., magna cum laude, in Accounting, 1975
• University of Texas School of Law, J.D., 1978
  • American Jurisprudence Award for Criminal Law – Fall 1977
  • American Jurisprudence Award for Regulation of the Broadcast Industry, Spring 1978
• Board Certified, Administrative Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Admission & Affiliations

• Texas, 1979
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, 1994
• Travis County Bar Association
  • Administrative Law Section Member
  • Environmental Law Section Member
• Texas Water Conservation Association
• Coastal Conservation Association of Texas
• Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas

Significant Matters

• Represents a large national water and sewer utility company handling all ratemaking and regulatory compliance matters for their Texas water and sewer utilities
• Represents a large real estate developer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in various Texas water law matters, including development of a regional reclaimed water distribution system
• Represents a publicly-traded uranium mining company in obtaining state and federal permits for a new proposed uranium mining operation in South Texas 
• Served as chief legal advisor to a coalition of counties and cities in developing a regional water quality protection plan for the Edwards Aquifer area in Travis County and Hayes County
• Served as legal advisor for a Central Texas county in working with various stakeholder groups to develop a revised set of development regulations for the county
• Represented a large North Texas city in obtaining a major expansion of the city’s certificated retail water service area in order to implement long-range plans for regulating development in the city’s expansive extra-territorial jurisdiction
• Represented a large regional electric utility in a federal district court action involving negotiating settlements with over 100 responsible parties to recover funds spent in cleaning up a metals recycling facility in Corpus Christi
• Represented a major Texas river authority in defending a wholesale water rate increase in a contested case hearing at the State Office of Administrative Hearings
• In 1986, served as the Texas Water Commission hearings examiner during a year-long hearing on an application for a proposed major dam and reservoir on the Paluxy River in Hood and Summerville Counties

Publications & Speeches

• "Essentials of Texas Water Resources" published by State Bar of Texas, 2009, Contributing Author
• “Case Law Update,” 14th Annual Texas Water Law Conference, sponsored by CLE International, Austin, Texas, September 13-14, 2004
• “Case Law Update,” 4th Annual Texas Water Law Conference, sponsored by CLE International, Houston, Texas, May 24-25, 2004
• “Case Law Update,” 13th Annual Texas Water Law Conference, sponsored by CLE International, Austin, Texas, October 2-3, 2003
• “Water Service and Certificates of Convenience and Necessity – What’s New,” State Bar of Texas Seminar on the Changing Face of Water Rights in Texas, February 2002 (Co-Author)
• “Regionalization of CCN’s by Municipalities/Point/Counterpoint,” CLE International Seminar on Texas Water Law, October 15-16, 2001 (Co-Author)
• Texas Practice Series on Environmental Law (2nd Ed.), West Publishing Co., 1997, Contributing Author
• “The Texas State Superfund Program: Current Developments,” 3rd Annual Texas Environmental Superconference, 1991
• “Statutory Amendments to State Superfund,” University of Texas School of Law 2nd Annual Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Institute, 1989