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Victor Y. Xu

Senior Associate

he/him/his

Victor counsels clients on emerging contaminants, natural resources, and other environmental concerns.

Victor is a Senior Associate in the Portland Office. In litigation, he has experience in matters involving NEPA, CERCLA, RCRA, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), federal Indian law, toxic torts, and greenwashing. In the regulatory sphere, he helps clients navigate the complex federal and state regulatory frameworks governing public water systems, publicly owned treatment works, and emerging contaminants like PFAS.

Previously, Victor clerked for the Honorable James Sweeney II in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and for the Honorable Harris Hartz in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

  • Represents municipal water providers in multi-district litigation on groundwater contamination caused by U.S. military's discharges of fluorinated aqueous film-forming foam.
  • Counsel to major agribusiness in challenges to a federal land exchange, with implications for global food security.
  • Outside environmental counsel for manufacturers, designers, and retailers in textile and apparel, outdoor recreational products, food products, and other industries on issues such as PFAS regulatory compliance, greenwashing, and agency enforcement actions.
  • Counsel to publicly owned treatment works in permitting appeals.
  • Counsel to coastal community on land use and easements.
  • Pro bono counsel under Oregon Appellate Pro Bono Program. 

  • Panelist, American Apparel and Footwear Association, Footwear Workshop, “PFAS: Here Today, Gone in 2025,” June 2023.
  • Speaker, American Apparel and Footwear Association, Environmental Committee Meeting, "EPA's PFAS Reporting Rule," October 2023. 
  • Author, PFAS and Greenwashing Litigation: It's Not Easy Being Green, 38 ABA Journal on Natural Resources & Environment (Winter 2024) (with James Pollack).

  • J.D., Stanford Law School (2020)
  • B.A., Stanford University (2017), with distinction
  • Law Clerk to the Hon. James R. Sweeney II, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
  • Law Clerk to the Hon. Harris L Hartz, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

  • State Bar of Colorado
  • State Bar of Oregon
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

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