Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming

Partner *

202-298-1928

gfleming@vnf.com

1050 Thomas Jefferson Street NW
Seventh Floor
Washington, DC 20007

Gwen Keyes Fleming has more than twenty years of public sector experience, having served as both an elected and appointed official at the state and local levels, as well as in various branches of the federal government.  Most recently, she served as the Principal Legal Advisor for Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and as Chief of Staff during the Obama Administration. In addition to her time at the DHS and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Gwen served as the EPA Region 4 (Southeastern Region) Regional Administrator, where she was responsible for establishing and implementing environmental policy for eight southeastern states and six federally recognized tribes.  Gwen was twice elected District Attorney for the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit in DeKalb County, Georgia; the first African-American and first woman to hold that office.

Gwen’s focus as a partner at Van Ness Feldman is on environmental policy, litigation, and white collar criminal defense matters including audits and special investigations, for private as well as municipal clients.  She will also provide strategic advice and counsel on national security matters related to incident response and the protection of environmental and energy infrastructure from cyber and physical threats. Gwen’s strength in building relationships, managing complex matters, and in depth knowledge of the EPA, DHS and other branches of the federal government, will help clients achieve their business imperatives.

Emory University School of Law

J.D., 1993

Douglass College at Rutgers University

B.S., 1990

African American Federal Executive Association (AAFEA) Ebenezer Basset Award, 2017

USEPA Environmental Justice Champion of Change Award, 2015

Atlanta Metropolitan Combined Federal Campaign Leadership Award, 2012

Georgia State Bar

American Bar Association

National Bar Association

Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys

DeKalb Lawyers Association

President, 1997-1998

American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement

Principal Legal Advisor, 2015-2017

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Chief of Staff to Administrator Gina McCarthy, 2013-2015
Regional Administrator, Region 4, 2010-2013

Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, Decatur, GA

District Attorney, 2005-2010

DeKalb County Solicitor General's Office, Decatur, GA

Solicitor General, 1999-2004
Chief Assistant Solicitor General, 1998-1999
Senior Assistant Solicitor General, 1993-1994


  • Led the largest legal program within DHS, comprised of approximately 1500 attorneys and staff in 60 locations across the country providing legal advice to ICE client senior officials as they led a global team of nearly 20,000 employees committed to protecting national security and public safety via the enforcement of immigration and customs law.
  • Managed day‐to‐day operations of EPA’s nearly $8B budget and 15,000 employees in concert with other senior agency officials. Participated in the development and coordination of viewpoints of various stakeholders as the Agency finalized or proposed significant environmental regulations including the Clean Water Rule, the Clean Power Plan, the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule, Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule, Ozone NAAQS and the Worker Protection Standard.
  • Operated as the lead enforcement official responsible for coordinating all civil and criminal aspects of environmental protection in conjunction with state partners and headquarters representatives in accordance with the statutory provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERLA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, (RCRA) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other environmental laws.
  • Served as the chief negotiator on highly sensitive and complex environmental matters including a comprehensive and enforceable historic agreement with the State of Florida establishing for the first time a science-based protective limit (WQBEL) on NPDES permits controlling phosphorus pollution discharges into the Everglades thereby ending nearly twenty years of litigation.
  • Served as the Agency’s co-representative to the RESTORE Act Council and supervised the personnel tasked with addressing ecosystem restoration and community resiliency in the Gulf of Mexico coastal region after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
  • Maintained Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) Clearance.


* Not admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. Work is supervised by a member of the District of Columbia bar.