Overview

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Ray has developed a rare practice combining environmental law and law concerning art and architecture. He has also played a major role in the Milwaukee and national art worlds, as well as in local government and conservation efforts.

Ray was one of the early environmental law practitioners in the 1970s and has continued his practice since that time focusing on contaminated property issues in the context of state and federal site clean ups, brownfield development, environmental insurance recovery, and contribution claims. The founder of the firm’s Climate Change practice and the leader of a sub-group focused on commercial solar developments, Ray has counseled clients, negotiated settlements, litigated cases, and lectured on a wide range of topics relating to the environment.

His renewable energy practice has focused on solar and biomass projects. He has represented developers of solar projects in the Midwest and the West, including the Jemez Pueblo nation in its development of one of the first commercial-scale solar-project proposals on Indian land. He takes a highly active role in every project, providing his clients with strategic legal counsel throughout the development process on everything from power-purchase agreements to finance, regulatory matters, real estate and legislative issues, and other business-related concerns.

 

Ray’s practice also includes a focus on architecture, museum development and sustainability, which has immersed him in local, national, and international art law issues.

He served as Chairman of the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation in Abiquiu, New Mexico, for 20 years, a foundation dedicated to perpetuating the legacy of one of America’s great artists. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum for 12 years, including three years as president and three years as chairman. He was on its Building Committee for the acclaimed addition to the Museum by the renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, as well as for the current Kahler addition. In this role, he was responsible for restructuring the Museum’s real estate relationships with the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, and has been involved in the renovation of the buildings housing the Museum’s permanent collection.

Ray also represented Santiago Calatrava in other projects. 

In the areas of public service, Ray served as Chairman, by appointment of several Governors, of the Milwaukee River Revitalization Council. He continues as a director of the River Revitalization Foundation, which he helped found 25 years ago, and which is establishing an urban parkway along the Milwaukee River connecting the down town to the park system in the northern part of Milwaukee County.  

His 14 years as an elected Village Trustee has provided insight into the operation of local government. For many years, Mr. Krueger has served as Chairman of the Whitefish Bay Community Development Authority which has produced and implemented a business district master plan.

Experience

Representative matters include:

  • Representing chemical companies, manufacturers, and other potentially responsible parties in Superfund mega-site liability cases
  • Representing a chemical company which inherited the challenge of historic groundwater contamination on an acquired company’s site. When the company discovered that the science and engineering required to understand the contamination behavior did not exist, he assisted his client in forming a relationship with the University Consortium, a group of global scientists studying similar issues. Working with the Consortium and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, our client is helping to develop the science and engineering that will enable regulatory authorities and parties in Wisconsin and across the nation to better understand these environmental challenges.
  • Representing the Milwaukee Museum of Art in the planning and development for the renovation of and addition to the Kahler Building, which is located on the historic lakefront of Lake Michigan, as well as, assisting the Museum with environmental issues associated with lakefront landfill. Through an innovative approach to managing these factors and the surrounding environmental regulations, the Museum successfully resolved issues in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner.
 

Recent projects include:

  • Counseling developers of solar projects
  • Negotiating regulatory requirements and developing funding mechanisms for complex environmental clean-up projects
  • Brownfield redevelopment and related transactions
  • Negotiating and litigating environmental insurance claims for policyholders against solvent and insolvent insurers both in the United States and abroad
  • Work with land trusts and Foundations in the preservation of significant lands for wildlife habitat
  • Issues relating to renovation of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Kahler and Saarinen Buildings
  • State, regional, and federal legislative developments and international developments in climate change

Honors & Recognitions

Ray has been acknowledged in the Environmental Law Section of The Best Lawyers in America© for over 27 years, including its most recent edition. He has been recognized as a "Wisconsin Super Lawyer" in the area of environmental, energy and natural resources, and insurance coverage for the past several years. Ray has been recognized in the area of natural resources and environment law in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He also was on the "Leading Lawyers" 2015 list published by Milwaukee's M Magazine.

Professional Activities

  • Member, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, American Bar Association
  • Member, Environmental Law Section, State Bar of Wisconsin
  • Past Member, Environmental Law Institute

Education

Bar Admission

Court Admissions

Community Involvement

  • Founding Directors Committee, Sculpture Milwaukee, 2018-Present
  • Board of Directors, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe New Mexico, 2018-Present
  • Chairman 2012-2015, President 2009-2012, Board Member, 2003-Present, Board of Trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum
  • Member, Milwaukee Art Museum Building Committee for the Calatrava addition and Kohler, Saarinen Buildings
  • Member of Finance and Investment Committees of the Milwaukee Art Museum, 2009- Present
  • Chairman, Milwaukee River Revitalization Council, 2006-2010
  • Member, Milwaukee River Revitalization Council, 1988-2010
  • Member, Design Council, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 2004-2009
  • Board of Directors, River Revitalization Foundation, Inc., 1994-Present
  • President, River Revitalization Foundation, Inc., 2002-2004
  • Executive Committee, River Revitalization Foundation, Inc., 2004-Present
  • Director, War Memorial Corporation, 2006-2013
  • Chairman, Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989-2010
  • Director, America’s Freedom Center  Foundation, 2004-2007
  • Chairman, Whitefish Bay Community Development Authority, 2002-Present
  • Trustee, Village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, 1989-2003

Insights

Education

Bar Admission

Court Admissions

Community Involvement

  • Founding Directors Committee, Sculpture Milwaukee, 2018-Present
  • Board of Directors, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe New Mexico, 2018-Present
  • Chairman 2012-2015, President 2009-2012, Board Member, 2003-Present, Board of Trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum
  • Member, Milwaukee Art Museum Building Committee for the Calatrava addition and Kohler, Saarinen Buildings
  • Member of Finance and Investment Committees of the Milwaukee Art Museum, 2009- Present
  • Chairman, Milwaukee River Revitalization Council, 2006-2010
  • Member, Milwaukee River Revitalization Council, 1988-2010
  • Member, Design Council, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 2004-2009
  • Board of Directors, River Revitalization Foundation, Inc., 1994-Present
  • President, River Revitalization Foundation, Inc., 2002-2004
  • Executive Committee, River Revitalization Foundation, Inc., 2004-Present
  • Director, War Memorial Corporation, 2006-2013
  • Chairman, Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989-2010
  • Director, America’s Freedom Center  Foundation, 2004-2007
  • Chairman, Whitefish Bay Community Development Authority, 2002-Present
  • Trustee, Village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, 1989-2003
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