Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has hired seven attorneys from Houston-based environmental boutique Campbell George & Strong.

As first revealed on www.thelawyer.com (18 May), the team has joined Pillsbury’s environment, land use and natural resources practice in Houston, San Francisco and Washington DC. The team comprises two partners, three of counsel and two associates.

Campbell George managing partner Andrew Strong and principal Thomas Campbell join Pillsbury’s Houston office as partners. Campbell advises companies on complex environmental liability challenges. Campbell is a former general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and led the federal assessment of the natural resource damage claim for the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the negotiations for its landmark $1bn (£544.9m) settlement.

Strong also focuses on oil spills and similar disasters, which can result in claims for natural resource damages, agency enforcement, site investigations, risk assessments and litigation.