Preserved or Forfeited: Agency Hearing Strategy and the Record That Controls Judicial Review

Mr. Sugarman received his J.D. from Vermont Law School in 1998, after participating in the Law Student Exchange Program at Hastings College of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1994. He also attended DePauw University. He is admitted in Indiana and Colorado and before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana.

Mr. Sugarman is ranked by Chambers USA in Environmental Law (2025–2026), including Band 1 for Environment in Indiana in the 2026 guide. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Environmental Law and Insurance Law (2018–2027) and was named to Indiana Super Lawyers (2015– 2019). He chaired the Indiana State Bar Association Environmental Law Section in 2004–2005.

Mr. Sugarman served on the Indianapolis Air Pollution Control Board from May 2015 to April 2016. He teaches environmental and toxic tort litigation as an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Since 2000 he has been a member of the American Bar Association Environmental Law and Natural Resources Committee, the Indiana State Bar Association Environmental Law Section, and the Indianapolis Bar Association Environmental Law and Litigation Section, and he is a member of the Indiana Air & Waste Management Association. He co-founded Bicycles for Humanity Indiana and serves on its board, and he has served on the board of Beyond Monumental since 2018.

In enforcement matters before IDEM, EPA, and IOSHA, Mr. Sugarman has frequently negotiated reduced penalties or agreed orders, and he obtained the retraction of a Special Notice of Liability. His compliance work includes environmental audits and self-reporting, CERCLA liability advice for contaminated sites, and air, water, and pretreatment permitting across several industries, including permit negotiation under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

In litigation, he has served as first chair and co-counsel in toxic tort and Environmental Legal Action cases, with results that include summary judgment and favorable trial-court rulings defended on appeal. His reported decisions include Markland v. Jasper County Planning and Development Dept., 829 N.E.2d 92 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005); C.W. v. Textron, Inc., 807 F.3d 827 (7th Cir. 2015); and CSX Trans., Inc. v. Appalachian Railcar Services, Inc., 509 F.3d 384 (7th Cir. 2007). He also recovers insurance for environmental liabilities and remediation costs and handles environmental due diligence for commercial and real estate transactions. He has spoken on trends in civil and criminal environmental enforcement and environmental audits and self-disclosure at the Indiana Environmental Conference.