Wendy Kerner

Attorney

Wendy Kerner is a dedicated environmental attorney who transitioned to law after a 20-year career in education. She was motivated by a deep concern over corporate activities adversely impacting the environment and public health, particularly that of children and marginalized communities. She holds a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from University of Denver, Sturm College of Law and is committed to using legal pathways to hold corporate polluters accountable. 

As the lead environmental attorney at Kresch Legal Service’s Legal Environmental Advocacy Force (LEAF), Wendy has been instrumental in developing causes of action against pesticide companies, the plastic industry, industrial fishing practices, and environmental contamination affecting vulnerable communities. Notably, she is working on cases involving trichloroethylene contamination in an historically Black community and ethylene oxide pollution in low-income Puerto Rican neighborhoods.  

Her dedication to environmental justice is further reflected in her support to place an environmental rights amendment in the Colorado Constitution. Wendy collaborates with nonprofits to advocate for the fundamental right to clean and healthy environments. Relatedly, the Stanford Environmental Law Journal published her law review article, Making Environmental Wrongs Environmental Rights: A Constitutional Approach—illuminating the importance of these rights.

Prior to working for 1-800-Law-Firm, she worked as a legal researcher in the Fifth Judicial District in Colorado. She also gained a role as co-counsel in a landmark Clean Water Act case in the Tenth Circuit, Stone v. High Mountain Mining, representing plaintiffs against a mining company accused of contaminating the South Platte River.

In her role at LEAF, Wendy continues to engage with communities and co-counsel to achieve impactful legal outcomes in the fight against environmental injustice. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado.