Board of Directors

Carol Dinkins

Carol Dinkins co-chairs the administrative and environmental law practice at Vinson & Elkins LLP . Her practice includes all aspects of client counseling on business transactions and permit matters, as well as civil litigation, mediation, and criminal defense. She has represented chemical and energy companies, developers, utilities, transportation interests, and a variety of municipal and governmental entities in proceedings under state and federal environmental and natural resources laws. She maintains offices in Houston and Washington, D.C., and has served on the firm’s Management Committee.

Carol left the partnership twice in the 1980s to serve in government. From 1981 to 1983, she served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, where she supervised the government’s litigation in federal environmental, natural resources, and Indian and public lands cases. In 1984-1985, Carol served as the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, the second-ranking official in the Department of Justice. Her responsibilities included working with members of Congress, the White House, the cabinet, and subcabinet officers on policy, legislative, and litigation matters.