Herzfeld + Rubin’s team of highly skilled and experienced environmental lawyers offer creative and aggressive representation and counsel to clients facing high-stakes litigation, including regulatory and enforcement matters. Our team recognizes the importance of understanding our clients’ businesses as well as the unique challenges of environmental regulations, legislation, and public policy.
We represent clients in federal and state trial and appellate courts, and before federal, state and local administrative agencies in New York. Our representation has included the defense of claims brought under the New York Navigation Law, CERCLA (“Superfund”), RCRA and a variety of other federal, state and local statutes and regulations. We have represented clients in a wide array of environmental-related litigation, of all sizes and scopes, brought by companies, individuals and governmental agencies. Our representation includes defense of multi-district litigation such as In Re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, which combined hundreds of environmental cases throughout the country, Superfund site remedial actions/proceedings such as the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site, contractual and common law indemnification actions, and proceedings involving the Environmental Protection Agency and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
Our environmental attorneys provide innovative counsel to clients, which have included petroleum companies, businesses, and landowners, to achieve a favorable resolution of environmental matters, with an eye towards anticipating future risks and mitigating exposure. We routinely counsel clients with respect to compliance with environmental laws and provide guidance for protecting against future challenges. We draft and review contracts and agreements that involve existing or potential environmental issues. Working closely with our clients and technical consultants in a variety of fields including hydrogeology, chemistry, and engineering, among others, we develop strategies to successfully address environmental claims and to avoid future potential exposures. Our attorneys understand that allegations of contamination may have occurred many years prior to the onset of ownership, litigation or enforcement. That is why we are also integrally involved, together with our clients, in the development of appropriate remediation plans for contaminated sites with a focus on providing appropriate milestones for completion of remediation to limit potential long-term exposure.