Gibbons law firm expands NJ environmental practice

Gibbons P.C., a 230-attorney law firm operating in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia,
and Delaware, is expanding 
its Real Property & Environmental
Department.

In a news release, the firm reports the addition of  environmental attorneys William S. Hatfield and Camille V.
Otero
who join the firm as Directors, and Harry H. Clayton, IV, and Adam C.
Arnold
who join as associates. All four are from Day Pitney LLP.

The four join the firm’s active Environmental Team that also recently welcomed noted practitioner David J.
Freeman
in New York.

“This
team has a stellar reputation and high-level practice that expands the scope of
services we offer clients in the environmental arena and enhances the depth and
breadth of an already prominent practice,” says Patrick C. Dunican Jr.,
Chairman and Managing Director of Gibbons. “With more than a dozen attorneys,
the Gibbons Environmental Team is well positioned to provide clients throughout
the Mid-Atlantic with exceptional, business-oriented solutions.”
The Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business ranks Gibbons as one of
the top environmental practices in the state, with clients saying that the
group “is esteemed for its litigation capabilities, particularly in the area of
natural resource damage, and also maintains a well-regarded regulatory
practice.”
William S. Hatfield has 20 years of experience in
litigation involving CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, underground storage tanks, toxic torts,
and the New Jersey Spill and Landfill Closure Acts. He counsels clients on
numerous matters related to the oversight of environmental investigations,
cleanup under the NJDEP, ISRA applicability, compliance, remediation
activities, natural resource damages, permitting, air emissions, waste water,
storm water discharges, and enforcement issues specific to the USEPA, NJDEP,
and NYSDEC. He has been listed in the Chambers
USA Guide
and New Jersey Super
Lawyers.
He earned his J.D. cum laude
and M.S.L. summa cum laude from
Vermont Law School and his B.A. from Brown University.

Camille V. Otero focuses her practice in
environmental and toxic tort litigation, representing clients in an array of
environmental matters involving CERCLA, RCRA, and the New Jersey Spill and
Landfill Closure Acts. Ms. Otero has extensive experience assisting clients in
remediation activities, compliance, and environmental due diligence. She also
has been listed in the Chambers USA
Guide,
as well as in New Jersey Super
Lawyers Rising Stars.
She earned her J.D.
from Rutgers University School of Law and her B.S. from Bloomfield College.
.

Harry H. Clayton, IV, counsels clients on
permitting, compliance, enforcement, and transactional matters under both
federal and state environmental laws, with a focus on CERCLA, the New Jersey
Spill Compensation and Control Act, and natural resource damage law. He earned
his J.D. from William & Mary Law School and his B.A. from the University of
Pennsylvania




Adam C. Arnold
focuses his practice on
environmental litigation arising under both federal and state law, specific to
CERCLA and the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act. He earned his
J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and his M.A. from the University
of St. Andrews.


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For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment 
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Gibbons law firm expands NJ environmental practice Read More »

Those who support fracking will march in Albany today


Political demonstrations over fracking are not only for opponents of the controversial natural gas drilling technique.

This morning, in Albany, farmers, small business owners, laborers, homeowners, students and business organizations will be marching to show their support for fracking and to pressure Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lift his moratorium. 

Buffalo Business First reports that: 

In November 2010, New York put a hold on hydrofracking permits until the state Department of Environmental Conservation reviews thousands of public comments to provide rules and regulations for how to drill and where to drill, while addressing environmental concerns.

The DEC review was expected to be complete by December. But on Sept. 20, the DEC announced it was seeking help from state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, who will review possible public health aspects of hydrofracking.

“We are now going to do a complete health review, so there’s no firm time frame,” DEC spokesman Emily DeSantis said on Oct. 9.

The latest delay has infuriated fracking advocates who see relatively unimpeded drilling taking place in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
********************************************************************************************************
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment 
******************************************************************************************************** 
Our most recent posts:
Can’t either political gang shoot straight?
Feathers flying at Perdue chicken-pollution trial in Md 
McLean joins enviro group at McCarter & English 
Having a look under the hood of NJ’s revised LLC law 
Read how money is shaping the national fracking debate 
Pa charities spending millions to keep an eye on fracking 

Those who support fracking will march in Albany today Read More »

Can't either political gang shoot straight?

Radical Kathy

First, the National Republican Congressional Committee cranked up a fear-mongering campaign aimed at convincing Bucks County, Pa voters that Democratic Congressional candidate Kathy Boockvar has ties to the notorious convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Then Pennsylvania’s former Governor and former National Democratic Committee chairman
Ed Rendell called a press conference–a great opportunity to provide a factual rebuttal.

What happened?  The Democrats’ spin machine got so revved up that it broke a belt
and spun right off the fact track.

Newsworks
‘ Dave Davies throws flags against both sides: Politicians just can’t tell it straight

Related
:
Mumia Abu-Jamal presence in Bucks County  
But How Many Degrees From Kevin Bacon is Mumia Abu-Jamal?


***********************************************************************************************************
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
***********************************************************************************************************

Our most recent posts
: 
Feathers flying at Perdue chicken-pollution trial in Md
McLean joins enviro group at McCarter & English
Having a look under the hood of NJ’s revised LLC law
Read how money is shaping the national fracking debate
Pa charities spending millions to keep an eye on fracking
How you can track FOIA requests pending at the EPA

Can't either political gang shoot straight? Read More »

Feathers flying at Perdue chicken-pollution trial in Md


A trial with potential implications for Maryland’s poultry industry began Tuesday with a lawyer for poultry giant Perdue claiming that an environmental group was looking for a way to “get Perdue” when it sued, Jessica Gresko reports for the Associated Press.

The New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance brought the lawsuit now being heard in federal court in Baltimore. The group claims that a Maryland farm raising chickens for Perdue polluted a nearby river, violating the federal Clean Water Act. The group says Perdue, which owns the chickens and monitors their growth, should be responsible for the pollution.

But lawyers for the chicken farmers and for Perdue, which is based in Salisbury, say there’s no evidence of pollution. They say the farm operates just like others and that it would be unprecedented and catastrophic to the industry if its ordinary practices are found to pollute. Perdue, meanwhile, says that even if the farm is polluting, the company shouldn’t be responsible for environmental violations at its contract farm.   

During the trial’s opening Tuesday, George Ritchie, an attorney for Alan and Kristin Hudson, the farmers being sued, said the Waterkeeper Alliance was looking for someone to sue “no matter what” and that the Hudsons had done nothing wrong. 

Michael Schatzow, a Perdue attorney, said the environmental group wants to end the poultry industry in Maryland and several years ago “declared war on Maryland’s poultry industry.”

But Jane Barrett, a law professor at the University of Maryland representing the Waterkeeper Alliance, gave her opening statement standing next to photographs of fans that ventilate the two chicken houses on the Hudson’s farm in Berlin—fans she said contribute to pollution. She said the farm is responsible for pollution in a river that ultimately empties into the Chesapeake Bay. 

See the full story here.

***********************************************************************************************************For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment  



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Related: 

Perdue pre-trial statement 
Groups Say Perdue Hiding Behind Farmers 

How you can track FOIA requests pending at the EPA

Feathers flying at Perdue chicken-pollution trial in Md Read More »

McLean joins enviro group at McCarter & English

Marshall McLean

McCarter & English LLP announces that Marshall B. McLean is joining the firm in its Environment & Energy and Corporate Practice Groups as special counsel, JD Journal reports


McLean will be working at the firm’s office in Newark, New Jersey.
“Renewable energy projects and services are a rapidly growing segment of our economy here in New Jersey, around the United States and throughout the world,” Ira M. Gottlieb, the Environment & Energy Group leader at the firm said. “Marshall is a leader in advising developers, lenders and contractors on legal issues in the solar energy business.”

McLean graduated from Washington & Lee University School of Law with a J.D. He earned his B.A. in Government and Legal Studies from Bowdoin College. McLean is admitted to the bar in New Jersey and New York. He was named a “Rising Star” by New Jersey Super Lawyer Magazine in 2011.
McLean worked at the law firm of Reed Smith LLP in their Corporate & Securities and Energy & Natural Resources Groups. The firm is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

McLean is a resident of Bernardsville, New Jersey. He has worked on two solar projects in California and New Jersey with the project in New Jersey being the largest in North America.

***********************************************************************************************************For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment  

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Related: 
McCarter & English news release 

How you can track FOIA requests pending at the EPA
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Judge tosses NY Delaware River Basin fracking suit 

McLean joins enviro group at McCarter & English Read More »

Having a look under the hood of NJ’s revised LLC law

While recently enacted changes to New Jersey’s Limited Liability Company Act don’t fall under the heading of ‘environmental’ issues, we think they might be of interest to many of the folks who read this blog on a regular basis.

Robert A. Marsico

So we’re taking the liberty of reproducing below the full text of a recent  posting by Bob Marsico in the Scarinci Hollenbeck law firm’s Business Blog. 

                                 *********************

New Jersey’s limited liability companies will now be able to operate more freely under modernized rules recently signed into law by Governor Chris Christie. The law is modeled after the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and is intended to make New Jersey more business friendly to LLCs.
The Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act is the first significant overhaul since the New Jersey Limited Liability Act was enacted in 1993. The changes were recommended by the Red Tape Review Commission, which we have previously discussed on this New Jersey business law blog.
Some of the most notable changes include the following:
  • Duration: Like corporations, LLCs will now have a perpetual duration unless the operating agreement specifies otherwise.
  • Purpose: LLCs can now be formed “for any lawful purpose, regardless of whether for profit.” This clarifies that LLCs may be used to carry out non-profit operations.
  • Operating Agreements: Governing agreements are no longer required to be in writing, but may be oral or implied. The new law also allows the operating agreement to mandate that amendments require the approval of a person who is not a party to the operating agreement or the satisfaction of a condition in order to be effective.
  • Statement of Authority: The new law provides for the use of statements of authority, which establish the authority of certain individuals to act on behalf of the LLC. The documents will be filed with the Office of Commercial Recording.
  • Resignation Rights: A resigning member of an LLC will no longer be entitled to receive the fair share value of the member’s LLC interest. Under the new rules, a resigning member is dissociated from the LLC and only has the rights of an economic interest holder.
  • Remedies for Oppressed Members: The new rules provide certain remedies for minority members. For example, a member may seek a dissolution order from the New Jersey Superior Court on the grounds that the controlling members have acted in a manner that is oppressive or harmful.
The new rules go into effect on March 20, 2013 for limited liability companies formed after that date. Existing LCCs will fall under the purview of the new regime starting on April 1, 2014.

How you can track FOIA requests pending at the EPA
Hess wins key air permit for gas power plant in Newark
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***********************************************************************************************************
For thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment  
***********************************************************************************************************

Having a look under the hood of NJ’s revised LLC law Read More »