David J. Freeman
Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Mr. Freeman is listed in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and New York Super Lawyers. Chambers has quoted clients as saying, “Has many strengths, including excellent analysis of issues, understanding of government agencies, client service and the ability to achieve the best outcome”…“He is a good negotiator who never loses his cool and always stays focused on what’s important.”
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Freeman served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Frank E. Moss (D-Utah) and a trial attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees cum laude from Harvard University. He is a member of the New York, Massachusetts, and District of Columbia bars.
Mr. Freeman's practice focuses on:
- representation of buyers, sellers, and developers of brownfields and other contaminated properties and of parties engaged in hazardous waste cleanups;
- litigation related to remediation, cost recovery, property damage, and exposure to toxic substances;
- conducting and/or supervising environmental due diligence; and
- counseling with respect to environmental insurance issues
Overview
- Harvard University, J.D., graduated 1975
- Harvard University, BA
- New York, State of New York
- Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- District of Columbia, District of Columbia
- American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resource Law - Member
- New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund - Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees
- New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section - Co-Chair, Committee on Hazardous Waste, Co-Chair, Brownfields Task Force
- Real Estate / Environmental Liability News - Board of Advisors
- U.S. TAG ISO 14000 Legal Issues Forum - Co-Founder
- New York, State of New York
- Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- District of Columbia, District of Columbia
- American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resource Law - Member
- New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund - Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees
- New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section - Co-Chair, Committee on Hazardous Waste, Co-Chair, Brownfields Task Force
- Real Estate / Environmental Liability News - Board of Advisors
- U.S. TAG ISO 14000 Legal Issues Forum - Co-Founder
- Harvard University, J.D., graduated 1975
- Harvard University, BA
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
- Environmental Law
- Land Use and Zoning Law
- Real Estate Law
- Listed in Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Environment (New York)
- Selected to the New York Super Lawyers list, Environmental, Environmental Litigation
- Recipient, 2012 Burton Award for Legal Achievement as “an outstanding law firm author”
- Recipient, Distinguished Service Award, New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, 2001
- AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
News & Media
Additional Information
- Experience
Mr. Freeman is a frequent speaker and writer on environmental topics. He is a contributing author to the American Bar Association's handbook, Environmental Aspects of Real Estate Transactions, and a member of the Board of Advisors of Real Estate/ Environmental Liability News. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of West Publications' Journal of Environmental Law & Practice and is an Annual Update Editor for West’s treatise, Environmental Law & Regulation in New York. He won a 2012 Burton Distinguished Legal Writing Award as “an outstanding law firm author” for his article on ASTM’s new Building Energy Performance Assessment Standard.
Mr. Freeman is also active in pro bono and bar association activities. He is Vice Chair of the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and a Director and the past President of the New York City Brownfield Partnership. He is Co-Chair of the Committee on Hazardous Waste of New York State Bar Association's Environmental Law Section, and was the recipient of the Section’s 2001 Distinguished Service Award. He is also Co-Chair of the Section’s Brownfields Task Force.
- Experience(2)
- Representation of Lehman Asset Management Corporation in connection with environmental cleanup and filing of a Remedial Action Outcome Statement with respect to TCE contamination at the Brickstone Site in Andover, Massachusetts.
- Representation of Kobe Copper Products, Inc. in private party cleanup cost recovery litigation with respect to alleged PCB contamination at the Ward Transformer Superfund Site in Wade County, North Carolina.
- Representation of Lonza, Inc., a Swiss-based fine chemical and pharmaceutical company, with respect to cleanup of the Peterson Puritan Superfund Site in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
- Representation of Jewish Home Lifecare in the cleanup of a former gas station in the Bronx to facilitate the construction of low-income housing.
- Representation of a major tenant of 7 World Trade Center, and a major insurer of the Deutsche Bank building, in connection with the environmental cleanup of those properties in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001.
- Representation of a major automobile manufacturer in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in an appeal of a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board regarding a waiver of Clean Air Act requirements for automotive air emissions.
- Experience(3)
- Representation of The Related Companies and Sterling Project Development Group (affiliated with the New York Mets) on environmental matters in the estimated $3 billion, multi-year brownfield redevelopment project involving approximately 25 acres in the Willets Point section of Queens, New York.
- Representation of Syntex Corporation, Syntex (USA), Inc., and Syntex Agribusiness, Inc. in connection with personal injury, property damage, and cleanup cost recovery litigation brought by the United States, the State of Missouri, and private plaintiffs with respect to dioxin contamination at Times Beach and 42 other sites in Eastern Missouri.
- Representation of Phibro, Inc. in connection with the Multidistrict MBTE Product Liability Litigation in the Southern District of New York.
- Representation of Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc., Getty Properties, Corp., and Getty Realty Corp. with respect to claims for property damage, injunctive relief and punitive damages with respect to contamination from a gasoline station site in New York City.
- Other Court Admissions
- United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Supreme Court of the United States
Your browser is not fully compatible with our automatic printer friendly formatting.
Please use the print button to print this profile page.