Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C. (“SPR”) is pleased to announce that Scott Furman and John Curran have joined SPR as partners.

Scott brings with him a diverse environmental practice focusing on corporate and real estate transactions, brownfield redevelopment, renewable energy development and regulatory compliance.  During his 25-plus years of practice, Scott has advised a broad range of clients with respect to complex corporate and real estate transactions, real estate development and renewable energy projects involving facilities throughout the United States and abroad.  Scott’s broad technical knowledge of environmental issues and solutions has proven effective in navigating matters for his clients and successfully negotiating with purchasers, sellers, lenders, insurers and environmental agencies in multiple jurisdictions.  Having worked on transactions ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to several billion dollars, he has a demonstrated sensitivity not only to the timing aspects of every transaction, but also to the relationships between cost and benefit in analyzing and developing solutions that are consistent with the clients’ business objectives.

John has broad experience in environmental and construction law, both as an advisor and litigator.  Over the course of his career, John has represented residential, commercial and industrial real property owners, operators, developers, cooperatives and condominium associations, design professionals, construction managers, contractors and lenders.  John counsels clients in all aspects of construction law and assists clients in navigating complex issues relating to real estate acquisition and development, property management and management of environmental conditions.  John also has extensive experience in all aspects of sophisticated commercial litigation and dispute resolution. As a litigator, John has successfully handled matters involving environmental liability, cost recovery and cleanup, construction defects and contract claims, land use, loan workouts, commercial and residential leases, employment, franchise and commercial unfair competition and non-competition matters.  A frequent speaker and author on construction topics, John is an adjunct professor in Construction Law at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.

SPR principals Daniel Riesel and Pamela Esterman are co-chairs of the upcoming 43rd annual Environmental Law Course to be held on February 7-8, 2013 in Washington, DC. The course, which is co-sponsored by ALI CLE and the Environmental Law Institute, features advanced-level presentations by senior public officials, distinguished law professors, seasoned private practitioners, and experienced public interest advocates. This conference will feature Professor Richard Lazarus on the Supreme Court’s environmental docket and John Cruden and Juliet Eilperin on environmental issues in the post-election administration. The conference will also include panels on legislative initiatives, regulatory changes, and recent judicial precedent concerning air, water, hazardous materials, endangered species, wetlands, public lands, environmental permitting, international environmental law, and environmental justice. Panels on setting environmental standards, environmental enforcement, the environmental regulation of energy, and ethics for environmental lawyers will also be presented. For those unable to attend the live conference in Washington, D.C., this program is also available via video webcast. For more detailed information, please visit the course website.

This year, Sive, Paget & Riesel is proud to celebrate its 50^th anniversary.  In the five decades since the birth of the modern environmental movement and the founding of the Firm, SPR has been at the forefront of environmental law and litigation.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, David Sive’s synthesis of litigation skills with the burgeoning environmental movement set important precedents in environmental law, just as major national and state environmental statutes and agencies were being forged.  Critically, the Firm represented the Sierra Club in the landmark Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference v. Federal Power Commission case, which established that federal administrative proceedings must consider potential aesthetic and environmental impacts.  During this period, the Firm brought one of the nation’s first NEPA lawsuits, which challenged the environmental review of a proposed factory adjacent to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

In the 1970s, David Paget and Daniel Riesel left the U.S. Attorney’s Office to join the Firm, which later was renamed Sive, Paget & Riesel.  The 1970s and 1980s saw the concurrent expansion of environmental law and the Firm’s practice.  New York State enacted its environmental review statute, SEQRA, and the federal government enacted additional environmental statutes such as CERCLA and RCRA, which govern hazardous substances and hazardous wastes.  The Firm quickly gained expertise in shepherding major development projects through the environmental review and permitting processes.  Beginning with Battery Park City in 1981, SPR has overseen the environmental review of projects such as Hudson River Park, Brooklyn BridgePark, Lincoln Center’s expansion, the new Yankee Stadium, and Columbia University’s new graduate campus in West Harlem.

Throughout the 1990s, SPR continued to litigate matters related to clean water, air and land.  The Firm also set important precedents in the area of local government law.  For example, in 1998, SPR successfully defended the Town of Cortlandt’s right to restrict mining.

With the turn of the century, SPR has remained at the cutting edge of environmental law and litigation.  In 2003, New York State established its Brownfield Cleanup Program, which promotes the redevelopment of contaminated sites by offering liability protection and tax credits.  SPR’s extensive experience in the areas of hazardous waste, administrative law, and litigation has made it a natural leader in guiding clients through the Brownfield Cleanup Program’s complex regulatory process.  At the same time, SPR has protected natural areas in the Hudson Valley through the use of conservation easements and land use litigation.

Drawing on its founding principles of respect for nature and excellence in legal representation, SPR has developed expertise in the urgent task of upgrading aging infrastructure in an environmentally responsible manner.  The firm presently counsels state entities concerning the environmental review and permitting of three major bridge updates in the New York metropolitan area, for the Tappan Zee, Goethals and Bayonne Bridges.

For more details on the Firm’s remarkable history, please visit SPR’s interactive 50-year timeline.