Environmental Due Diligence in M&A Transactions: Identifying Risks, Mitigating CERCLA Liability, Maintaining BFPP Protection

Ms. Kesler’s diverse environmental law practice encompasses regulatory compliance and permitting, environmental and toxic tort litigation, and contaminated property transactions. Adept at helping clients understand and limit their environmental risks, maneuver through compliance challenges, and achieve their business goals, she works on a broad range of environmental issues, including wastewater, solid and hazardous waste, air quality, and product liability. Ms. Kesler counsels clients on complex regulatory compliance issues involving various environmental statutes, including the Clean Water Act; the Clean Air Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA); Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); and related state statutes.

Mr. Perel is a partner in the Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group with vast experience in the real estate capital markets, financial services, real estate, insurance and reinsurance, and hospitality and travel industries. With nearly 40 years of experience, his practice encompasses all aspects of environmental law affecting corporate and real estate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, real estate development and redevelopment projects, environmental risk management and insurance, remediation of contaminated properties, Brownfield redevelopment, and environmental compliance and due diligence. Mr. Perel also litigates complex environmental and environmental insurance coverage claims and disputes. He has extensive experience in environmental investigations and audits, the design and implementation of environmental compliance programs and systems, and evaluation of self-reporting and voluntary compliance strategies. Mr. Perel has successfully litigated — including trying jury and bench trials — before all levels of state and federal courts and represents clients before federal, state, and local regulatory agencies on remediation, Superfund, permitting, and Brownfield projects. He advises and counsels financial institutions, real estate developers, redevelopers, REITs, insurance companies, corporate entities, hotel and hospitality companies, and individual clients on a broad range of real estate, environmental regulatory and risk management, and assessment matters. Mr. Perel also represents financial institutions in real estate acquisitions, development, and financings, as well as in commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities transactions (CMBS and RMBS). He also counsels on areas such as due diligence, negotiation, document drafting, and risk mitigation.

Ms. Smith is an environmental partner in the firm’s Real Estate, Environmental & Energy Law (REEL) Group and works in the areas of compliance and risk management, environmental and toxic tort litigation, brownfields and development, agriculture, procurement, and general litigation. Freedom’s clients are involved in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, energy, real estate, and construction. She has experience representing companies, municipalities, and citizens in a wide variety of areas in both state and federal courts as well as in administrative proceedings across the country. Ms. Smith has litigated cases for both public and private clients involving contracts, accidental releases of contamination, property transfers, leaking underground storage tanks, cost recovery actions, environmental and other insurance and coverage claims, environmental enforcement actions or clean-ups under a wide variety of regulatory programs, including CERCLA/SUPERFUND. She has also handled numerous complex lawsuits involving business disputes, including cases involving breach of contract, products liability, and fraud. Ms. Smith advises and represents entities and individuals with regard to regulatory and compliance matters; managing environmental liability in business transactions, including the transfer of operations may be contaminated or potentially regulated by environmental laws; business certifications, and procurement. She works with numerous corporations, municipalities and utilities on all aspects of environmental compliance, permitting, wastewater discharges, responding to governmental agencies, dealing with citizen complaints, brownfields redevelopment, and policy issues.