Emily M.
Lamond

Member Emily Lamond turns complex environmental challenges into practical strategies that manage risk, leverage opportunities, keep deals moving and projects operational so that her clients can make informed and responsive decisions to advance their business objectives all while maintaining their competitive edge.

Experience

Clients rely on Emily for practical, sophisticated advice as well as risk management and mitigation strategies for environmental matters in a wide range of legal contexts. This includes transactions, environmental insurance strategies, construction and redevelopment projects, environmental land use permitting such as flood hazard, wetlands, waterfront development, and stormwater, site investigation and remediation, enforcement defense, operational permitting such as air, water, and solid and hazardous waste, environmental litigation strategy and cost recovery.

With a nationwide practice, Emily is a passionate problem solver who anticipates both challenges and opportunities and translates complex legal and technical information into accessible terms that facilitate informed, responsible, and strategic decisions with a keen focus on timing and efficiency.

From Wall Street to Main Street, Emily’s clients include real estate development and management (industrial, commercial, mixed-use and residential), real estate investment trusts (REITs), banks, and institutional investors, as well as privately held and small businesses. Industries include warehouses and distribution centers, logistics, cannabis, energy, ceramics manufacturing, mining, landfills, data centers, infrastructure development and self-storage.

Emerging issues – contaminants and industries

Emily’s expertise includes advising clients on the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and 1,4 dioxane. She also works with emerging industries, such as cannabis cultivation facilities, on the unique and unanticipated operational, permitting, and compliance issues under environmental laws. Clients turn to Emily when new challenges and opportunities demand fresh thinking and creative strategies.

Environmental Transactional Work

Emily’s transactional practice includes real estate acquisition and divestment, redevelopment projects, leasing, secured lending, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions, project financing, public-private partnerships, and bankruptcies. Emily designs and implements efficient due diligence strategies tailored for each deal. She manages her team and works closely with consultants and engineers to identify the material risks and develop a mitigation strategy for remediation, permitting, compliance, health and safety, and other environmental risks. Working with the deal team and consultants, Emily builds strategies that leverage protective corporate structures, insurance policies, statutory defenses, indemnities, escrow agreements, and Brownfield programs.

Development/redevelopment work

From site selection through disposition, Emily digs in on the environmental and regulatory complexities that can determine a project’s success. Her developer clients rely on her counsel to anticipate pitfalls and forecast opportunities in the near- and long-term with a focus on change of law issues. Her practice spans brownfield redevelopment, site remediation, environmental land use permitting, regulatory compliance, and environmental justice challenges. She advises clients on challenging remediation issues such as vapor intrusion or PFAS, and obtains critical approvals involving flood hazard areas, wetlands, stormwater, and waterfront development. Emily gets shovels in the ground by successfully developing practical solutions to complex engineering and technical challenges, such as FEMA compliance, floodproofing, and dry site access. Working closely with engineers and other technical professionals, Emily identifies potential fatal flaws, establishes critical path milestones, and anticipates evolving legal and technological risks to keep projects moving forward. She also represents clients before regulatory agencies, advocating for sensible and compliant permits, manages project opposition risk, and works to achieve successful outcomes throughout the development lifecycle.

Hazardous Site Remediation

Emily counsels clients on strategic pathways for managing contaminated properties to achieve business objectives. She manages environmental site remediation projects from start to finish, which includes vetting, retaining and overseeing consultants and engineers, advising on technical reports, managing relationships with oversight agencies and third parties, advising on reporting obligations and financial assurance requirements, negotiating service, access and settlement agreements as well as insurance claims and obtaining final agency closure.

Enforcement Defense and Litigation Counseling

Emily advises clients on defense and response strategies for notices of violations and agency enforcement actions, serves as joint defense group counsel for potentially responsible parties, negotiates cost recovery, cost sharing, tolling agreements and settlement agreements and advises on environmental litigation risks.

Networks & Affiliations

Emily is a Board Member of the CREDA (formerly NAIOP) New Jersey chapter and is proud to serve as Co-Chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee. She is also a member of the ICSC Environmental Committee. Prior to practicing law, Emily proudly served as a Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Graduate Fellow at The National Academies of Sciences in Washington, D.C., an Albert Schweitzer Fellow, and an Equal Justice Fellow. She was also an AmeriCorps service member with the New Jersey Community Water Watch.

Honors & Awards

Recognized for her astute legal practice, Emily is a band ranked attorney by Chambers USA. Chambers is one of the most prestigious legal ranking publications, and their band ranking tables are based on rigorous client reviews, marketplace feedback and matter submissions. She is also the recipient of the NAIOP (now CREDA) Advocacy Award, an annual honor given to professionals who demonstrate exceptional leadership and impact in advancing and protecting the commercial real estate industry.

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