Background
- Dave's practice emphasizes traditional areas of environmental legal experience plus advanced and renewable energy, corporate sustainability, climate change, and emerging environmental and energy technologies
- Dave is a co-founder of Corporate Sustainability Network (formerly Sustainable Cleveland)
Areas of Experience and Focus
- Corporate Sustainability strategy design and implementation
- Advanced and renewable energy permitting and regulatory counseling for developers and owners, including counseling for first offshore wind turbine project proposed for Lake Erie
- Successfully negotiated regulatory hurdles on first functioning wind turbine on the southern shore of Lake Erie
- Counseling on Renewable Energy Credit, Energy Efficiency, and Carbon emission credit and offset projects
- Climate Change risk management counseling
- Real Estate Transactions, including lease counseling for landowners on wind farm and solar farm projects
- Corporate M&A due diligence and environmental risk and contract negotiation and drafting
- Environmental litigation and enforcement
- Brownfield redevelopment issues
- Development, implementation, and monitoring of compliance programs
- Perform numerous roles in Superfund matters Regulatory counseling for all environmental media
- Collaborate with partners and stakeholders of a corporation to minimize transaction costs in business, real estate and regulatory negotiations
- Negotiating consultant contracts and providing direct oversight for an array of environmental investigations and remediation projects
Achievements/Honors
- Recipient of the 2009 Green Lantern Award for Champions of Sustainability, presented by Crains Cleveland Business
- Nationally recognized in "The Best Lawyers in America" 2010
- Listed as "SuperLawyer" in 2009 by Law & Politics
- Named by Chambers & Partners as a leading practitioner in Environmental Law in Ohio, 2004-2009
- Ohio State Bar Foundation, Fellow, Class of 2001
Professional Involvement
- American Bar Association Renewable Energy Teleconference Series, Co-Chair, 2008-2009
- Member, Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force 2006-2008
- Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, Executive Committee, Corporate Secretary
- American Bar Association, Vice Chair Smart Growth and Urban Policy Committee
- Ohio State Bar Association, former chair of the Environmental Law Committee
- Served as chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Cleveland Bar Association
- Corporate Sustainability Network, Co-Founder
Publications and Presentations
- "Environmental Risk Update: What's Coming But Not Here Yet", Risk and Insurance Management Society, November 2009
- "The Current Regulatory Environment and Its Impact on High Performance Building", RPM Executive Forum, November 2009
- "Blue Acres is the Place for Me", Offshore Wind Energy Summit North America, October 2009
- "Sustainability Law-The Next Generation," OSBA Environmental Law Seminar, April 2009
- "Harvesting the Winds of Change-Legal and Regulatory Solutions in Wind Development," Green Energy Ohio Renewable Energy Showcase, March 2009
- "Coordinating the Regulatory Approval Process-One Stop Shopping for Renewable Energy Project Permits," American Council on Renewable Energy Teleconference, January 2009
- "Sustainable Business and the Climate Change and Energy Connection," Northeast Ohio Association of Corporate Counsel, January 2008
- "On The Job" feature, Crains Cleveland Business March 3-9, 2008
- "Engineering a Sustainable Future," Cleveland Engineering Society Conference, October 2007
- "Sustainable Plastics," Plastic Shipping Container Institute in Washington, D.C., October 2007
- "Climate Change and Ohio's Economic Future," Manufacturers Education Council/Ohio Chamber of Commerce Conference, July 2007
- Presented at the 2007 Business and Sustainability Conference sponsored by the Conference Board in Washington, D.C.
- "Palm Trees on Lake Erie" The Cleveland Bar Journal, November 2006
- "Sustainable Development" The Cleveland Society for Engineers 2004 Annual Meeting
- Great Lakes Sustainable Water Symposium 2004
- "Wind Turbine and Component Manufacturing Opportunities" The Ohio Wind Power Conference
- Co-Author, Ohio Environmental Law, 1992-1993
- "Negotiating for Protection Against Environmental Risks in Business Transactions" The Cleveland Bar Journal, July/August 1997
- Co-Author "Superfund Site Apportionment of Liability" Natural Resources and Environment, Vol. 12, American Bar Association, Summer 1997
