University of Oxford
South Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1
UK
4:00pm – Real estate & business transactions as prime drivers of environmental compliance activities in the US — Sources/ Developments/ Latest Trends
— Talk by David B. Farer (Chair, Environmental Department, Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP)
Mr Farer, a US environmental lawyer, will discuss the extent to which transactions in the real estate and business world in the US have become established as a key driver in assessing the degree to which company operations and real estate holdings are complaint with state and federal environmental requirements and standards, and in investigating and implementing corrective actions that must be taken. The discussion will include reference to the primary legislative and regulatory sources, the development and formalization of the environmental due diligence process, and latest trends.
5:00pm – American College of Environmental Lawyers: discussion on mission, goals and representative projects, and colloquy on areas of common interest with the Smith School
— Interactive session led by Mr Farer, with the participation of James Thornton, founding CEO of ClientEarth, and with contributions and exchanges from students and faculty academics.
As President-Elect of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL), Mr. Farer will discuss the outreach and educational goals and representative national and international projects of ACOEL, a professional association of distinguished U.S. lawyers practicing in the field of environmental law and drawn from private practice, academia, government and not-for-profit organizations. Emphasis in this session will be on colloquy with the faculty academics and students, and with Mr Thornton, on how our experiences might be exchanged to enrich each other’s knowledge, and to engage in dialogue on possible areas of collaboration in education, development of environmental laws and regulations and other projects focused on finding solutions to environmental problems.
The conversation will be enriched by the participation of Mr. Thornton, a lawyer, educator and entrepreneur who founded ClientEarth – Europe’s first public interest environmental law organisation – in 2007.
6:00 p.m. Adjourn
About the Speakers: David B. Farer is a U.S. environmental lawyer who chairs the Environmental Department at Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP (Woodbridge, N.J.) He concentrates his practice on the impact of environmental laws on transactions and real property in New Jersey and around the nation. Nationally renowned, he has been on the cutting edge of developments in the environmental sector since the 1980s. He is President-Elect of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL), a national professional association of distinguished environmental lawyers who are recognized as preeminent in their field. For thirty years, Mr. Farer has written and lectured extensively on state and federal environmental issues. He lives in New York City with his wife Elisa King, a dancer and dance educator.
www.greenbaumlaw.com www.acoel.org
James Thornton is an environmental lawyer and social entrepreneur. A member of the bars of New York, California and the Supreme Court of the United States, and a solicitor of England and Wales, he moved from Wall Street law practice to found the Citizens’ Enforcement Project at NRDC in New York, where he brought some 80 federal lawsuits against corporations to enforce the Clean Water Act after the Reagan Administration had stopped enforcing the law. He won these cases and embarrassed the government to start enforcing the law again.
James founded ClientEarth – Europe’s first public interest environmental law organisation – in 2007. Now operating globally, it uses advocacy, litigation and research to address the greatest challenges of our time – including biodiversity loss, climate change, and toxic chemicals. Its work is always built on solid law and science.