Sive Paget & Riesel, P.C.

For over 60 years, Sive, Paget & Riesel – the first environmental law firm in the country – has been advising public-sector and private-sector clients on a wide array of matters relating to federal and State energy law, renewable energy, infrastructure project finance, development, siting and permitting, the environmental review process, government procurement, public hearings, and litigation. Year after year, our attorneys are recognized as leading practitioners in their fields by independent ranking agencies including Chambers and Partners, Who's Who Legal, U.S. News & World Report, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. Our attorneys include former federal prosecutors, lecturers and adjuncts from leading law schools, graduates of the nation's top law schools, former federal law clerks, and accomplished legal advisors. Our expertise allows us to effectively represent some of the most active state bodies in the country and many of the largest energy and other companies in the world. While SPR’s small size – only 30 attorneys – enables us to handle matters far more efficiently and cost-effectively than Big Law firms, our exclusive concentration in environmental law and renewable energy often makes us larger than comparable departments in AmLaw 100 firms.

Long recognized as a leader in environmental, administrative, and land use law, SPR is unparalleled in its ability to provide comprehensive and objective legal advice with respect to a broad range of environmental matters. The Firm is perhaps best known for guiding hundreds of complex infrastructure and other development projects through environmental impact review and permitting, and for successfully defending a multitude of challenges against the same approvals. In addition, the Firm routinely advises clients on legal and regulatory compliance issues, on the remediation and redevelopment of hazardous waste sites, and on environmental insurance policy negotiation, interpretation and disputes.

The Firm has emerged as a leader in advising clients on the legal implications of New York State's clean energy transition, guiding NYSERDA and the State through the development and adoption of the regulations establishing the Office of Renewable Energy and the permitting process it administers, advising clients as to the requirements of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), and New York City's building-emissions law, Local Law 97. SPR is engaged in other climate-related initiatives including: the environmental review of and ongoing litigation to implement the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority/MTA's Congestion Pricing program; the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Project; the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Project; offshore wind development; and the due diligence, permitting and financing of land-based renewable energy projects. The Firm represents NYSERDA in renewable energy certificate programs to finance some of New York's largest renewable and infrastructure projects. SPR attorneys have also represented the NY Green Bank virtually from its creation and advise on market-setting renewable energy project finance and equity investment transactions, creating new financing structures and proving concepts to attract private capital for industry growth. SPR brings its extensive experience on some of the country's largest renewable energy and infrastructure projects, to help our governmental and private-sector clients navigate the challenges involved in developing, financing and defending their projects and programs.