Douglas Cohen

Practice Areas

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL

REAL ESTATE

LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Career

Douglas Cohen has practiced in the energy and environmental field since 1980, first at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and then at the U.S. Department of Justice. Since 1988, Doug has been in private practice primarily representing developers, and manufacturing and industrial clients, financial institutions, and utilities.

Doug has experience in all areas of energy and environmental law, including utility and environmental litigation, utility and environmental permitting, environmental counseling, and the environmental implications of real estate and business transactions. In addition, Doug has experience in administrative hearings, practicing before the Connecticut Siting Council, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control, Office of Health Care Access, and many local wetlands, planning, and zoning boards.

Doug is recognized by Chambers USA in the Connecticut Environment category. In the 2022 guide, clients commented that he is “an extremely smart lawyer with good and practical common sense” and has “tremendous client skills, always remaining calm through difficult projects.”

Work Highlights

Brownfields redevelopment efforts, including the redevelopment of the Raymark Industries, Inc. superfund site in Stratford, Connecticut.

Assisting clients with the environmental and permitting implications of transactions involving large, multi-national corporations, as well as the environmental and permitting implications involved in acquisitions and divestitures under the new utility deregulation statutes.

Representing various national clients in environmental remediation efforts in New England and throughout the United States. These efforts include both remediation compelled by a Governmental entity and private party actions.

Counsel on Superfund matters for both large multi-national companies and smaller, de minimus parties.

Represents a manufacturing client in a Federal criminal environmental investigation under the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation Act.

Represented a major railroad car manufacturer in a successful precedent-setting litigation matter involving liability for environmental clean up.

Led Brown Rudnick’s efforts on an environmental and utility review of the acquisition of Dynegy, Inc. a major owner of power plants throughout the US.

Represented several large industrial clients in structuring and negotiating corporate transactions worth over $2 billion. These large transactions had significant environmental implications.

Represented a quasi-governmental entity in obtaining a permit for the expansion of its ash landfill.

Education