Lisa Gilbreath

Practice Areas

Lisa Gilbreath works on a wide variety of environmental, land use, and energy matters, offering clients strategic advice in regulatory, legislative, and judicial proceedings. She is Chair of Pierce Atwood’s Environmental Practice Group

In her environmental practice, Lisa assists clients with numerous matters including federal, state, and local environmental permitting, development and defense of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements under NEPA, regulatory enforcement proceedings, energy and environmental litigation, legislative and regulatory activities, riparian rights and production management, hazardous substances and hazardous waste management (particularly with regard to PFAS), and contaminated property investigation, remediation, and litigation.

Her land use practice covers a broad range of development projects, and includes advice on issues such as takings, variances, vested rights, moratoria, and contract zoning that frequently arise under state and local rules.

Lisa has broad experience obtaining federal, state, and local regulatory approvals for major energy infrastructure projects – as well as successfully defending those approvals on appeal – and works closely with her colleagues in the Energy Infrastructure practice group to provide clients with comprehensive development and siting counsel, particularly in the renewables space. She is well versed in the process of getting controversial projects across the finish line, and represents a number of clients on cross-border infrastructure projects.

Lisa's clients include transmission, solar, wind, biomass, hydro, groundwater, aquaculture, energy storage, and pipeline developers and owners, as well as electric and natural gas utilities and clients with cogeneration capabilities. Importantly, Lisa advises clients at the forefront of the rapidly growing areas of solar, hydro, and energy storage in New England and nationally, including on beneficial reuse of contaminated properties.

Maine is a leader in the nation in PFAS regulation, and Lisa is closely involved not only in PFAS regulations, investigations, and remediations, but also regulatory incentives and permitting to develop PFAS-impacted properties and brownfields sites, a salient piece in solving the climate change crisis through successful development of renewable energy generation and storage.

She also assists property developers and owners, energy project owners and developers, tank farms, and industrial and manufacturing facilities with due diligence in connection with sales and acquisitions, and represents electric utilities in major rate case proceedings, mergers and acquisitions, certificates of convenience and necessity, affiliate transactions, and other regulatory proceedings. Lisa’s background in energy law gives her a unique ability to advise clients in matters that intersect environmental and energy law issues.

Lisa is a member of the Pierce Atwood's Pro Bono Committee, and is dedicated to providing legal work for the public good.

Career

Prior to joining Pierce Atwood Lisa was a senior managing associate in the New York office of Dentons US LLP. There, she represented energy generation, distribution, transmission, and retail companies in a range of regulatory, litigation, and legislative matters, and represented clients in complex commercial litigation in state and federal court. Lisa has also worked for state environmental agencies in California and Kansas, and interned with the Office of the Maine Attorney General in the Natural Resources and Government divisions.