Environmental Due Diligence and Risk Allocation

September 1, 2006

written by Seth D. Jaffe

Presentation at Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education seminar, “Environmental Law Basics”

Relevant To A Broad Array of Transactions

  • Purchase/sale of real estate
  • Purchase/sale of ongoing business with real estate assets and/or environmentally sensitive operations
  • Merger/stock acquisition

Environmental Due Dilligence is a Subset of Overall Due Dilligence

  • Purpose: help client value assets and quantify risk as to individual matters and in the aggregate
  • Sometimes handled exclusively by environmental lawyers from outset of transaction
  • Sometimes the business lawyer kicks it off and then involves the environmental lawyer
  • Given the plethora of laws (federal, state, and local) and the potentially high financial stakes, it's advisable to involve an environmental lawyer early on