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David B. Farer
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As a leader of the firm’s environmental practice, David focuses his representation of clients on the impact of environmental laws on transactions and real property in New Jersey and around the nation. A nationally renowned environmental lawyer, he has remained on the cutting edge of developments in the environmental sector since the 1980s. He has extensive experience related to the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties including brownfields, environmental compliance and insurance issues, institutional and engineering controls, assessing and negotiating liability under federal and state Superfund laws, resolution of environmental issues in bankruptcy proceedings, litigation and dispute resolution arising from those issues, and sustainable building initiatives.

David advises clients on environmental contractual protection techniques, due diligence, transaction-triggered environmental laws, funding options for brownfields redevelopment, state and federal cleanup liabilities, deed notices and use restrictions, and environmental disclosures. He has substantial experience as special environmental counsel in bankruptcy proceedings, dealing with state and federal environmental authorities in the process of estimating and resolving environmental liabilities of bankrupt entities.

David has served as a court-appointed Special Master in environmental lawsuits in New Jersey.   He regularly mediates environmental disputes and is a qualified mediator under New Jersey court rules, with a specialized focus on matters involving environmental laws and issues, including insurance-related claims. He has been selected by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to serve on the District’s Panel of Mediators and has continued to be appointed to successive terms on the panel.

David is a past President of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) and was the first New Jersey attorney appointed to fellowship in the College. He currently co-chairs the International Pro Bono Committee with a focus on leading and continuing ACOEL’s efforts in developing pro bono projects in Cuba. Among his speeches in international settings have been presentations at Oxford University's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and at the XI International Convention on Environment and Development in Havana, Cuba.  Since 2015, he has led and participated in several multi-day symposia in Havana with Cuban counterparts and ACOEL colleagues on reinvigorating and expanding U.S./Cuba environmental cooperation, as has also participated in related webinars. He is also a regular contributor to ACOEL’s blog on environmental law topics

Prior to joining the firm, David chaired the environmental practice at Farer Fersko, where he established that firm's environmental practice in 1984. For over forty years, he has written and lectured extensively on environmental issues in New Jersey, nationally, and internationally. He developed and chaired longstanding national courses of study and related publications on environmental law topics for the American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education, and longstanding programs and associated manuals on the Industrial Site Recovery Act (IRSA), brownfield and other New Jersey laws, and environmental insurance for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

Bar Admissions

  • Massachusetts, 1978
  • New Jersey, 1979
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1986
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1995

Education

  • Boston University School of Law, J.D., 1978
  • Lafayette College, B.A., 1975

Recognition

  • American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) Fellow: Executive Committee; past President (2015-2016); International Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair; ACOEL Cuba Working Group Chair; Program and Education Committee (past co-Chair)
  • American Bar Foundation Fellow
  • Listed in Chambers USA (a publication of Chambers and Partners) in the Environment practice area (2005 – present)
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (a trademark of Woodward/White, Inc.) in the Environmental Law practice area (2007 – present)
  • Selected by Best Lawyers (a trademark of Woodward/White, Inc.) as 2015 Woodbridge "Lawyer of the Year" in Environmental Law
  • Listed in New Jersey Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters business) in the Environmental and Environmental Litigation practice areas (2005 – 2025)
  • Listed in The Lawdragon 500 Leading Environmental Lawyers – The Green 500 (a publication of Lawdragon Inc.) (2024 – 2026)
  • Listed in Lexology Index Thought Leaders: USA (published by Law Business Research Ltd.) in the area of Environment & Climate Change
  • Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rated AV Preeminent (a trademark of Internet Brands, Inc.)

American College of Environmental Lawyers David B. Farer Fellow of the American Bar Foundation  Best Lawyers - Lawyer Logo Best Lawyers - Lawyer of the Year Logo  Rated By Super Lawyers David B. Farer 2025

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Representative Matters

  • Representing L’Oréal USA in a national real estate and environmental engagement supporting acquisitions, leasing, development, and operation of manufacturing and research facilities, including Industrial Site Recovery Act compliance, renewable energy and power off-take agreements, sustainability initiatives, and tax assessment matters. The firm’s recent work includes advising L’Oréal on the development and opening of its flagship New Jersey Research & Innovation facility, featuring an onsite solar microgrid, battery storage, EV charging infrastructure, and peak-shaving controls.
  • Representing two multinational manufacturers in connection with federal Superfund sites in western New Jersey, advising on remediation strategy, redevelopment planning, negotiations with U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, cost-recovery litigation, institutional controls, and emerging contaminants.
  • Served as environmental counsel on the remediation and redevelopment of the former General Motors assembly plant in Linden, including regulatory strategy, brownfield remediation, and state incentive negotiations. Secured a multi-million-dollar redevelopment grant and obtained full reimbursement approval from state authorities as the project generated significant tax revenue through national retail tenancy.
  • The firm represented a national real estate company on environmental aspects of property acquisition and redevelopment, including negotiations with redevelopment agencies, for a major, multi-parcel mixed-use redevelopment project in Jersey City involving complex remediation and land use considerations.
  • Representing Avery Dennison in addressing legacy environmental liabilities at a New Jersey manufacturing site, including multi-property groundwater contamination, allocation among potentially responsible parties, and emerging contaminants.
  • The firm is advising a California-based national logistics and e-commerce real estate developer on environmental, land use, real estate, and insurance matters related to large-scale redevelopment projects in New Jersey, including the conversion of a former fossil-fuel power generation facility into a major distribution and logistics campus involving complex remediation, redevelopment, financing, and regulatory issues.
  • The firm serves as environmental and land use counsel to the owners of a substantial portfolio of commercial and industrial properties in New Jersey and surrounding areas. We are advising on environmental compliance, leasing and transactional issues involving regulated materials, and environmental litigation affecting property operations and redevelopment.
  • Argued successfully before the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v CDMG Realty Co., where the court held that an interim property owner cannot be held responsible under the federal Superfund law for “passive migration” of pre-existing contamination. 

Memberships

  • American Bar Association; Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; Section of Dispute Resolution

Other Activities

  • Led a March 2025 delegation of Fellows of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) at a four-day series of environmental workshops and related events in Havana that included approximately forty Cuban people, including participants from two Cuban Non-Governmental Organizations, the Cuban Environment Agency known as AMA, faculty from the University of Havana law school, and others. 
  • Participated in a July 2025 panel at the biennial international environmental convention in Havana on the topic of “Women, Youth and Older Adults in the Face of the Climate Emergency"
  • Led a February 2023 delegation of Fellows of the American College of Environmental Lawyers at a two day symposium in Havana, “USA-Cuba Key Environmental Issues: Lessons Learned – Lessons Shared” 
  • Moderated a November 2021 national course on “Environmental Insurance: Latest Developments and Emerging Issues,” presented by American Law Institute CLE.
  • Participated in a February 2021 webinar, co-sponsored by Columbia University, ACOEL, a Cuban NGO and the Environmental Defense Fund, on the topic of reinvigorating and expanding U.S./Cuba environmental cooperation.
  • Delivered a presentation on “Lessons Learned: Effective Environmental Regulation of Critical Infrastructure Development & Operation” as a member of the American College of Environmental Lawyers’ delegation to the XI Annual International Convention on Environment and Development, held in Havana in July 2017
  • Presented a talk at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford in March 2015, speaking on the topic of "Real Estate & Business Transactions as Prime Drivers of Environmental Compliance Activities in the U.S. - Sources/Developments/Latest Trends"
  • Interviewed David J. Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, at the October 2012 annual meeting of the ACOEL in Washington, D.C. In 2009, David interviewed Mr. Hayes for a special ACOEL presentation on the Obama administration’s environmental initiatives and priorities. 
  • Interviewed for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts on the legislative and regulatory impacts of Superstorm Sandy, vapor intrusion and other environmental issues in the workplace (March 2013); on the regulation of environmentally sustainable building (March 2012); and on brownfield redevelopment opportunities (March 2011)
  • Lectured at April 2002 International Law Symposium, co-sponsored by the U.K. Law Society, the European Company Lawyers Association, and ALI-ABA. Faculty members included former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, senior judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals and other noted U.S. teachers and practitioners.

Personal

  • Jazz musician, performing on alto and soprano saxophone. Released his first album – Netanya's Dream – in June 2017 on CD Baby and iTunes. 
  • Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Board President

Announcements

In this video, Greenbaum environmental practice leader David B. Farer provides an overview of how the firm proactively protects our clients’ interests when allocating complex environmental risks in real estate and business transactions.  

Of Interest