Professional Experience
Ms. Donovan, the Commercial Real Estate and Development Transactions practice group chair, practices in the areas of financial services, environmental, and real estate law. Ms. Donovan regularly represents lending institutions in all types of real estate financings. Ms. Donovan has had significant experience advising lenders in the work-out and restructuring of loans. She also represents developers, sellers, purchasers, landlords, tenants, and lenders on the sale, acquisition, and leasing of real estate, and related financing of commercial and industrial properties.
Ms. Donovan advises lenders with respect to compliance obligations under New Jersey's Industrial Site Recovery Act (formerly the Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act), underground storage tank regulations, and other laws regulating the use and disposition of real estate in New Jersey. Ms. Donovan counsels clients on all environmental aspects of the purchase and disposition of real property and businesses, including ISRA compliance, environmental due diligence, Superfund and other liability concerns, and permitting. Her practice includes environmental issues in landlord-tenant and predecessor landowner matters. She frequently works with environmental consultants, overseeing the preparation of remedial investigations and remedial action workplans, and assists a wide variety of clients with environmental compliance and permitting issues before state agencies. She also represents clients with regard to inspection and compliance reviews for sites throughout the nation.
Representative Matters
· Represented Fortune 100 company as real estate and environmental counsel involving the ground lease of a Superfund site for retail purposes
· Represented Ford Motor Credit Company in numerous loan transactions throughout New Jersey secured by auto dealerships
· Represented lender as environmental counsel in a $475 million loan transaction involving the development of a cogeneration facility in New Jersey
· Represented The Dial Corporation in connection with ISRA-mandated site investigation and remediation activities, including attention to applicability issues, compliance requirements, supervision of consultants, and remedial strategies
· Represented Schering-Plough Corporation in connection with its acquisition of a corporate headquarters facility in Summit, New Jersey from Novartis Corporation
· Represented Alpharma, Inc. in connection with its acquisition of a brownfields site from the Niagara Falls Urban Renewal Agency
· Represented Genesis Health Ventures, Inc., in connection with the sale of numerous properties throughout New Jersey
· Represented Honeywell International, Inc., in connection with the sale of numerous properties throughout New Jersey
· Represented J. Campoli & Sons, Inc., in connection with its acquisition of a brownfields site in Bergen County, New Jersey and in connection with its financing of the acquisition
News, Publications & Presentations
· Author, "Restructuring Your Lease," Day Pitney Nonprofit Newsletter, Spring 2012
· Featured, "Seventy-two Day Pitney Lawyers Named to Best Lawyers List for 2012," Day Pitney Press Release, October 4, 2011
· Featured, "Chambers USA 2011 Names 45 Day Pitney Attorneys as 'Leading Lawyers for Business'," Day Pitney Press Release, June 10, 2011
· Featured, "Thirty-three Day Pitney Attorneys Named New Jersey Super Lawyers," Day Pitney Press Release, March 31, 2011
· Featured, "Seventy-six Day Pitney Lawyers Named to Best Lawyers for 2011," Day Pitney Press Release, August 9, 2010
· Featured, "Chambers USA 2010 Names 40 Day Pitney Partners as 'Leading Lawyers for Business,'" Day Pitney Press Release, June 11, 2010
· Co-author, "Climate Change and NEPA: Recent Developments," Day Pitney Alert, May 10, 2010
· Co-author, "New Lead-Based Paint Regulations for Pre-1978 Housing and Child-Occupied Facilities," Day Pitney Alert, April 28, 2010
· "Public Notification and Outreach - September 2 Deadline," Day Pitney Alert, August 18, 2009
· Featured, "Seventy-seven Day Pitney Partners Named to Best Lawyers 2010," Day Pitney Press Release, July 30, 2009
· Featured, "Day Pitney Partners Named 'Leading Lawyers for Business' by Chambers USA 2009," Day Pitney Press Release, June 16, 2009
· "Dramatic Change in New Jersey's Site Remediation Program," Day Pitney Alert, May 13, 2009
· Featured, "Thirty Three Day Pitney Attorneys Named New Jersey Super Lawyers," Day Pitney Press Release, April 1, 2009
· Featured, "75 Day Pitney Partners Named Among The Best Lawyers in America® 2009 Ranked #1 in New Jersey and #2 in Connecticut," Day Pitney Press Release, December 11, 2008
· Featured, "Chambers USA 2008 Ranks 39 Day Pitney Attorneys as Leaders in Their Fields," Day Pitney Press Release, July 22, 2008
· Collen R. Donovan and Christopher John Stracco Featured in Real Estate New Jersey as Two of the State's Most Prominent Real Estate Attorneys
· Co-author, "U.S. Supreme Court Rules That PRPs Can Seek Cost Recovery Under CERCLA," Day Pitney Alert, June 19, 2007
· "Lender Liability and IRSA: How Does Liability Usually Arise?" NJSBA Environmental Law Section Newsletter, October 1996
· The Greening of New Jersey, Attorneys Agree: It's Not Easy Being Green
· "Bankruptcy and ECRA: Like Oil and Water" with Harriet Jane Olson, New Jersey Law Journal, May 2, 1992
Professional Affiliations
· New Jersey State Bar Association
· New York State Bar Association
Awards and Achievements
· Chosen for inclusion in the Chambers USA Legal Directory as a leading real estate attorney in New Jersey, 2007-2011
· Chosen for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Environmental Law, 2007-2012
· Recognized as a New Jersey Super Lawyer in the area of real estate, 2006-2011
· AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell