Kerri L. Barsh

Kerri L. Barsh

Kerri L. Barsh practices environmental compliance including permitting; enforcement and litigation; and land use law. Kerri has represented public and private clients on environmental issues including mold, hazardous waste regulatory and liability matters; wetlands and coastal permitting; air quality permitting; petroleum product contamination; and other compliance and enforcement matters.

Areas of Concentration

· Environmental compliance, permitting, enforcement, including litigation

· Transactional environmental work (drafting and negotiation of reps and warrants, disclosures, and indemnities)

· Land use and comprehensive plan approvals, including litigation

· Mold (from the drafting of mold addenda and various contractual provisions, hiring of consultants, remedial assistance, and litigation)

· Administrative litigation (permitting, rule making, and enforcement-related)

· Petroleum product and dry cleaning contamination

· Electrical generation facilities (power plant siting and regulation)

· Limestone rock mining, ancillary uses, blasting issues, zoning, and permitting

· Landfills (siting, permitting, and related regulatory matters)

· Legislation drafting (both bills, ordinances and rules)

Significant Representations

· Represented commercial real estate and railroad company Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) in its $3.5 billion merger transaction, in which FECI has been acquired by a company formed by certain private equity funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC.

· Represented IVAX Corporation in its merger with TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., which created the largest generic drug company in the world.

· Represents public and private clients on a wide array of environmental issues, including hazardous substance regulatory and liability matters; wetland and stormwater management permitting; air quality permitting; petroleum product and dry cleaning solvent contamination; and other general compliance and enforcement matters.

· Represented Greenwich Air Services, in a $1.8 billion, three-party merger; served as chief environmental counsel who drafted and negotiated the environmental reps and warranties and indemnities; oversaw environmental due diligence and compliance activities, including supervision of five regional environmental consulting teams.

· Represented developers, builders, building owners/operators, and lenders in connection with mold-related concerns, including preventive advice; development of mold protocols; drafting of mold addenda; disclosures and risk shifting instruments; hiring and supervision of mold experts; analysis of mold-related legislation; and pursuit of insurance claims.

· Represents electrical generation companies in connection with due diligence, zoning approvals, environmental permitting and related matters.

· Represents several large pension funds, REITs, and developers in environmental and land use due diligence efforts.

· Represented several large developers in land use related litigation, both judicial and administrative, including defense of land use plan amendments and developments of regional impact.

· Represented Broward County in its air permitting and power plant site certification for the north and south resource recovery facilities.

· Represents the City of Miami and Hillsborough County as special counsel relative to multi-party Superfund sites.

Professional & Community Involvement

· Chairperson, Employment Relations Committee, facilitates in-house training programs for the Firm at large and the Environmental and Land Use Department

· Hiring Partner for the Firm, 1999-2001

· Member of the Firm's Recruiting Committee, Finance Committee, Hiring Committee, Intake Committee, and Orientation Committee

· Former Member, Board of Directors, Women's Emergency Network

· Former Member, Executive Council, Miami Bridge

Awards & Recognition

· Listed, Best Lawyers in America, 2007-2009

· Listed, Real Estate, Who's Who Legal: Florida 2008

· Selected by Super Lawyers magazine, 2007, 2008 and 2009

· Listed, Chambers & Partners USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, 2007-2009 editions

Articles, Publications, & Lectures

Articles

· "Pre-empting Liability Issues," Area Development Magazine, September 2003

· "Developer Liability in the Toxic Mold Arena: Recent Trends and Issues," Southeast Real Estate Business Magazine, August 2003

· "An Ounce of Prevention," Realty Magazine Online, August 8, 2002

· "Toxic Mold: What You Should Know About It and What You Can Do About It," Real Estate Issues Magazine, Summer 2002

Miscellaneous

· "Greenberg Traurig's Summer Associate Program Ranks Among the Top 5 in the Nation," GT Press Release, January 14, 2002

· "Where the Action is," lawschool.westlaw.com, March 2001