Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.

Our Environmental Practice Group has broad experience providing counsel to our clients relating to transactional, regulatory compliance and litigation matters involving environmental issues. Our attorneys are routinely called upon in transactions involving real estate and business assets to address environmental liability and compliance issues. Our redevelopment practice has worked with our clients on many of the most successful projects in the region.

In the compliance context, our attorneys work to achieve our client’s goals in meeting their business needs. Our familiarity with a vast array of regulatory programs and statutory mandates allows our attorneys to work through compliance issues with efficiency.

Our lawyers have broad experience defending and prosecuting environmental cost recovery and contribution actions on behalf of our corporate clients. We have extensive experience defending our clients in enforcement actions brought by USEPA, NJDEP and other governmental entities.

Our attorneys also represent businesses seeking relief from denials of permits and approvals and from onerous permit terms.

We also represent policyholders in connection with environmental insurance coverage litigation. Our policyholder litigation team has litigated numerous cases involving claims ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars. These claims have involved emerging issues in insurance coverage litigation — the solvency of Lloyds of London, allocation, lost policies, choice of law, insurance archeology and novel technology.

Our attorneys are active in a wide-range of industry groups. They are frequently asked to speak on key and new developments and called upon as resources for regulatory agencies in context in stakeholder processes.

Areas of Focus

• Transactional Environmental Issues
• Finance Environmental Issues
• Regulatory Compliance and Counseling
• Cost Recovery Litigation
• Insurance Coverage Litigation
• Remediation and Redevelopment
• Permitting
• Agency Relations (DEP & EPA)
• Hazardous Waste, Solid Waste, Air and Water Pollution
• Audits
• Penalty Proceedings
• Criminal Liability

Creating and maintaining a diverse workplace is of paramount importance to Sills Cummis & Gross. The Firm has always been an advocate of minority hiring practices and is involved in a number of minority hiring, retention and diversity initiatives. The Firm’s Diversity Committee and Women’s Group focus on initiatives to enhance the culture of Sills Cummis & Gross and the quality of service to the Firm’s clients. Sills Cummis & Gross also encourages its attorneys to actively participate in minority bar associations and local and national women’s groups. 

The Sills Cummis & Gross Diversity Committee provides an avenue to continue to promote diversity within the Firm as well as within the legal community at large. The Committee hosts events aimed at increasing the dialog on diversity and providing insights and advice from experienced diverse attorneys. The Committee also provides a mentor to each diverse attorney entering the Firm, in addition to the Firm’s other mentoring programs. The Firm’s minority hiring, retention and diversity initiatives include participation in the New Jersey Law Firm Group, the Rutgers Law School Minority Student Program, and the New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project. 

The Sills Cummis & Gross Women’s Group is dedicated to promoting the professional and personal growth of women attorneys. Recognizing that women face unique challenges, the Women’s Group provides a forum for meaningful discussion and learning. The Group seeks to provide mentoring for our women attorneys, positioning them to lead us into the future at our Firm and in our communities. The Group sponsors both internal programs as well as programs which includes attorneys from outside the Firm. The Firm is a supporter of the National Association of Women Lawyers and the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association.