ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Curtin & Heefner LLP provides aggressive representation to property owners, municipalities, non-profit corporations, businesses and grassroots community groups in protecting their environmental interests. We provide strategic advice and creative approaches to problem solving in an effort to best meet the needs of our clients. Our services include:
Gas Drilling / Marcellus Shale
Our environmental law attorneys represent property owners, municipalities, community groups, and environmental advocacy organizations in all aspects of gas drilling, from negotiations over lease terms to all phases of litigation before administrative agencies and courts, from ordinance drafting to defending against preemption and due process claims, and from permit approvals to appeals.
Environmental Hearing Board
Our attorneys represent land owners, municipalities and environmental advocacy organizations in DEP permit appeals before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
Municipal Proceedings
Our environmental law lawyers appear before municipal bodies on behalf of property owners and residents in connection with proposed large scale developments. We advocate for our clients in connection with subdivision and land development applications, variance requests, and special exception and conditional use applications.
State & Federal Litigation
The attorneys of Curtin & Heefner LLP litigate environmental claims in state and federal court, from pre-trial proceedings, through trials and appeals.
PUBLIC SECTOR LAW
Curtin & Heefner LLP lawyers serve as solicitors and special counsel to counties, townships, boroughs, municipal authorities, school districts, and other governmental bodies. We provide cost-conscious services to public sector clients in areas such as:
General Municipal Law
We assist municipal governments in all their legal needs, from drafting and defending ordinances to conducting meetings and hearings, and from negotiating contracts to litigation.
Zoning & Land Use Law
We also serve as solicitor and special counsel to municipal governing bodies and Zoning Hearing Boards, addressing all aspects of zoning and land development. We conduct hearings, advise boards, draft decisions, negotiate agreements and litigate disputes.
Public Sector Employment and Labor Law
Our attorneys represent school districts, boroughs, boards, commissions, authorities and other public entities in matters including collective bargaining negotiations, grievance and arbitration hearings, unemployment compensation matters, severance agreements, unfair labor practice claims, union organization and related labor disputes, trial and appellate work (state and federal), as well as compliance review for state and federal legislation and regulations. The firm has represented many municipalities in a special counsel capacity, frequently in labor and negotiations, civil service disputes and arbitrations.
Municipal Finance
Our attorneys act as municipal bond counsel and represent schools, counties, boroughs and townships in general obligation and municipal authority revenue bond issues, the aggregate value of which is in the billions of dollars. We have acted as bond counsel for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or Commonwealth agency bond issues and as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel in matters for schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, water and sewer facilities and refunding issues. We have also served as bond counsel and issuer's counsel for industrial revenue bond issues.
Our attorneys have lectured on school district and municipal finance for the Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials and Intermediate Units.
News and Legal Updates
- Lauren Williams testified at a state legislative hearing in Harrisburg on May 2, 2013
May 14, 2013 - C & H attorney Lauren M. Williams to speak at Act 13 symposium
February 25, 2013 - A Win for Municipalities – PUC Must ‘Cease and Desist’ Review of Oil and Gas Zoning Ordinances
October 29, 2012 - High court hears gas drilling case
October 18, 2012 - Major parts of Pa.'s natural-gas law ruled unconstitutional
July 27, 2012 - Court Rejects a Ban on Local Fracking Limits
July 27, 2012 - Researchers say there's gas under Bucks and Montgomery Counties, but don't expect any large-scale drilling
July 9, 2012 - New gas estimates in South Newark Basin prompt drilling moratorium
July 4, 2012 - Nockamixon Gas Drilling Lawsuit Will Likely Advance to PA Supreme Court
June 18, 2012 - Nockamixon, Yardley Sue State Over Gas Drilling Law
March 30, 2012 - Environmentalists Gather Evidence in Case of Gas Drilling Pollution in Nockamixon
March 26, 2012 - Nockamixon Gas Drilling Proposal Tests New State Law
March 17, 2012 - More Officials Agree Drilling Law Applies to Bucks
March 2, 2012 - Successful Anti-Fracking Organization Damascus Citizens for Sustainability Embarks on New Legal Fight to Save Rivers
March 1, 2012 - Tinicum Ditches Its Gas Drilling Law
February 24, 2012 - Lawmakers Clash Over Future of Gas Drilling in Bucks County
February 23, 2012 - Judge’s Ruling Complicates Hydrofracking Issue in New York
February 22, 2012 - Natural Gas Drilling Debate Returns to Bucks County
February 14, 2012 - As Gas Drilling Spreads, Towns Stand Ground Over Control
December 14, 2011 - Residents File Lawsuit to End Political Stalemate
September 27, 2011 - Court: Nockamixon Quarry Can't Expand
August 2, 2011 - Natural Gas Regulation in the Municipal Government Context
July 26, 2011 - DEP Regulators Rush Through Gas-drilling Permit Reviews
April 14, 2011 - Pennsylvania is Approving Gas Drilling Permits with Scant Review
April 13, 2011
