John L. Parker

John L. Parker is a partner of the firm where he will focus his efforts leading the Environmental, Energy, and Resources Practice Group. John has been an environmental attorney for over two decades. He brings a wealth of experience and specialized environmental expertise to private clients in matters involving Clean Water Act enforcement, the Environmental Conservation Law, and the Navigation Law including contaminated site remediation, Superfund litigation, and brownfield redevelopment. He represents clients in environmental litigation matters in State and Federal court and in administrative proceedings. He also represents clients in SEQRA reviews and in Article 78 proceedings.

Mr. Parker served as the Regional Attorney at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for the Lower Hudson Valley - Catskill Region. His role as general counsel and chief legal representative was expansive, leading enforcement and compliance efforts in numerous regulatory programs, such as clean water, clean air, solid waste, petroleum, pesticides, and the superfund and brownfields remedial programs. He also worked extensively on many environmental permitting matters and on significant SEQRA reviews.

He began his legal career as Counsel to the Chairman of the State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. There he worked on complex investigations including a review of the efforts to clean the Hudson River under the Superfund program and he developed policy and legislative proposals and solutions while working with statewide constituencies. These efforts led to the drafting and negotiating of the first comprehensive brownfields legislation in New York State.

Mr. Parker has taken leadership roles in significant environmental initiatives in the region involving clean water and climate change. He has also served as Director of Legal Programs at Riverkeeper.

Mr. Parker is the Co-Chair of the Legislation Committee for the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the New York State Bar Association where he also serves as a member of the Executive Committee. He leads the Annual Legislative Forum each Spring in Albany. He received the Section Council award in 2017.

Mr. Parker has written articles for The New York Environmental Lawyer where he also published a regular quarterly column on NYSDEC. His publications in professional journals, law reviews, and one of the authors of a book chapter, have focused on emerging contaminants, climate change challenges, energy law, and environmental governance in New York.

Mr. Parker is the author of the following professional articles (and one of the authors of a book chapter):

• Lessons from the New York Waterfront – Addressing the Risks of Drinking Water Contamination from Unregulated Contaminants, Environmental Claims Journal, Vol. 29, No. 3, 242-252, July 28, 2017.
• Implementing Environmental Law, Chapter 2, Assessing Environmental Governance of the Hudson River Valley: Application of an IPPEP Model, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Academy of Environmental Law, 2015.
• Assessing Environmental Governance of the Hudson River Valley: Application of an IPPEP, 31 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. Article 1, March 2014.
• The New York Environmental Selfie: To Audit or Not to Audit, The Environmental Lawyer, New York State Bar Association, Vol. 34, No. 1, Spring 2014.
• Extreme Weather and Its Consequences: Adaptation and Resilience Are Needed to Address a Changing World. 24 Envtl. Law in N.Y. Vol. 24, No. 8, August 2013.
• Extreme Weather and Its Consequences: Adaptation and Resilience Are Needed to Address a Changing World, Part 2. 24 Envtl. Law in N.Y. Vol. 24, No. 9, September 2013.
• Department of Environmental Conservation: Update. The Environmental Lawyer, New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Quarterly 2009 – October 2012.
• Interim Report on the Evacuation Plan for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Facility. New York State Assembly Committees on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, February 20, 2002.
• Missed Opportunities: California Energy Fears, New York Energy Policy and the New York Power Authority’s New York City Turbine Project. Pace Environmental Law Review, Vol. 20 No. 1, 2002, Symposium Ed.
• Enhance Environmental Remediation in New York by Strengthening the Superfund Program and Expanding the Brownfields Program. Environmental Law Journal, Fordham University School of Law, Symposium Ed., Fall 2000.
• The Role of Eco-labeling in Sustainable Forest Management, Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, University of Oregon School of Law, Vol. 11(1), Spring 1996.

Mr. Parker professional engagements include the following:

• Steering Committee Member, Environmental Crimes Detection Conference, Judicial Institute, Pace Law School and the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center, September 2010 - October 2011.
• Legal Work Group Member, New York Sea Level Rise Task Force: Report to the Legislature, Draft, November 2010.

Mr. Parker’s lectures include the following:

• Planning for Climate Change: A Discussion for Rockland County on the Climate Smart Communities Program, Rockland Municipal Planning Federation, October 2010.
• Update on New York Climate Change Law, Lecturer at CLE Program for Pace University School of Law, Fall 2009.
• Introduction to Environmental Law, Lecturer at CLE Program for the Environmental Law Section, New York State Bar Association, Fall 2007.

Mr. Parker is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; and New York and Connecticut State Courts.

Mr. Parker received a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University (Cook College) and his Juris Doctor degree from Pace Law School, where he focused on environmental law and international law.