Ms. Warren’s twenty-six years of experience as an environmental attorney has made her keenly aware of the need for sophisticated, practical business lawyers who are knowledgeable about the complex issues and opportunities in the highly regulated fields of environmental and land use law. Appreciating the often-varied interests of lending institutions, developers, manufacturers, corporations and regulators, her approach is to be sensitive to how the often conflicting approach of these entities affects her clients' decision-making processes. She brings a multidisciplinary viewpoint to her work, and understands the importance of collaboration in this highly specialized area of the law involving real estate, corporate, litigation or other practitioners as needed to provide clients with comprehensive and cost-effective full-service resources.
Ms. Warren has made it a priority to develop excellent working relationships with individuals at every level of state and federal government and, through her efforts has gained the respect and trust of the individuals responsible for the prosecution of claims against, and the regulation and permitting of, her clients. She is regularly called upon by environmental agencies to assist in drafting new laws and policies. For example, Ms. Warren has served on several ad hoc committees formed by the CT DEEP to assist the State with drafting comprehensive amendments to the CT Transfer Act. In September 2011, she was appointed to a Task Force by the CT DEEP to conduct a comprehensive evaluation and transformation of Connecticut’s cleanup laws, and is currently drafting legislation to implement the Task Force’s recommendations.
Ms. Warren represents buyers and sellers of contaminated property in allocating environmental liability, and lends her expertise in environmental issues to corporate and real estate transactions of every size and nature. She has assisted her manufacturing clients with registering under ISO 9000 or becoming certified under ISO 14000. She is frequently asked to advise on spill reporting and emergency planning and community right to know issues. She handles permitting, due diligence, audit and cost recovery matters for a myriad of educational, health care and manufacturing clients. In connection with this work, Ms. Warren has reviewed hundreds of environmental site assessments and remediation plans. She is extremely facile with CT’s Remediation Standard Regulations allowing her clients to cost-effectively remediate their properties which can include managing some contamination safely on site. She also successfully guides property owners through the challenging regulatory landscape related to wetlands and coastal development, and has established a substantial expertise on Army Corps issues.
Understanding that resolving enforcement actions is not a “one size fits all proposition,” Ms. Warren has successfully negotiated numerous types of settlements or resolutions on behalf of her clients. She has quickly lifted cease and desist orders, negotiated substantial reductions in proposed penalties and otherwise crafted creative settlements allowing clients to refocus their time and money on growing their business while managing their environmental compliance efforts. Most recently, in 2011, she successfully completed the resolution of three major federal/state Consent Decrees--one for a Fortune 100 financial institution, one for a national retailer, and one on behalf of a municipality.
She has published numerous articles and presented many seminars on various environmental topics, and has developed a reputation as one of the State's leading practitioners in the environmental field.
Ms. Warren has been recognized as a Chambers USA "Leaders in their Field" lawyer for 2007-2013, and has also been listed for more than a decade in The Best Lawyers in America. She is also listed in 2008-2010 issues of The New York Best Lawyers and The New England Best Lawyers. Ms. Warren was selected as one of the Connecticut Law Tribune's 2010 Women in the Law: High Achiever's Yearbook and has been recognized as one of the Super Lawyers in Connecticut for more than a decade.