Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental Law:
A Respected New England Practice with World-Wide Connections

At Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC (DRM), delivering high quality legal services and personal attention to clients are our highest priorities. A solid reputation spanning 57 years and a dynamic, expanding practice with more than 85 attorneys and legal professionals provide the measures of our success. Our selection as Lex Mundi’s Vermont member firm places us among 160 prestigious law firms in 99 countries.

DRM’s real estate attorneys represent owners, developers, investors, lenders and title companies in connection with all aspects of real estate investment

Entrepreneurial and business-minded, our attorneys have the sharp legal skills, technical understanding and comprehensive knowledge required to negotiate complex real estate transactions. DRM’s real estate attorneys:

• act as national leasing counsel for major retail clients
• counsel domestic and foreign investment entities in the acquisitions and development of commercial and residential real estate
• assist several national communications businesses with large-scale portfolio leasehold analyses to facilitate corporate restructuring and asset acquisitions
• help developers acquire and convert under-utilized manufacturing and industrial spaces throughout the Northeast into modern, multi-use facilities to generate tenant revenue streams
  
• represent utilities to secure new and expanded utility line corridors via negotiated conveyances and condemnation
• resolve boundary disputes and title claims on behalf of owners and title companies through negotiation and litigation; and
• represent lenders and owners in transactional and insolvency/restructuring, analyzing default situations and business opportunities as well as debtors’ and creditors’ rights and remedies

DRM’s dedicated real estate and environmental lawyers guide businesses, developers, contractors, and institutions through the maze of regulatory law and permitting

From Conceptual Design to Grand Opening, our team knows how to get the job done. Examples of projects undertaken by DRM’s real estate and environmental attorneys include:

• guiding a ski area that is the foundation of its local area economy through a multiple-phase, long-range process of planning, proposal, presentation, alteration, permitting and construction that has enabled it to reclaim its status as the premiere world-class winter and summer destination resort
• assisting a tenant-in-common syndicator on the acquisition of a regional shopping mall
• advising a national, high-end resort developer on a multi-phase, 1,000 unit-plus ski resort, hotel and golf-course development
• representing a national retailer confronted with conflicting state and federal laws for controlling stormwater runoff, achieving ultimate success through a combined regulatory, legal, and legislative strategy; and
• protecting the viability of a medium-sized, privately-owned energy company through a complex Superfund assessment, negotiation and settlement involving multiple parties

DRM’s deep and diverse legal team delivers complete solutions to simple and complex challenges.

With 16 experienced, full-time attorneys practicing throughout Vermont and New Hampshire in the area of real estate and environmental law, and highly-trained and professional paralegal support, the group consistently delivers timely and effective solutions to real estate challenges.

DRM delivers all of the legal services builders, contractors and developers need, including:

• due diligence, property acquisition and subdivision land use permitting and due diligence for complex projects under Act 250
• state environmental permitting such as wetlands mitigation, hazardous waste handling and disposal, wastewater treatment, stormwater runoff, and agricultural lands mitigation, drawing upon excellent relationships with top regulators throughout New England
• effective advocacy before zoning boards, select boards, regional environmental commissions and state environmental courts
• construction and design contract preparation and enforcement
• formation, registration and interstate marketing and sales of condominiums and other common interest ownership communities
• development of public relations strategies
• settlement and litigation counsel at state and federal Superfund sites throughout New England, with extensive experience as lead counsel to Fortune 100 companies in complex contribution actions in federal court

Based in Vermont and New Hampshire, DRM is connected throughout the world.

As the exclusive member firm for Vermont of Lex Mundi, the world’s leading association of independent law firms, DRM is active in the Lex Mundi Environmental and Real Estate Practice Group and has immediate entrée to more than 20,000 lawyers in 160 prominent and successful law firms with 560 offices in 99 countries. The firm’s association with Lex Mundi gives DRM’s clients the added benefits of:

• access to local market knowledge and experience
• relevant industry expertise
• sound business and language skills
• responsive service
• advice and counsel of leading real estate and environmental attorneys throughout the US and world-wide

Collectively, DRM’s real estate attorneys are licensed to practice in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Texas, and South Carolina, as well as before six U.S. District Courts, four U.S. Courts of Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Our attorneys are actively involved in professional organizations and trade associations related to their areas of concentration.

DRM provides world-class talent at an excellent value

DRM’s New England location attracts lawyers and legal professionals with world-class talent who choose high-quality lifestyles in the smaller cities and towns of Vermont and New Hampshire. For DRM’s clients, that means you get the personal attention and value associated with a smaller law firm, without sacrificing talent, depth or quality.

Areas of concentration:

Commercial real estate transactions

Environmental & land use planning, subdivision and development

Project planning, financing and tax advice

Environmental, permitting and zoning due diligence and compliance

Regulatory and Environmental Court appeals

Hazardous waste law

Environmental insurance

Construction and architectural contracts

Common interest communities

To explore how DRM’s Real Estate/Land Use and Environmental Law Group can help you with the legal and practical aspects of your project, contact Practice Group Chairs Peter Van Oot (Environment) at or R. Prescott Jaunich or William Schroeder (Real Estate/Land Use).

A full-service New England law firm

Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC is a full-service, regional law firm. As clients’ needs expand into other areas of law, the firm’s wide range of legal specialties and commitment to vigorous collaboration across practice areas can provide seamless, cost-effective legal representation.