Schnapf LLC

Schnapf LLC was formed by Lawrence Schnapf, a nationally-recognized in environmental law with over 30 years of environmental law experience at Fortune 500 Corporations and International Law Firms. Unlike many environmental lawyers who began their careers as litigators or regulators, Larry was first a business lawyer. He understands transactions and applies this background to develop practical and creative solutions to environmental risks associated with corporate, real estate and brownfield transactions; commercial financing, bankruptcy, workouts and corporate restructuring. Larry is also professor of environmental law at New York Law School.

We are a boutique environmental law firm with a particular expertise in environmental issues associated with business, real estate and financing transactions, due diligence, brownfield development and regulatory assistance. Schnapf LLC clients big firm partner-level expertise and experience at small firm pricing. Our goal is to help clients minimize their environmental liability while maximizing the business opportunity. Because of our size, Schnapf LLC is able to meet our clients’ needs with agility and personalized attention The firm’s clients include Fortune 500 Companies and privately-held corporations, lenders, small businesses as well as commercial and non-profit affordable housing developers.

We frequently assist law firms without in-house environmental capability or expertise with environmental issues in their transactions or with client environmental compliance issues. We work seamlessly with firms to shape and evaluate their environmental due diligence as well as assist with drafting and negotiating environmental provisions in contracts. We have flexible billing arrangements where our services are either incorporated into the firm’s invoice or the client is billed directly. Environmental litigation can be factually complex and involve theories of liability that may significantly differ from traditional notions of corporate and property law. We frequently provide litigation support in environmental litigation involving corporate liability and have provided expert testimony on the evolving standards of environmental due diligence. We also offer a menu of pricing options for environmental due diligence to lenders ranging from flat rate pricing to volume discounts. For lenders interested in on-going environmental law counseling, ask about our “Schnapf-On-Demand” retainer arrangement. We assist environmental consultants with development of their phase 1 report templates. We have also developed a variety of business relationships with environmental consultants to provide one-stop, cost-effective complete due diligence services to clients.

The Schnapf LLC is a boutique environmental law firm with expertise in environmental issues associated with Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, Complex Commercial Financing, Environmental Due Diligence, and Brownfield Development. We have extensive experience with environmental issues associated with acquisition, construction, development refinancing and sale of commercial, industrial, retail, hotel, health care, affordable housing, residential and multi-family properties. We also assist clients with Environmental Compliance issues as well as represent clients in state and federal administrative proceedings. We offer clients big firm partner-level expertise and experience on a full range of environmental issues at small firm pricing- our standard billing rate is $500 per hour- and flexible billing practices. We do not charge for office or travel expenses.

We are able to serve clients and transactions that do not have access to the “Big Law” firms. Because of our size, Schnapf LLC is able to meet our clients’ needs with agility and personalized attention. Our goal is to help clients minimize their environmental liability while maximizing the business opportunity. We provide environmental due diligence assistance to law firms that do not have in-house environmental expertise and also provide plaintiff and defense litigation support to law firms representing clients in environmental litigation and cost recovery actions. We can assist law firms with environmental law or regulatory research and also provide expert testimony on environmental issues.

Our due diligence and transactional support services include:

• Pre-Transactional Diligence- Strategic sellers are increasingly using pre-transactional diligence reviews to help flag issues that could complicate a transaction to maximize the value of the assets and expediate the closing of the transaction. We help clients identify existing and legacy liabilities associated with corporate assets and historic operations, resolve and develop pro-active strategies for those issues  to facilitate transactions.
• Environmental Review– we help clients develop expeditious and cost-effective investigations that meet the needs of a fast-moving transaction and their particular risk tolerances; evaluate and confirm environmental issues identified in phase 1 reports or recommendations in phase 2 reports; provide clients with practical and reasonable estimates that allow clients to better value their transactions, and review or negotiate contracts with environmental consultants;
• Structuring Strategic Solutions- We assist clients structure their transactions and design creative cost-sharing or allocating mechanisms to try to minimize their potential liability; develop exit strategies for the environmental liabilities identified during the environmental due diligence process;
• Brownfield and Other Financial Assistance Mechanisms– we have particular expertise in identifying and obtaining financial assistance for defraying some or all of the cleanup costs arising out of a particular transaction;
• Contract Drafting and Negotiation– we assist in drafting environmental provisions in a full range of agreements including due diligence requests, purchase and sale agreements, environmental covenants for loan and financing agreements, indemnities,  post-closing remediation and remediation agreements, access or license agreements to perform or implement investigations or remediation;
• Post-Closing Services– We help clients implement, monitor and enforce post-closing obligations to investigate, remediate or monitor environmental issues. We also develop due care/appropriate care plans to support risk-based cleanups, comply with post-remedial obligations and maintain liability protections;

We also offer special due diligence flat rate and discount pricing programs for financial institutions. We have also developed a Preferred Environmental Consultant (PEC) Program for clients that use environmental consultants that have established track records and expertise with the NYSDEC remedial programs. We offer innovative fixed fee and discounted pricing for clients who use our PEC Partners.

Hazardous Waste

Another major source of cleanup liability is the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which establishes standards for the generation, storage, treatment and disposal of Hazardous Wastes. Most states have enacted their own hazardous waste programs and have been authorized by EPA to administer RCRA through their own state programs so that the state has the primary enforcement authority, In such delegated states, EPA will usually only become involved where the state fails to properly administer or enforce the RCRA program.