Michael C. Gross

Biography:

Michael Gross focuses his practice on brownfields redevelopment, environmental transactions, and regulatory compliance matters. He represents a broad range of clients, including commercial and residential real estate developers, manufacturers, renewable energy providers, and municipalities in a wide array of complex environmental matters. Michael also has substantial environmental litigation experience. Representative matters include:

• managing all phases of brownfield redevelopment projects, including the drafting and negotiation of contractual provisions, implementing environmental due diligence strategies and facilitating compliance with both mandatory state property transfer laws and voluntary environmental remediation programs;
• addressing all phases of compliance and permitting for various multistate manufacturing entities;
• representing a recycling trade association in negotiating permit terms and conditions with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and providing comments to pending regulatory proposals affecting the industry;
• litigating disputes arising under various environmental statutes and associated regulations, including the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Clean Water Act; and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, Solid Waste Management Act, Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act, and Land Recycling and Environmental Remediation Standards Act;
• successfully second-chairing a federal trial and appeal in representation of a residential real estate developer claiming $16.5 million in damages against its insurer, pursuant to a "cost-cap" environmental insurance policy;
• drafting and negotiating terms and conditions of multiple environmental insurance products obtained to facilitate the redevelopment of properties with environmental impacts;
• representing a paper manufacturer in the cessation of operations, remediation, and sale of former multistate facilities;
• drafting and negotiating grant and loan applications, resulting in an award of $4.5 million in federal Brownfield Economic Development Initiative ("BEDI") funding to provide for remediation and redevelopment of a former lead-acid battery manufacturing facility; and
• counseling a national coal-to-liquid gas renewable energy provider on environmental compliance and site acquisition issues.

Michael was appointed to serve on Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell's environmental policy transition team and the Vapor Intrusion Task Group of ASTM International, charged with crafting a uniform standard for assessing vapor intrusion risks in commercial real estate transactions. In December 2007, Michael was named a "Rising Star" in the publications Philadelphia Magazine and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers. Michael is also a frequent author and lecturer on pertinent topics of environmental law.

Prior to joining the firm, Michael spent six years on Capitol Hill, working as an environmental policy legislative assistant and press secretary for three Members of the United States House of Representatives.

In law school, Michael was editor-in-chief of the Temple Environmental Law & Technology Journal. Michael also served as a teaching assistant in Temple Law School's Trial Advocacy Program. He received a master's degree in government from Johns Hopkins University, where he wrote his master's thesis on efforts to reauthorize the Clean Water Act in the 104th Congress.

Education:

• Temple University School of Law, J.D., 2000
• Johns Hopkins University, M.A. in Government, 1996
• Colorado College, B.A. (history), 1991

Memberships:

• Bar admissions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• American Bar Association
• Philadelphia Bar Association
• Montgomery Bar Association
• Delaware Valley Environmental Inn of Court

Speaking Engagements:

• "What is Sustainable or Green Development: The Emerging Standards" presented at Building Green, Philadelphia, PA, August 2008
• "Environmental Due Diligence in Real Estate Transactions" presented at Real Estate Purchase and Sale Transactions, Philadelphia, PA, July 2008
• "Update on Brownfields Redevelopment in EPA Region III" presented at the National Brownfields Conference, Detroit, MI, May 2008
• "Zoning and Land Use Law Seminar" presented at Environmental Due Diligence and Permitting, Allentown, PA, March 2008
• "Environmental Due Diligence at Dawn" presented at Lessons From Real World Litigation, Philadelphia, PA, October 2006
• "Fundamentals of Real Estate Development" presented at Environmental Due Diligence in Real Estate Transactions, Philadelphia, PA, October 2007 and July 2006
• "All Appropriate Inquiry Rule, The Environmental Professional's Perspective" presented at Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox LLP client seminar, Bala Cynwyd, PA, April 2006
• "All Appropriate Inquiry Rule: The New Environmental Due Diligence Standard" presented at Eleventh Annual Environmental Update Seminar, Blue Bell, PA, March 2005

Articles:

• "Goodbye to ISRA Letters of Non-Applicability: What Are the Impacts to the New Jersey Real Estate Community?," Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal, June 2008
• "Environmental Due Diligence in Real Estate Transactions," Pennsylvania Bar Quarterly, April 2007 (with Marc E. Gold, Esquire)
• "The Voluntary PRP Developer: Risk, Reward and Challenge," The Legal Intelligencer, March 2007
• "In the Push for Renewable Energy Projects, Environmental Issues Must Be Considered," NJPA Real Estate Journal, February 2007
• "Expanding the Land Recycling Promise to Greyfields," The Legal Intelligencer, July 2003
• "Handling the Environmental Consequences of Electronic Waste," The Legal Intelligencer, May 2001
• "Exempting Military Munitions from the Federal Facility Compliance Act," 28 Temple Environmental Law & Technology Journal, 2000
• "Is Justice Served? The Solid Waste Industry Should Be Aware of Environmental Justice Issues to Shield Itself from Expensive Legal, Public Relations and Regulatory Battles," Waste Age, May 1999