Daniel
Riesel
Senior Counsel
Daniel
Riesel
Senior Counsel
Dan has litigated a wide variety of cases which include numerous environmental matters, white collar defense, civil rights, and commercial matters. His litigation experience ranges from pre-trial practice in complex litigation to appellate advocacy. Dan’s extensive environmental and litigation practice has been recognized by several organizations that conduct peer evaluation of lawyers. Chambers & Partners’ survey of environmental lawyers ranks him as one of the top tier environmental lawyers in New York and notes, “No end of praise is heaped on Daniel Riesel” and, further, “Creative, forceful and dynamic, he is seen as an excellent counselor and a strong litigator who is experienced in enforcement defense, white-collar crime and civil litigation including toxic torts, as well as rulemaking challenges.” Recently, several publications have referred to him as “Dean of the environmental bar.” Similarly, Who’s Who Legal listed him as one of the most highly regarded environmental lawyers in the United States, and noted that his peers had “singled” [him] out for particular praise. Respondents commented that he is “one of the founders of environmental law.” Since 2005, New York Magazine found that Dan was one of the metropolitan area’s “Best Lawyers.”
His litigation has results in overturning Army Corps of Engineers wetland rules, vacating EPA’s promulgation of ocean dumping rules, and a dismissal of restrictions on the broad reach of RCRA Citizen Suits. He has also defeated several multi-party toxic tort suits. Dan successfully represented a municipal client in a 100-day trial involving allegations of a regulatory taking. Since 1980, he has been an active participant in numerous CERCLA administrative and judicial actions, representing various Fortune 500 corporations. His litigation has resulted in the establishment of CERCLA defenses and the recovery of significant response costs. He recently successfully represented several industrial clients charged with environmental crimes. In addition to litigations, Dan has been active in several land use projects in the metropolitan area. He was recently the lead environmental lawyer for the largest commercial and residential development in New York City. Other matters include the successful defense of three attorneys’ suspension from practice for alleged criminal contempt, and the defense of a university’s treatment of female graduate faculty.
In addition to handling trials and motion practice involving public and private issues, Dan has engaged in a great number of administrative proceedings involving the siting of energy facilities, land use and other environmental issues.
Adchem Corporation
Hudson Ridge Wellness Center v. Town Board of Town of Cortlandt
Indian Point Energy Center Relicensing/Decommissioning
Millennium Pipeline Company Litigation
New Hope Power Company
“Environmental Consent Decrees: Negotiation Strategies, Available Defenses, Modifications, Pitfalls to Avoid”
For: Strafford Webinars
“Environmental Litigation: Piercing the Corporate Veil”
For: Strafford Webinars
“Limits on CERCLA Recovery for Legacy Sites: Emerging Statute of Limitations Issues”
For: The Practical Real Estate Lawyer
“Hazardous Waste and Toxic Torts Reporter”
“Environmental Enforcement, Civil and Criminal”
For: Law Journal Press
“Clean Air Act,” Presenter
For: Faculty ALI-CLE Course
“Environmental Law,” Co-Chair & Faculty
For: Co-Chair and Faculty, ALI/ABA Annual Course
“Environmental Litigation,” Planning Chair & Faculty
For: Planning Chair and Faculty, American Law Institute-American Bar Association (ALI/ABA) Annual Course:
“Lighting the Way, the Lighthouse Decision and Judicial Review of Agency Action”
For: Albany Law Review, Vol. 75
“Ethical Consideration for the Clean Air Act Attorney”
For: The New York Environmental Lawyer, Vol. 31
“EPA proposes new technology rules for boilers and incinerators”
For: International Law Office
“Ethical Considerations for the Clean Air Act Attorney”
For: The American Law Institute and the American Bar Association, Environmental Law Course of Study
“Initiatives Hit Workplace Violations With Environmental Laws”
For: New York Law Journal; Co-Author(s): Daniel Riesel
“When Regulatory Universes Collide: Environmental Regulation in the Workplace”
For: N.Y.U. Environmental Law Journal 613
“Defending Citizen Suits”
For: Chemical Waste Litigation Reporter, Vol. 47
“Defending Citizen Suits”
For: 47 Chemical Waste Litigation Reporter 708;
“Scientific Proof and Examination of Experts in Environmental Litigation”
For: Chemical Waste Litigation Reporter, Vol. 21
“Private Party Hazardous Material Litigation”
For: Chemical Waste Litigation Reporter, Vol. 46, No. 3
“Litigating the Administrative Law Case”
For: 22 EPA Admin. L. Reporter 175
“Litigating The Deal Gone Bad”
For: The Environmental Counselor, Business Law, Inc.
“Environmental Columnist”
For: National Law Journal
“Environmental Due Diligence,” Chair
For: Chair, New York State Bar Association Seminar
“Forecasting Significant Air Act Implementation Issues”
For: Pace Environmental Law Review
“When Does Government Regulation Go ‘Too Far’?”
For: Fordham Environmental Law Journal
“NY State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Administrative Law Judge Seminar,” Chair
For: Chair
“Hazardous Wastes, Superfund, and Toxic Substances,” Faculty
For: Faculty, ALI/ABA Course
“Environmental Enforcement,” Faculty
For: Faculty, Practicing Law Institute
“Advanced Environmental Due Diligence,” Chair
For: Chair, New York State Bar Association Seminar
“Toxic Tort Litigation,” Faculty
For: Faculty, Practicing Law Institute
“Environmental Law,” Faculty
For: Faculty, NYSBA Courses
Cardozo School of Law, Adjunct Professor
For: Adjunct Professor
“An Environmental Action Program Model”
For: Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 12
“Corporate Criminal Liability,” Faculty
For: Faculty, Practicing Law Institute
“Implementing the Clean Air Act,” Faculty
For: Faculty, NYSBA Courses
“Current Issues in Environmental Litigation,” Chair
For: Chair, New York State Bar Association Seminars
“Environmental Due Diligence,” Chair
For: Chair, New York State Bar Association Seminar
“The Impact of Environmental Law on Real Estate and Commercial Transactions,” Faculty
For: Faculty, NYSBA Courses
“A Practical Guide to Environmental Law”
For: American Law Institute
“Discovery and Examination of Scientific Experts”
For: The Practical Lawyer, Vol. 32, No. 6
“Criminal Prosecution and Defense of Environmental Wrongs, 15 Environmental Law Reports, 10061”
For: Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution, Vol. 1, No. 1
“Negotiation and Mediation of Environmental Disputes”
For: Ohio State Journal of Dispute Resolution, Vol. 1, No. 1
“Industry Guide to Environmental Compliance”
For: Harrison Publications
“Trial Advocacy Course,” Faculty
For: Faculty, Practicing Law Institute: NITA
CERCLA Claims and Statute of Limitation Issues: An Analysis
The remediation of decades-old hazardous waste sites has increasingly prompted defendants in CERCLA cases to assert the statute of limitations as a defense, revealing two inflection points that the CERCLA practitioner must navigate. The first is whether a party has asserted a cost-recovery claim under CERCLA Section 107(...
Wartime Regulation Does Not Render Government an Operator Under CERCLA, Third Circuit Rules
Columbia Law School, 1961
Union College, B.A., 1958
New York State, 1961
United States District Courts
Courts of Appeal
Supreme Court of the United States
Captain, United States Air Force, Judge Advocate General’s Department, 1962-1966
Special Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York (1967-1970)
Assistant United States Attorney, Civil Division, Southern District of New York (1970-72)
Chief, Environmental Protection Unit, United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York (1972-73)
Member New York State Hudson River Study Advisory Committee (1979-1981)
Criminal Justice Panel Defense Counsel, Southern District of New York (1975-1982)
Contract Principal and Faculty, United States Environmental Protection Agency Training Program in Negotiation Skills (1980-1982)
Contract Principal and Faculty, United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Litigation Training Program (1978 to 1982)
Special Counsel, Village of Croton-on-Hudson Planning Board (1989-1992)
Member, American Bar Association
Member, New York Bar Association, Section on Environmental Law (Chair, 1999), Section on Commercial and Federal Litigation (Executive Committee)
Member, The Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Environmental Law, (Chair, 1984-87)
Regent, American College of Environmental Lawyers