attorney profile

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Matthew Kalman leverages over 30 years' experience in the environmental field in bringing about unsurpassed results for his clients.  He counsels corporate clients in a broad range of environmental matters, including state and federal litigation, due diligence investigations, regulatory compliance, permitting and operational issues, and finance.  By virtue of his unique scientific background and considerable experience in the areas of environmental consulting and environmental law, Matt has developed a high degree of sophistication regarding the complex technical and legal issues involved in his clients’ environmental matters.  

Prior to attending law school, Matt had a successful 12-year career as a hydrogeologist working on large-scale soil, sediment, and groundwater remediation projects at federal and state Superfund sites, refineries, bulk fuel storage facilities, retail gasoline stations, and former manufactured gas plants.  His experience as an environmental consultant, specializing in hazardous waste management, hazardous site remediation, regulatory compliance, and the environmental aspects of real estate transactions, coupled with his undergraduate degree in geology and post-graduate work in hydrogeology, provides him with a distinctive understanding of the technical concepts underlying environmental matters and puts him in a position to offer his unique insight and perspective on strategic and preventative environmental counseling. 

Matt’s present practice focuses primarily on regulatory compliance, environmental litigation, and transactional matters.  He counsels clients with respect to compliance matters arising under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) and the Oil Pollution Act (“OPA”), as well as under state laws.  A skilled negotiator and experienced litigator, Matt draws on his technical background and detailed familiarity with state and federal environmental laws, compliance processes and applicability, particularly with respect to New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”) and Site Remediation Reform Act (“SRRA”), to help his clients identify potential risks and minimize liabilities. 

For several years, Matt served as outside counsel to Fortune 500 companies and has assumed significant roles in many high-profile matters, where he has served as coordinating counsel for potentially responsible party (“PRP”) groups in connection with both private cost-recovery actions and claims brought by the federal and state governments.  He has defended clients in federal and state-led Superfund proceedings and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in private cost-recovery and contribution actions. 

Matt also counsels lending institutions and insurers, as well as purchasers and sellers of commercial real estate, with regard to the development and implementation of the appropriate scope of environmental due diligence for both divestitures and acquisitions of real property and business entities and he has significant experience in facilitated negotiation, private arbitration, and mediation of complex environmental liability allocation issues.