Diana E. Neeves focuses her practice on environmental and land use litigation and regulatory compliance. Her litigation experience includes disputes related to chemical contamination and clean-up, federal and state environmental enforcement actions, and local zoning appeals. She works with clients on the clean-up of contaminated properties and helps clients evaluate, manage, and limit environmental risk associated with business and property transactions. She also provides guidance to clients seeking local land use and other administrative approvals.
Litigation
Diana handles litigation related to environmental, land use, and telecommunications matters. Her environmental litigation experience involves federal and state environmental enforcement actions and lawsuits between private parties. She also represents clients in disputes brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and many other federal and state environmental statutes. She is a regular contributor to our firm's Environmental Law + blog.
Diana also handles land use and telecommunications matters that result in litigation, including appeals of decisions of local land use boards and the Connecticut Siting Council to Connecticut's Superior, Appellate, and Supreme Courts. She has helped defend municipalities nationwide in cases involving the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) , and contributed to another one of our firm's blogs, RLUIPA Defense.
Environment + Energy
Diana regularly works with clients on the clean-up of contaminated properties, including Superfund sites. She assists clients with federal and state administrative compliance, including environmental remediation. She also helps clients evaluate, manage, and limit environmental risk associated with business and property transactions.
Diana is part of our firm's Energy group, which serves utility and energy clients on regulatory and environmental matters. She provides a range of transactional and compliance services. She helps clients navigate all local, state, and federal permitting requirements, and works to ensure they are in compliance with all regulations. She has worked with clients on energy and conservation matters before the New York State Public Service Commission, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the Connecticut Siting Council, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Land Use
Diana provides guidance to clients seeking local zoning approvals. She counsels them on meeting requirements for land development and securing necessary municipal and state permits to do so.
Pro Bono
Diana was one of several Robinson+Cole attorneys involved in pro bono projects to combat poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking in Africa and Southeast Asia. During law school, as part of the New York State Pro Bono Scholars Program, Diana was a Pro Bono Scholar in the Criminal Law Special Litigation Unit of the Legal Aid Society.
Prior to joining Robinson+Cole, Diana was a judicial honors extern for a United States District Judge in the Southern District of New York. She also worked as a legal intern for an organization focused on water quality and related issues. She received a fellowship grant to provide nonprofit environmental legal services.
