EMAIL:
PHONE: 770-697-7640
Office Address:
1200 Peachtree Street, N.E
Suite 600
Atlanta, GA 30309
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
(J.D., 2004)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(BSPH, 2001)
Georgia
Executive Board Member, Georgia Brownfield Association
Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business – Environmental Law (2012-Present)
The Best Lawyers in America® – Environmental Law (2019–2026)
Heather Friedman advises clients on complex environmental issues arising in commercial and real estate transactions, offering practical, business focused solutions across the lifecycle of property acquisition, development, management, financing, and disposition. Her practice spans developed and underutilized properties nationwide, including industrial, retail, hospitality, office, residential, and mixed use projects.
Heather regularly works with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state environmental agencies on matters involving brownfields, Superfund sites, hazardous site cleanups, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permitting and compliance, enforcement actions, underground storage tanks, and wetlands and state water permitting. She also advises clients on environmental insurance, environmental due diligence, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, and Phase II investigations in connection with corporate and real estate transactions. In addition, she is well versed in emerging environmental issues, including per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Heather has extensive experience negotiating contractual environmental risk allocation, including in purchase and sale agreements, asset and stock purchase agreements, remediation agreements, environmental escrows, loan and environmental indemnity agreements, and leases. Her clients include national real estate investment trusts, developers, regulated entities, financial institutions, and institutional lenders.
Prior to joining KMCL Law, Heather was a partner and environmental attorney at Morris, Manning & Martin (now Taft), where she practiced for more than two decades. She earned her J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis and her B.S.P.H. in Environmental Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Executive Board Member, Georgia Brownfield Association
Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business – Environmental Law (2012-Present)
The Best Lawyers in America® – Environmental Law (2019–2026)
Co-Author, "PFAS: How Emerging Regulations and Recent Litigation Are Affecting Buyers, Sellers, and Developers of Real Property, Wealth Management," August 8, 2022.
Speaker, "The Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Distressed Assets, AWAC Services," Fall 2021.
Speaker, "A Survey of State Brownfield Associations & How to Create Your Own in Your State, 2020 Virtual Brownfields Conference," November 2020.
Speaker, "Environmental Considerations for Real Estate Transactions, State Bar of Georgia Commercial Real Estate Seminar," November 2020.
Lead environmental counsel in a multi year brownfield redevelopment involving more than 200 properties subject to overlapping EPA and state regulation, including negotiations with EPA headquarters and Region 4 offices and removal of properties from the National Priorities List.
Serve as nationwide environmental counsel to a publicly traded retail real estate investment trust, advising on state regulatory frameworks and environmental strategy for property acquisition, management, and development.
Represent an insurance agency in an EPA Superfund enforcement matter, resulting in successful removal of the client as a responsible party for cleanup costs.
Advise a global manufacturing company on RCRA permitting, compliance, and redevelopment of legacy environmentally impacted properties.
Represent clients in New York state matters requiring negotiation of cleanup and liability protection agreements with state regulatory authorities.
Counsel a nationwide property management company in EPA negotiations, achieving a substantial reduction of penalties in Toxic Substances Control Act enforcement actions.
Advise financial institutions in loan and real estate transactions, with a particular focus on environmental insurance and risk management.