David B. Farer, Chair of the Environmental Department of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP, was appointed President of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) at the College’s October 2015 Annual Meeting in New York City.  He will serve a one year term in this voluntary post.

ACOEL is a national professional association of distinguished lawyers who practice in the field of environmental law.  Membership is by invitation and members are recognized by their peers as preeminent in their field.

In 2008, Mr. Farer became the first New Jersey attorney invited to membership in ACOEL.  As President-Elect, he was responsible for the coordination and planning of the 2015 Annual Meeting, at which he articulated his themes of “service and organization” and announced initiatives aimed at further expanding the College’s role in outreach, education, response and pro bono activities throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Mr. Farer is a nationally renowned environmental lawyer with over three decades of experience concentrated on the impact of environmental laws on transactions and real property in New Jersey and around the nation. His work encompasses the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties including brownfields, environmental compliance and insurance issues, institutional and engineering controls, assessing and negotiating liability under federal and state Superfund laws, resolution of environmental issues in bankruptcy proceedings, litigation arising from those issues, and the emerging field of sustainable development and green building.  Mr. Farer serves as a court-appointed Special Master in environmental lawsuits in New Jersey. He is a qualified mediator under New Jersey court rules, and has also been selected by the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, to serve on the District’s Panel of Mediators.

Prior to joining Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis in January 2012, Mr. Farer chaired the Environmental & Brownfields practice group at Farer Fersko, where he established that firm's environmental practice in 1984. He has written and lectured extensively on environmental issues since the mid-1980s.