Doreen A. Simmons

Doreen A. Simmons is a nationally recognized leader in the area of Environmental Law and is the leader of the Environmental Practice at Hancock Estabrook. She has more than 30 years of experience representing major and mid-sized industries, individuals, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations in regulatory proceedings and matters involving compliance, acquisitions and permitting throughout the State of New York and all regions of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Ms. Simmons has represented clients in State and Federal litigated matters regarding Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Superfund (CERCLA), The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and the New York State Navigation Law that governs petroleum sites. She frequently represents clients in Article 78 proceedings, toxic tort litigation, insurance coverage lawsuits, and contract disputes in courts and before regulatory agencies.

Ms. Simmons’ broad experience encompasses all aspects and types of permitting including air, waste, wastewater, wetlands, stormwater and mining, as well as 14001 ISO certification and oil and gas projects, particularly in the Marcellus Shale. She has negotiated numerous consent orders and voluntary agreements with the EPA and the DEC and has assisted clients with contaminated property transactions, Brownfields and green and sustainable building projects. Ms. Simmons has assisted sellers, developers, Industrial Development Corporations, municipalities and lenders with security interest preservation, State and Federal grant opportunities, SEQRA and historical preservation.

Ms. Simmons also routinely represents numerous not-for-profit entities and religious corporations in matters of corporate governance and compliance.

Prior to joining Hancock Estabrook, Ms. Simmons served as a prosecutor for seven years in the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office. In 2013, Ms. Simmons received the “American Inns of Court Professionalism Award” for the Second Circuit American Inns of Court. It is the first time an attorney in the 32 county Federal District Court, Northern District of New York, has received this award.

Ms. Simmons was selected as a Best Lawyers’ 2016 and 2021 Syracuse Litigation – Environmental “Lawyer of the Year.”

In 2014, Ms. Simmons was selected as one of the “Top 25: 2014 Women Upstate New York Super Lawyers” and as a “Lawyer of the Year” by Corporate LiveWire magazine.