Carolyn S. Kaplan :: Energy :: Boston :: Nixon Peabody LLP

Carolyn S. Kaplan
Of Counsel
Chief Sustainability Officer

ckaplan@nixonpeabody.com
617-345-1345
Fax: 866-947-1545

Experience

Carolyn Kaplan serves as Chief Sustainability Officer for Nixon Peabody, the first such position in a law firm. In that role she identifies opportunities to better service and partner with clients and others on joint sustainability initiatives and she works closely with the firm’s Green Operations Steering Committee to implement sustainable practices and reduce the firm’s carbon footprint.

Ms. Kaplan also co-chairs the Renewable Energy Team in the firm’s Energy and Environmental practice group, which is composed of attorneys experienced in the development, construction, financing and operation of renewable energy facilities. She has assisted clients on a variety of renewable energy projects, including siting of land based and offshore wind energy facilities.  
 
Ms. Kaplan concentrates her practice on land use and environmental matters. She counsels her clients on the array of issues that affect development projects and facilities, including environmental impact review, wetlands, waterways and tidelands licensing, storm water, water supply, wastewater, zoning, and hazardous waste site assessment and remediation. She is adept at navigating the often overlapping jurisdictions of federal, state and local permitting programs. Ms. Kaplan interacts with and appears before various regulatory boards and agencies, including local conservation commissions and zoning boards, state environmental agencies, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
 
Ms. Kaplan has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in environmental law for four consecutive years based on a peer-review survey by Massachusetts Super Lawyers magazine.

Sustainability Speaking Engagements
  • Panelist, "LEED 2009-A Sustainable Strategy for Everyone", Commercial Real Estate Women Network Convention, Boston, MA, October 2009
  • Panelist, "The Green in Green:  Sustainability, Green and Cleantech - Clearing the Hurdles to Value Creation", The Executive Council, New York, NY, May 2009
  • Panelist, “Corporate Environmental Stewardship – Best Practices”, Environmental Business Council of New England, Waltham, MA, May 2009
  • Panelist, “Going Green - How Legal Departments Can Save Time, Money, and the Environment”, Corporation Service Company Earth Day Webinar, April 2009
  • Panelist, “Legally Green”, Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, October 2008
  • Moderator, “Money, Technology & Policy: The State’s Green Future”, Boston Business Journal Green Business Summit, Boston, MA, May 2008
  • Moderator and Panelist, “Is it Easy Being Green?”, Association of Corporate Counsel – Northeast Chapter, Boston, MA, May 2008
  • Moderator, “Sustainable Development & Green Design”, Higher Education & Real Estate: Innovative Strategies for Campus Planning and Facility Financing, Institute for Professional and Executive Development, Inc., Boston, MA, April 2008
  • Panelist, “Legally Green”, Rochester Green Business Network, Triple Bottom Line Conference & Expo, Rochester, NY, April 2008
  • Speaker, “Legally Green”, Association of Legal Administrators, Rochester, NY, April 2008
  • Panelist, “Getting from Trash Cans to Recycling Bins…and other ways to green your office”, Urban Land Institute Green Program, Boston, MA, April 2008
  • Panelist, “Case Study: Mobilizing to ‘Go Green,’” Association of Legal Administrators, Law Firm Green: The New Black, Washington, DC, February 2008
Renewable Energy Speaking Engagements
  • Program Chair and Panelist, Environmental Business Council of New England, Seminar Series on Land Based Wind Energy, Boston, MA, March 2008
  • Panelist, “AWEA Siting Handbook,” AWEA Wind Power Project Siting Workshop, Austin, TX, February 2008
  • Introductory Speaker, “Logistics: Garnering Wind Power Offshore,” Environmental Business Council of New England Seminar Series on Offshore Wind Energy, November 2007
  • Panelist, “Legislative Update and Policy” and Panelist: “Siting, Real Estate, Environmental and Regulatory Issues,” Institute for Professional and Executive Development, Inc., Financing Wind Power: The Future of Energy, Santa Fe, NM, July 2007
  • Panelist, “Navigating Environmental Review: Lessons Learned from Large-Scale Offshore and Land-Based Wind Projects,” American Wind Energy Association, Windpower 2005 Conference and Exhibition, Denver, CO, May 2005.
  • Moderator and Panelist, “Local Permitting: Strategies and Pitfalls,” American Wind Energy Association, East Coast Siting Workshop, Boston, MA, March 2005.
  • Panelist, Wind Energy Development, Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Fall Legal Conference, Boston, MA, October 2003.
  • Moderator and Panelist, Coastal Wind Power Energy Generation: Capacities and Conflicts, Boston College Law School Environmental Affairs Law Review, Fall Symposium, September 2003.
Publications
  • Congress, the Courts, and the Army Corps: Siting the First Offshore Wind Farm in the United States, Boston College Law School Environmental Affairs Law Review (Vol. 31, Issue 2), 2004.
  • Opportunities and Challenges for Wind Power Developers, North American Wind Power, (Vol. 1, No. 6), July 2004, co-authored with Richard M. Cogen, Esq.

Admissions

Ms. Kaplan is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts.

Education

Boston College Law School, J.D., cum laude
Cornell University, B.A.

Affiliations

Ms. Kaplan serves on the American Wind Energy Association’s Siting Committee and Offshore Wind Working Group and co-managed the drafting of AWEA’s Wind Energy Siting Handbook. She is active in the New England Environmental Business Council and served as co‑chair of EBC’s Public Policy Committee.
 
Ms. Kaplan is a member of the Steering Committee for the State Bar Task Force on Sustainable Law Practice in California. She is a member of the Environmental Law Section of the Boston Bar Association, and the Energy and Natural Resources Section of the American Bar Association, and co-authors the renewable energy section of the biannual report for the ABA Section of Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law. Ms. Kaplan served as a Member of the Transition Committee for Massachusetts Attorney General-Elect Tom Reilly. 
 
Ms. Kaplan provides pro bono assistance to the Attleboro Land Trust and the Courageous Sailing Center, a not-for-profit organization located on Boston Harbor that offers learn-to-sail programs to children. 
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