Practices
Industries
Value-Added Services
Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.
Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.
Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.
Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.
Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.
Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.
Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.
Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.
Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.
Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.
Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.
Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.
Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.
Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.
Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.
Partner / Co-leader, Food, Beverage & Agribusiness / Co-leader, Environmental / Co-leader, ESG Practice
Alison Torbitt co-leads the Food, Beverage & Agribusiness and Environmental teams and is active in maritime matters. She focuses on environmental compliance and transactional due diligence, counseling a large range of manufacturers, developers (including renewable energy projects), and financing parties to find solutions and mitigate and allocate the risk associated with all aspects of environmental law, including the latest developments from emerging contaminants (PFAS) to controversial subjects like vapor intrusion attenuation factors.
I counsel business and industry clients on compliance with federal, state and local environmental and energy laws, as well as defending against regulatory enforcement and third-party disputes. I am also co-leader of the firm’s Legally Green initiative, thinking strategically about sustainability and the risks that our clients face due to climate change, aging infrastructure, and the need for innovation to stay ahead of these challenges.
With a technical background as an aquatic ecotoxicologist, I have first-hand knowledge of the science and business repercussions of environmental laws, including those regarding water, air, vapor intrusion, hazardous materials, and spill response. I counsel dozens of clients with compliance concerns and defend them against enforcement, and have provided guidance to numerous wine, beer, and food production facilities. I provide strategy and advice on how to cost-effectively monitor compliance, communicate with regulators, self-report, and settle. I have successfully brought multiple contaminated sites to closure in an efficient manner. I also assist with California Alcoholic Beverage Control and Contractors State License Board inquiries.
I assist with environmental and energy due diligence for the acquisition, leasing, and financing of real property and with assuring adequate protections are in place for tax credit investors. I am very familiar with evaluating Phase Is and IIs for sufficiency, reviewing permitting and compliance history, and advising on the risk of environmental liability and enforcement. In each, I help to assure that my clients are adequately informed of and protected from the risks associated with the transaction, helping them to look to the future and make decisions now, which will avoid problems then. I have also developed significant experience in renewable energy off-take agreements, including consumer protection requirements for the residential solar sector, helping to negotiate a middle ground that is both financially beneficial and consumer-friendly.
I help clients communicate with the U.S. Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center, assisting in complicated flag-in/flag-out processes with compliant and business-friendly results. Additionally, I draft and negotiate and assure approval for the related documentation, including trust agreements, time charters, bareboat charters, ship management agreements, logbook entries, certificates of ownership, and continuous synopsis records.
Despite economic instability, residential and infrastructure development find sustainable solutions. Developers focus on environmentally impacted sites and revitalize communities. Drought, climate change, and aging infrastructure push innovation for water and energy.
The publication for the ABA’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources highlighted San Francisco Affordable Housing & Real Estate partner Alison Torbitt, co-leader of the firm’s Environmental and Food, Beverage & Agribusiness teams, for her role as co-chair of the California Lawyers Association’s 2023 Annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite.
This article covering S&P Global Mobility’s purchase of automotive pricing and incentive intelligence company Market Scan, mentions NP for advising Market Scan in the sale. The NP deal team was led by San Francisco Corporate partner Lior Zorea, leader of the firm’s West Coast Emerging Companies and Venture Capital team. The team also included Corporate partners Christian Hancey of Rochester and Shahzad Malik of Los Angeles; San Francisco Affordable Housing & Real Estate partners Ian O’Banion and Alison Torbitt; Corporate counsels Michael Fitzpatrick of Boston and Matthew Goedert of San Francisco; Washington, DC Complex Disputes counsel Brian Whittaker; Rochester Cybersecurity & Privacy counsel Jenny Holmes; Corporate associates Robert Pethick of Boston and Brian Kenney of Washington, DC; and Washington, DC Construction & Real Estate Litigation associate Martha Medina.
This article highlighting partner-level promotions in Q4 of 2022 includes San Francisco Affordable Housing & Real Estate partner Alison Torbitt’s promotion to co-leader of the Environmental team, Washington, DC AHRE partner Dara Histed’s promotion to leader of the General Real Estate & Transactional team, and Rochester AHRE partner Matthew Carrigg’s promotion to deputy leader of the General Real Estate & Transactional team.
The following article covers Resonetics LLC’s $900 million agreement to acquire Memry Corp. and SAES Smart Materials Inc. from NP client SAES Getters SpA. The article mentions Manchester partner and Private Equity & Family Offices team leader Phil Taub and Boston partner Amy O’Keefe, both of the Corporate group, for leading the NP team representing SAES Getters on U.S. legal matters. The team also includes Chicago partner and Global Finance co-leader Rob Drobnak; Corporate partners Alexandra Lopez-Casero and Thomas McCord from Boston, Andrew Share from Manchester, and Sean Clancy from Washington, DC; Affordable Housing & Real Estate partners Mark Beaudoin from Manchester and Alison Torbitt from San Francisco; Boston Labor & Employment partner Jeff Gilbreth; Rochester Intellectual Property partner Kristen Walsh; Washington, DC Complex Disputes partner and Antitrust leader Gordon Lang; Manchester Government Investigations & White-Collar Defense partner Mark Knights; Rochester counsel and Cybersecurity & Privacy deputy leader Jenny Holmes; Boston Corporate counsel David Crosby; Washington, DC Complex Disputes counsel Brian Whittaker; Albany Affordable Housing & Finance counsel Dana Stanton; Corporate associates Shaziah Singh from New York, Anthony Bova from Boston, Corey Habib from Manchester, and Hrishikesh Shah from Chicago; and Manchester Corporate department attorney Dave Zimmermann.
This article mentions NP for advising DIF Capital Partners’ infrastructure fund on its agreement to acquire the Kingfisher wind farm in Oklahoma. The deal team includes Washington, DC Community Development Finance partner Shariff Barakat, Rochester Corporate partner Lori Green, Buffalo Global Finance partner Martha Anderson, and Rochester Corporate associate Aya Hoffman.
Also contributing to the deal were New York City Corporate partner Rick Cox; Manchester partner Mark Beaudoin and San Francisco partner Alison Torbitt, both of the Affordable Housing & Real Estate group; and Washington, DC partners Elizabeth Whittle and Bob Daileader and counsel Ken Weiner, all of the Project Finance & Public Finance group.
In this roundup of promotions to partner and firm management positions, 14 attorneys from Nixon Peabody are highlighted. The 11 attorneys promoted to partner are Ellie Altshuler, Mark Beaudoin, Erik Birkeneder, Hannah Bornstein, Chris Browning, Barry Carrigan, Keri McWilliams, Matt Mullen, Steven Richard, Charles Tamuleviz and Alison Torbitt. In addition, Kenneth C. Lind was promoted to leader of the firms’ public finance practice group, Justin Thompson was promoted to office managing partner in LA, and Aaron Yowell was promoted to chief innovation officer.
California
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
University of Oregon School of Law, J.D., Order of the Coif (1st in class); Editor-in-Chief, Western Environmental Law Update; Associate Editor, Oregon Law Review; Environmental Fellow, Oceans, Coasts, and Watersheds Project; First Place Champion, Oregon Environmental Law Moot Court Competition; Quarterfinalist, National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition
University of California, Santa Barbara, B.S., B.A., with High Honors
University of Queensland, Australia, Marine biology research program
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