September 24, 2018
McGuireWoods has bolstered its significant regulatory and compliance capabilities with the arrival of Dave Franchina, one of North Carolina’s top-ranked environmental lawyers.
Franchina, a Charlotte partner, brings more than three decades of experience advising clients on project development, environmental litigation and dispute resolution, multimillion-dollar cleanup projects, environmental insurance and complex Superfund matters. He has helped clients navigate environmental regulations and risk management in real estate and commercial transactions, from modest acquisitions of real estate to multinational, billion-dollar-plus corporate acquisitions. He represents institutional clients and regional developers in brownfields redevelopment projects across the Southeast, including some of North Carolina’s largest brownfields development projects, and provides environmental compliance advice to several name-brand manufacturers.
Franchina also will assist the firm’s corporate, finance and real estate lawyers with environmental due diligence and pragmatic management of environmental risk in transactional matters, and will support its litigators on cases involving complex environmental issues. He joins McGuireWoods from K&L Gates, where he helped lead that firm’s environmental practice.
“Dave has guided numerous clients through challenging site cleanup and redevelopment projects,” said Vishwa Link, chair of the firm’s Regulatory & Compliance Department. “His experience in critical regulatory matters adds value in many areas, including our energy industry team and McGuireWoods Consulting’s infrastructure and economic development group.”
Among his many honors, Franchina holds a Band 1 ranking — the highest possible — in the prestigious Chambers USA guide and The Best Lawyers in America has recognized him as Charlotte’s “Lawyer of the Year” for environmental law.
“Dave understands the range of environmental issues companies face every day, and that insight is an asset for all of our practices and our clients,” said John McDonald, managing partner of the Charlotte office.
McGuireWoods’ environmental lawyers have deep regional, national and international experience in matters ranging from site cleanups, complex environmental litigation and transactional risk management to renewable energy project development and nanotechnology. The group includes former government regulators and lawyers with technical backgrounds in engineering and the natural sciences, as well as noted speakers and writers on regulatory and enforcement developments.
“McGuireWoods is a perfect fit for me,” Franchina said. “The firm’s environmental practice excels in helping clients find innovative solutions, minimize risks, and add value and practicality to their business transactions.”