David Berry has over twenty years of transactional, regulatory and litigation experience in environmental, land use/commercial real estate, renewable/alternative energy and occupational safety matters. Prior to joining Smith Anderson in 1998, he worked over five years as an Assistant Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Environmental Division, representing the Divisions of Air Quality, Water Quality, Land Resources, Marine Fisheries, and Parks and Recreation in enforcement, permitting and rulemaking cases. He developed significant environmental litigation experience representing these State environmental agencies in civil penalty and injunctive relief actions, both at the administrative level before the Office of Administrative Hearings and State environmental regulatory boards and in the State’s superior and appellate courts.

David’s current practice involves many substantive areas of environmental and land use law, including underground storage tanks, site remediation and redevelopment, water quality, storm water, wetlands, riparian buffers, submerged lands and lakefront development, air quality, and mining, as well as OSHA regulation and enforcement. He regularly counsels clients on regulatory compliance and permitting, evaluating and managing environmental risks, sale and acquisition of contaminated properties, due diligence and contract issues, environmental and OSHA investigations and audits, and public company environmental disclosures. He has extensive experience representing clients before regulatory agencies, in administrative appeals, and judicial proceedings. He has handled a broad range of complex transactions for the purchase, sale, leasing, construction and development of commercial, industrial and public utility properties. His public utility practice experience includes the development of renewable/alternative energy facilities, negotiation of renewable energy power purchase agreements, and renewable energy credit (or “green tag”) contracts, smart grid implementation, coal fly ash beneficiation and re-use projects, major line relocations, easements and encroachments.

Honors & Awards