Jeffrey M Karp

Jeffrey Karp started his environmental career in 1987 at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Environmental Enforcement Section, following 10 years of service at the Federal Trade Commission. Both at DOJ and for the past 22 years in private practice, Jeff has served as a litigator handling cases involving all environmental media under a variety of federal and state laws. For example, Jeff is currently defending a chemical manufacturer against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) clean-up and cost recovery claims involving a contaminated watershed and surrounding property. In that matter, he successfully negotiated the performance of an interim remedy that reduced the expected site clean-up costs by an estimated $30 million. Moreover, Jeff negotiated a substantially reduced settlement payment by an auto parts manufacturer to resolve cost recovery litigation with U.S. EPA and private entities by demonstrating that the remedy selected and constructed by the agency was based on a faulty conceptual site model.

Jeff also has successfully enforced environmental indemnity provisions in transactional agreements, and secured favorable settlements resulting in payments to clients and performance of remedial measures by counterparties totaling millions of dollars. Moreover, he has substantial experience assisting clients in addressing the legal, contractual, and regulatory issues in conducting large-scale infrastructure development projects, including solar thermal and photovoltaic, and landfill gas-to-energy projects.

In 2007, Jeff moved to Sullivan & Worcester, where he co-founded the firm’s Environment, Energy & Natural Resources practice group. Under Jeff's leadership, the practice group's areas of coverage have expanded to include Water Resource and Conservation, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Climate-Related Business and Technology, Pesticides Law, and Energy, Infrastructure & Finance.

Jeff also plays an integral role in Sullivan & Worcester's joint venture with an Israeli law firm, Zysman Aharoni and Gayer. Known as ZAG/S&W, this . joint venture is a one-of-a-kind law firm with offices in Tel Aviv, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston. Jeff serves as leader of ZAG/S&W's Environment, Energy and Natural Resource practice. In his work with ZAG/S&W, Jeff advises companies seeking to participate in water, renewable energy, and clean technology transactions and projects worldwide, with an emphasis on assisting Israeli companies seeking to commercialize their products, services, and technologies. For example, Jeff is presently providing advice on corporate, regulatory, and transactional issues to an international energy company considering engaging in a joint venture with an Israeli company to place a utility-scale solar thermal plant in the Negev Desert.