Gareth I. Orsmond

Director 

gorsmond@rackemann.com

vCard

Tel: 617-951-1117

- Business- Insurance- Real Estate- Affordable Housing and Community Development- Finance, Restructure and Workout Group

 

Education

Bar and Court Admissions

• Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

Practice Focus

Gareth focuses on land use, zoning, environmental, and complex insurance matters in transactional, permitting, and litigation work.  His clients include individuals, non-profit corporations, Native American tribes, Fortune 500 companies, closely-held corporations and companies, schools and universities, municipalities, and insurance regulators and liquidating trusts.  Gareth has been a guest lecturer for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education and for Boston University’s Metropolitan College of City Planning and Urban Affairs.  For several years now, he has provided commentary for the reporter on environmental administrative appeals.  He serves as the firm’s Executive Green Officer and has been recognized as a Super Lawyer Rising Star by Boston Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine for five years.

Notable Experience

Gareth works closely with his clients to devise and implement strategies for achieving their goals.  His environmental and land use experience includes conservation and development efforts.  His insurance experience includes representing state regulators in multi-state examinations and liquidating trusts, as well as complex issues arising from environmental matters and long-tail claims.  Among other things, he has represented several homeowners in claims for contamination of their properties, helped a regional YMCA develop programs subject to land use restrictions, handled land use and contractual matters for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, provided regulatory and financial guidance for prospective purchasers of contaminated properties, served as special counsel to the Town of Westwood with respect to a 135-acre mixed-use, transit-oriented development, and obtained comprehensive permits for affordable housing.

Background

Gareth joined the firm in 1998.   Before then, Gareth earned an M.M. in Jazz Performance and performed in various local venues while working for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and as a manager with the Handel & Haydn Society.

Professional Activities

• Urban Land Institute
• American Bar Association, Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Section, Public Law Section
• Boston Bar Association, Environmental Law Section
• Massachusetts Bar Association, Property Section
• Board of Directors, Clerk, Westwood Land Trust, 2003-2006

Publications

Commentary, Massachusetts DEP Reporter (Landlaw, Inc., 2003 to present)

Contributing author, “Enforcement of Zoning Requirements,” The Massachusetts Zoning Manual (MCLE 2002, 2007, 2010)

Contributing author, The Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan: Applying the Lessons of Land Use to the Development and Use of the Ocean’s Resources (ABA 2010)

Guest lecturer, Boston University Metropolitan College of City Planning and Urban Affairs, Met UA 503 Housing & Community Development

Guest lecturer, Commercial Real Estate Basics: Zoning, Subdivision and Environmental Site Assessments (MCLE 2006 to present)

Contributing author and lecturer, Solving Waterfront Property Disputes (MCLE 2008) (contributing author and lecturer)

Author, “Eligible Person and Downgradient Property Liability Exemptions of the Brownfields Bill,” Section Review (MBA 2000)

Reported Appellate Decisions

Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, Inc. v. Energy Facilities Siting Board, 457 Mass. 663 (2010)

Arno v. Commonwealth, 457 Mass. 434 (2010)

Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Canton v. Housing Appeals Committee, 76 Mass. App. Ct. 467 (2010)

Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Canton v. Housing Appeals Committee, 451 Mass. 158 (2008)

Zuckerman v. Town of  Hadley, 442 Mass. 511 (2004) (amicus for Real Estate Bar Association)