Overview

Lee D. Hoffman is chair of Pullman & Comley, and before that was co-chair of the firm's Real Estate, Energy, Environmental and Land Use Department. He focuses his practice on the development of energy projects, assisting clients with complying with environmental regulatory requirements and the development of projects on contaminated properties.  

Lee represents developers, municipalities and utilities in proceedings before the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Connecticut Siting Council.  His experience includes representing private power producers, utility companies, municipalities, and lenders in connection with the siting of facilities, transmission lines and pipelines; representing interested parties in connection with cable franchise renewals; financing power projects and representing parties in connection with the siting and operation of telecommunications facilities.

Lee also represents clients before state and federal environmental agencies, counseling on environmental compliance issues, assisting with the redevelopment of brownfields to productive use, and advising companies on the ramifications associated with the acquisition or divestiture of assets, regulatory interpretation and conducting facility audits.

With respect to litigation matters, Lee represents individuals and municipalities in all areas of environmental, energy and regulatory law.  His experience includes trial and appellate work in both civil and criminal environmental matters, administrative appeals, utility regulatory enforcement matters, utility rate-making proceedings, toxic torts, representation before administrative agencies and Superfund litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Lee served as in-house counsel at The Hartford, where he defended The Hartford in declaratory judgment actions and oversaw defense attorneys in underlying environmental and toxic tort litigation.

Office

  • Hartford
    90 State House Square
    Hartford, CT 06103-3702
  • Bridgeport
    850 Main Street
    P.O. Box 7006
    Bridgeport, CT 06601-7006

    • Professional Affiliations

    American Bar Association - Business Section; Environment, Energy and Resources Section; and Litigation Section

    American Bar Foundation - Life Fellow

    Connecticut Bar Association -  immediate past chair, Environmental Section; past chair, Energy, Public Utility and Communications Law Section

    Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows - Life Fellow

    Air & Waste Management Association - board member, Connecticut section

    Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast - member and secretary, board of directors 

    Connecticut Business and Industry Association's Energy and Environment
    Council - chair

    Connecticut DEEP's Release-Based Working Group - member

    Connecticut General Assembly's Brownfields Working Group - member

    Connecticut Power and Energy Society

    Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity - past board of directors member

    Community Involvement

    Town of Windsor's Redevelopment Agency - secretary

    Justice of the Peace, Town of Windsor, Connecticut

    University of Connecticut School of Law - adjunct professor, 1999 - 2011

    Talcott Mountain Science Center for Student Involvement -  STEM Advisory Committee

    Boy Scouts of America - member of the Executive Board and Board of Trustees for the Connecticut Rivers Council; various leadership positions in Troop 203 and Pack 203 in Windsor

    Honors & Recognitions

    Named a Moffly Media Top Lawyer in Fairfield County, 2021 - Energy, Oil and Gas

    Received the highest peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell (AV)

    Listed in Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers to Businesses in environmental law

    Named Hartford Lawyer of the Year in the "Energy Law" category in 2016 and "Energy Regulatory Law" category in 2024 by The Best Lawyers in America 

    Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of energy and environmental law since 2012 and energy regulatory law since 2022

    Selected to the Super Lawyers list since 2007 in the areas of environmental, energy & natural resources and utilities

    STEM/Environmental Good Scout Award, Boy Scouts of America, Connecticut Yankee Council, 2019

    Named Attorney of the Year, Connecticut Law Tribune, 2015 

    Named an MS Corporate Achiever of Greater Hartford by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2008

    Recipient of the Hartford Business Journal's "40 Under Forty" Award, recognizing him as one of Hartford County's top "young leaders," 2006

    Experience

    Environmental

    • Defense of Fortune 500 corporations, water companies and POTWs against criminal charges of violations of the Clean Water Act and violations of other federal and state environmental statutes

    • Obtained approval of site-specific remediation standards to allow for the redevelopment of a contaminated industrial site to an apartment complex

    • Obtained permits and siting approvals for renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass projects

    • Represented real estate developers in connection with development and construction of commercial properties on brownfield sites

    • Represented a manufacturer before the U.S. Court of Appeals in a successful appeal of EPA TSCA sanctions

    • Represented Fortune 500 corporations and publicly-traded companies in defense of federal and state Superfund actions

    • Defended toxic tort claims against an international manufacturer in matters in five different states

    • Redeveloped a contaminated mill into a productive office/light industrial complex

    • Defended a municipality in stigma and personal injury cases arising from contamination of drinking water wells and proximity to a landfill

    • Advised companies on corporate disclosure requirements under environmental laws

    • Represented a television network before Connecticut regulators in connection with carriage rights on various cable company franchises

    • Represented various shipping companies in connection with allegations of oil spills and other maritime accidents

    • Represented manufacturers in administrative hearings before the U.S. EPA and the Connecticut DEP

    Energy and utilities

    • Negotiated contracts for successful bidders in renewable energy procurements, including off-shore wind, biomass, solar, and on-shore wind projects

    • Negotiated with state agencies to allow the development of solar projects on agricultural land and landfills

    • Participated as a member of Connecticut's Two Storm Panel, focusing on increasing infrastructure reliability and emergency response

    • Represented independent power producer in connection with regulatory, contractual and insurance issues associated with a construction accident that involved multiple injuries, deaths and property damage

    • Advised the Governor of Connecticut on energy policy issues

    • Represented several utility companies in connection with their acquisition or divestiture of natural gas pipelines, electric generation assets and water utilities

    • Represented both lenders and borrowers in connection with financing of independent power projects

    • Assisted utility and telecommunications clients in developing permitting and siting strategies for new and existing facilities

    • Represented parties in connection with the acquisition of water rights for municipal drinking water

    • Obtained permits and siting approvals for renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass projects

    News & Insights

    Publications

    Case Studies

    • Helping to Deliver Clean and Affordable Renewable Energy
    • Helping to Advance Innovative Offshore Wind Solutions

      Revolution Wind, a next generation 200-megawatt offshore wind farm that will be located in federal waters 50 miles from New London, Connecticut will help Connecticut meet its renewable energy goals affordably, and will deliver clean energy to Connecticut utilities during peak hours of demand.  Pullman attorneys will be there to assist in moving forward the permitting and policy phases of this innovative offshore wind solution.

      09.24.2019
    • Firm's Attorneys Support Cutting Edge Renewable Energy Efforts

      Pullman & Comley's attorneys were involved in a wide variety of cutting edge energy issues over the past year.

    • A Win in the Connecticut Supreme Court

      The Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously agreed with the position of our Energy and Regulatory attorneys that the state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) lacked jurisdiction to resolve a contractual pricing dispute between our client, Kleen Energy Systems, and Connecticut Light and Power (now known as Eversource Energy).

    • Supporting Bridgeport’s BGreen 2020 Initiative

      Our attorneys were involved with two key projects that are part of “BGreen 2020,” a plan to improve the environmental quality and livability of Bridgeport’s parks, waterways and streets and to promote Bridgeport as a location for the development of green industries and green employment.

    Bar and Court Admissions

    • Connecticut
    • Pennsylvania
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
    • U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut

    Education

    George Washington University, LL.M., highest honors, 1996

    George Washington University, J.D., 1994

    Tulane University, B.A., 1991

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