Headshot of Jeffrey O. Polubinski

Jeffrey O. Polubinski

Jeff Polubinski’s practice focuses primarily on real estate, environmental and land use law.

Jeff represents real estate clients in the acquisition, financing, permitting, development, management, leasing and sale of commercial, residential and industrial properties.  He assists clients in the development and management of condominiums and other common interest ownership regimes.

Jeff’s environmental practice is generalized, though he devotes a substantial part assisting clients with transactional due diligence and environmental issues that arise in the context of merger and acquisition transactions.  Jeff regularly counsels clients through permitting and regulatory compliance work, including helping innocent land owners and prospective purchasers with Vermont’s Brownfields Reuse and Environmental Liability Limitation (“BRELLA”) Program.

Jeff has represented property owners and developers in Act 250 and municipal zoning proceedings as part of residential, commercial and industrial projects throughout Vermont.

Prior to attending law school, Jeff worked for more than seven years as a geologist at an environmental consulting firm where he co-authored over 100 Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and assisted developers and institutional clients with the remediation and regulatory compliance associated with the development of contaminated properties.

Practice Areas

Connect

Education

  • Vermont Law School, J.D. 2013, magna cum laude
    • Head Notes Editor, Vermont Law Review
  • Middlebury College, B.A., 2002, Geology and Environmental Studies

Bar Admissions

  • Vermont (2013)

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Member, Chittenden County, Vermont and American Bar Associations

Presentations

  • Brownfields: Navigating Challenges for Renewable Energy Development, Renewable Energy Vermont Conference (REV), (October 2016)
  • Environmental Due Diligence: A Legal Look at Liability, Phase I Assessments, and Impacts of Recent Legislation, White + Burke Vermont Development Conference, (November 2018)
  • Environmental Considerations for the Banking Industry, Vermont Risk Management Association, (December 2021)
  • Elements of a Farmland Lease, Conservation Law Foundation’s Legal Food Hub Winter Webinar Series, (March 2022)
  • Legal Issues Issues Concerning PFAS, Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast, NH/VT In-Person Workshop on PFAS and Brownfields, (March 2022)

Honors

  • Listed as a “Rising Star” in New England Super Lawyers©, (2018- 2023)

Publications by Jeffrey O. Polubinski

Adapting CERCLA to Address Vapor Intrusion by Amending the Hazard Ranking System, 37 Vt. L. Rev. 467 (2012)

author

Killington Mountain Resort: A Case Study of “Green” Expansion in Vermont, 26 Vt. L. Rev. 565 (2022)

co-author