New Counsel Enhances Bryan Cave’s Land Use Practice in New York
January 10, 2012
New York – January 10, 2012 – The international law firm Bryan Cave LLP announced today that Phyllis Arnold has joined the firm’s New York office as Counsel. She will practice as part of the Land Use Team within the firm’s Real Estate Group.
Arnold was deputy commissioner for enforcement and legal affairs and general counsel at the New York City Department of Buildings for more than a decade. While there, she was primary legal counsel for the new building code enacted in 2008 and also played a key role in designing the department’s implementation strategy for energy efficiency legislation and related green building initiatives.
“We are pleased to welcome Phyllis to the firm,” said Vincent Alfieri, managing partner of Bryan Cave’s New York office. “Her practice focus enhances the firm’s ability to better serve clients with building code and related land use needs.”
“Phyllis’ experience with the 2008 Building Code, green building and energy code issues makes her the ideal choice for handling new, complex regulations governing the construction and operation of buildings,” said Robert Davis, partner and leader of the Land Use Group.
Arnold was most recently the executive director of the Center for Code Reform, a nonprofit incubator partner of the Fund for the City of New York helping cities and building professionals adopt more sustainable building policies and programs. Arnold also continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor at St. John’s University School of Law.
Prior to joining the Department of Buildings, Arnold was director of research at INFORM, a nonprofit environmental research and education organization. She previously served in the Environmental Protection Bureau at the New York State Office of the Attorney General, where she handled matters ranging from water pollution control to solid and hazardous waste management.
Arnold received her B. A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1976 and her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1981. She is admitted to the New York and Washington State bars.
Bryan Cave’s Land Use Team, consisting of lawyers, urban planners and registered architects, provides a full range of legal services in all areas of land use law, including advice on development enhancement strategies. The Land Use Team is part of Bryan Cave’s 150-lawyer Real Estate Group, which provides comprehensive legal services addressing all facets of real estate ownership, development, use, investment and financing.
Bryan Cave LLP (www.bryancave.com) has a diversified international legal practice. The firm represents a wide variety of business, financial, institutional and individual clients, including publicly held multinational corporations, large and mid-sized privately held companies, partnerships and emerging companies. Subsidiary Bryan Cave International Consulting provides trade and customs consultancy. Aided by extensive investments in technology, Bryan Cave’s more than 1,100 lawyers and other professionals in over 30 law and professional service offices across the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia efficiently serve clients’ needs in the world’s key business and financial markets.