Christophe Courchesne, an associate in the firm’s Environmental, Energy and Real Estate Development & Permitting Practices, specializes in environmental and land use law, including environmental and zoning litigation, environmental aspects of corporate and real estate transactions, and permitting.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Mr. Courchesne is a member of the Boston and American Bar Associations. He was recently selected to participate in the 2008-2009 Boston Bar Association Public Interest Leadership Program.
An active volunteer in local government, Mr. Courchesne served as an elected member of the Planning Board in Grafton, Massachusetts (including as chairman), and was a founding member of the Grafton Affordable Housing Trust.
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Mr. Courchesne’s most recent article is “New ASTM Standard Provides Limited Tool for Assessing Vapor Intrusion Risks,” co-authored with Gregory Bibler and Laurence Kirsch and published in the BNA Environment Reporter and BNA Environmental Due Diligence Guide in September 2008.
His other publications include “New Prospects for Tax Advantages in Brownfield Remediation Projects,” Real Estate Finance Journal (with Elizabeth Mason, 2008); “Comprehensive approach to combat invasive species on the horizon,” Trends (July/August 2006); “Historic Fill at Brownfields Properties: Opportunities and Challenges for Developers,” The Environmental Counselor (with Christopher Davis, 2006); “‘A Suggestion of a Fundamental Nature’: Imagining a Legal Education of Solely Electives Taught as Discussions,” 29 Rutgers L. Rec. 21 (2005); and “What Regional Agenda?: Reconciling Massachusetts’ Affordable Housing Law and Environmental Protection,” 28 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 215 (2004), which won the Choate, Hall & Stewart Harvard Environmental Law Review Notes Competition. Mr. Courchesne has also recently co-authored articles for continuing legal education programs on vapor intrusion, Massachusetts zoning law and Chapter 21E.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Prior to joining Goodwin Procter, Mr. Courchesne served as a law clerk for Justice Robert J. Cordy of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. During law school, he completed internships at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (Environmental Crimes Strike Force), the Environmental Protection Agency Region 1, the Community Enterprise Project at the Hale & Dorr Legal Services Center and the Conservation Law Foundation.
BAR AND COURT ADMISSIONS
Mr. Courchesne is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
RECOGNITION
While in law school, Mr. Courchesne was a senior editor for the Harvard Environmental Law Review.