Name: Raymond Pomeroy

Title: Special Counsel

Company Name: Stroock & Stroock & Lavan

Real estate associations or organizations that you are currently a member of: New York State Bar Association Environmental and Energy Law Section

What recent project, transaction or accomplishment are you most proud of?

I recently assisted a lender client who was in the midst of closing on a large loan secured by a portfolio of industrial assets. Days before the scheduled closing, the client’s environmental consultant proposed a list of 26 environmental action items that would be required of the borrower. The borrower strenuously objected to the list and the client brought me in to assist. I reviewed the environmental reports over a weekend and worked with the consultants for the borrower and the client. We winnowed down the list of action items to two issues that the borrower agreed to further investigate, allowing the loan to close on schedule. The client commented that I had saved the deal.

Who was/is your mentor and how did s/he influence/help you in your career?

My mentor was my grandfather, who I was named after. He was a true conservationist, and a man of great principle, humility, and honor. He wasn’t an attorney, but the lessons he taught me about conservation, the importance of integrity, humility and respect for others has always guided my interactions with my peers and my clients, and has, to a large degree been responsible for whatever successes I’ve had professionally.

How do you contribute to your community or your profession?

I enjoy my pro bono work in the area of environmental justice. I’ve worked on a number of projects with the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest to support the environmental rights of communities of color and other underserved populations in the New York City area.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I was interested in politics and government from a very early age, and dreamed of one day becoming a U.S. senator (à la Bill Bradley). I was the chief elected official in Sullivan County, NY for six years in my late 20s - early 30s, and that experience created my passion for the law and led me to go to law school. For what it’s worth, I have never regretted choosing the law over elected politics.

What led you to your current profession?

I was raised hunting, fishing and exploring the outdoors in a small town (Roscoe) in Upstate NY. I’ve always been passionate about our natural environment, and it was the only area of law that I’ve ever been interested in practicing.

Top three things on your bucket list:

Climb Mt. Rainier; spend a winter skiing in Colorado; play a round of golf at Augusta National.

Favorite quote:

I’ve had this quote from Teddy Roosevelt hanging over my desk for 20 years: “Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess, it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so.” – Theodore Roosevelt, seventh annual message to Congress, Dec. 3, 1907.

Raymond “Rusty” Pomeroy is an environmental lawyer with a broad, multifaceted skill set developed in private practice and as an in-house counsel for the commercial real estate investment division of a U.S.-based multinational conglomerate.

Pomeroy has an extensive track record helping clients identify, understand and mitigate environmental risks in complex commercial real estate transactions, financing and commodities transactions, and corporate mergers and acquisitions in a pragmatic and commercial way. His practice includes advising clients on green and sustainable energy issues, climate change, and the implications and opportunities stemming from New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act, among other laws.