Future Energy Development, LLC

Linda R. Shaw

Attorney/Owner

Linda Shaw established Future Energy Development, LLC in 2005, after managing an environmental law firm—Knauf Shaw LLP—for many years, to assist renewable energy companies site their projects on brownfield real estate. From solar arrays on closed landfills to biofuels facilities on old petroleum tank farms, Future Energy is working to quickly and efficiently get renewable projects built on land already zoned for renewable industrial projects. The experience Ms. Shaw has gained during her 18 year legal career, and prior public sector career, including the New York State Power Authority, has provided her with the tools necessary to counsel the overall development team of individuals necessary to build new clean energy facilities.  She advises clients on bundling multiple state and federal tax incentives, attracts lenders and investors necessary to finance the project, and provides practical land use, real estate, permitting, environmental review, and contracting legal services to expedite project development on industrial and commercial real estate. Ms. Shaw is actively working to develop new land use and regulatory processes and programs to further incentivize reuse of brownfield sites—sites generally located on or close to the grid—for the development of renewable energy manufacturing and distributed generation facilities set up to fully integrate into the Smart Grid.

Since 1991, Ms. Shaw has practiced environmental and land use law, serving both as compliance counsel and litigator for industrial, developer and municipal clients.  Ms. Shaw advised owners, operators and prospective purchasers of industrial and commercial properties, as well as commercial lenders, regarding brownfield redevelopment, and environmental permitting of large scale industrial facilities.  From 1983 to 1991, Ms. Shaw worked in a variety of policy positions for the City of New York and Mayor's office, and helped to create the City's recycling program, provide legal support for the State's watershed agreement and attempted to permit waste to energy facilities in each of the City's five boroughs.

Ms. Shaw earned her Juris Doctor from St. John's School of Law and her Masters of Arts in International Law and Public Policy and Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from St. John's University.  Ms. Shaw is active on a number of legislative and policy organizations, and assists in legislative bill drafting to improve proposed incentive programs to develop renewable energy facilities on brownfield real estate.

Alan J. Knauf

Attorney/Of Counsel

.Alan Knauf concentrates his law practice in environmental, municipal, land use and real estate law, and civil litigation and appeals. He represents municipalities, citizens, landowners and businesses on issues including hazardous waste and petroleum spill cleanup, brownfield development, environmental impact review, water pollution and wetlands, zoning and planning, project siting, alternative energy, municipal law, and commercial real estate. Mr. Knauf is attorney for the Town of Huron in Wayne County, New York. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America "Lawyer of the Year" in Rochester for Environmental Litigation, and Land Use and Zoning Law, and is also listed for Land Use and Zoning Litigation. He is also listed with Superlawyer in the areas of Environmental Law, Environmental Litigation and Real Estate Law.er.  Mr. Knauf received a B.S.C.E. in Environmental Engineering from M.I.T. and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. He is admitted to the bars of New York, Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court, and various other federal courts.

Mr. Knauf can handle all real estate, zoning. municipal law and general land use law aspects of a siting project.

Dwight Kanyuck

Attorney

Dwight Kanyuck combines his extensive legal experience in all aspects of environmental and energy law with over 20 years of experience as a chemical engineer, business manager and project manager with Eastman Kodak. Mr. Kanyuck focuses his practice on alternative energy development, brownfield redevelopment, litigation, and regulatory review, interpretation, and compliance.  Mr. Kanyuck has represented clients before the New York State Public Service Commission for transmission siting matters, and New York and federal trial and appellate courts on matters related to RCRA, SEQRA, the New York Oil Spill Law, CERCLA, New York Real Property Law, NEPA, the Land and Water Conservation Act, Clean Water Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and other statutory and common law claims. Mr. Kanyuck has instructed New York attorneys, business persons, and landowners on developments in New York State Oil and Gas Law, incentives and opportunities associated with energy efficiency, energy storage, and combined heat and power systems, and offshore wind energy development.

Mr. Kanyuck received a J.D. (magna cum laude) from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 2008 with a concentration in Environmental Law, where he won the 2008 Birzon Prize for mediation advocacy and his clinical research concerning the siting and economic development considerations associated with offshore wind energy development in New York's Great Lakes. He is admitted to practice in the courts of New York State, the federal district courts of New York State, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the American Bar Association and its Section on Environment, Energy & Natural Resources, the New York State Bar Association and its Environmental Law Section, and the Monroe County Bar Association and its Environmental Committee.

Amy Kendall

Attorney

Amy Kendall focuses her practice on environmental, land use and real estate law, and civil litigation.  She has over 16 years of experience in federal and state environmental litigation, including administrative hearings.  She is also regularly involved in permitting and other federal and state agency proceedings, regulatory compliance, review and commenting on environmental laws and regulations, and real estate matters, including the negotiation of utility easements for wind power.  Her litigation experience has ranged from criminal trials to briefing for the United States Supreme Court and five Circuit Courts of Appeals.

While Ms. Kendall is involved in all areas of environmental law, much of her law practice has focused on water–related issues, including permitting and compliance issues for facilities, and construction in wetlands. She has been heavily involved in prosecuting and defending civil litigation under the Clean Water Act. Ms. Kendall also handles matters involving title to and permitting for work on underwater lands, as well as riparian and littoral rights.  She served as co–counsel for Dryden Resources Awareness Coalition in Norse Energy Corp. USA v. Town of Dryden, 108 A.D.3d 25, 964 N.Y.S.2d 714 (3d Dep't 2013), the first lawsuit in New York involving a town's right to zone out high–volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale.

Ms. Kendall is the current Chair of the Genesee Finger Lakes Chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association, and past Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Monroe County Bar Association.  She is also Co–Chair of the Coastal and Wetlands Resources Committee for the New York State Bar Association and teaches Environmental Law at Rochester Institute of Technology.  Ms. Kendall earned her J.D. from the University at Buffalo Law School, and a M.S. in Environmental Health and Safety Management from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Greg Lane

Attorney

Gregory W. Lane serves of counsel for Future Energy Development specializing in all areas of commercial real estate and technology–based development projects. Through his firm, Lane Law PLLC, he represents clients in the areas of development entitlements and contract letting, leasing, financing, acquisitions and dispositions, real estate syndications, and condominium and homeowners association establishment and governance. Lane Law PLLC also represents a number of technology companies and start–up ventures dealing primarily in environmental remediation, waste materials processing and recycling. Individually, Mr. Lane acts as a licensed title insurance agent in the State of New York with an existing relationship with Chicago Title Insurance Company.

Mr. Lane began his legal career in 1986 at Harris Beach LLP in Rochester, NY. As a partner in the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Practice Group, he worked extensively with Wilmorite, Inc., a privately–held construction manager and developer of shopping centers based in Rochester, New York, and its shopping center affiliates.
In 2005, Mr. Lane left Harris Beach to serve as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Pyramid Management Group, Inc., Syracuse, NY. In his position he served in senior management of the company and his legal department had an annual budget exceeding $3 million with a staff of six attorneys and two paralegals. He re–entered private practice in 2008.

Mr. Lane holds his JD from Boston College Law School.

Jon Tantillo

Attorney

Jon Tantillo received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from  SUNY Buffalo Law School in 2014.  Mr. Tantillo began working for Knauf Shaw in 2013, as a student clerk during the summer between his second and third years at UB Law. Mr. Tantillo assists the firm with legal research, as well as making court appearances and drafting memoranda, correspondence, briefs, and motions. Since joining the firm, Mr. Tantillo has worked on myriad environmental law issues such as petroleum spills, hydraulic fracturing, compliance with environmental impact review statutes like NEPA and SEQRA, and the application process for the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program. Mr. Tantillo also has experience with other areas, such as land use, town law, the formation of corporate entities, estates, and historic preservation. He has supported matters in both state and federal courts, at all levels of the appellate process, from trial to the New York Court of Appeals.

Mr. Tantillo was admitted to the New York Bar in January 2015. Prior to receiving his J.D. from UB Law, Mr. Tantillo received a B.A. in history from Ithaca College. While at UB Law, he served on the executive board of the Public Interest Law Journal, and has previously interned with the Rochester Regional Office of the New York State Attorney General, as well as the Monroe County Surrogate’s and Family Courts.

Meghan A. Colligan

Law Clerk

Meaghan A. Colligan joined Knauf Shaw in 2015 and has focused on New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program transactions and environmental litigation. Meaghan’s prior experience working for government agencies, developers, non-profits, economists, and scientists equips her with the ability to successfully work on behalf of a broad array of clients and provide a creative approach required to obtain favorable results.

Meaghan’s studies include a focus on environmental law and policy, with a particular emphasis on brownfield remediation and redevelopment, environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, distributed energy solutions, and climate change adaptation. Additionally, she has clinical experience in all stages of litigation, municipal law, land use law, and public authorities law. 

 Meaghan serves as the Vice-Chair of the Environmental Transactions and Brownfields Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources.

Meaghan is currently pursuing a joint degree from Pace University School of Law and Bard Center for Environmental Policy, and she is expected to graduate with a JD/MS in May 2015.  She is currently finalizing her MS Thesis on including distributed energy generation facilities as a component of urban brownfields redevelopment to improve energy resiliency and efficiency. Meaghan holds a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Women’s Studies from SUNY–Geneseo.