Lee D. Hoffman

Lee D. Hoffman is chair of Pullman & Comley and a leading Connecticut attorney in energy, environmental, and regulatory law. He helps developers, utilities, municipalities, businesses and lenders advance complex projects, obtain permits and siting approvals, redevelop contaminated properties, and navigate utility regulation and environmental compliance. Lee regularly represents clients before the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the Connecticut Siting Council, as well as federal environmental and energy agencies, and has significant trial and appellate experience in environmental, energy, and regulatory disputes.

Recognized as a Star Individual in Energy & Natural Resources and Band 1 in Environmental Law by Chambers USA, Lee also was named 2026 Hartford “Lawyer of the Year” in Environmental Law by The Best Lawyers in America and has been named to Hartford Business Journal’s “Power 50” since 2024.

Before becoming chair of the firm, Lee co-led the firm’s Real Estate, Energy, Environmental and Land Use Department. Lee focuses his practice on the development of energy projects, environmental compliance, and the redevelopment of contaminated properties, guiding clients through complex regulatory frameworks and high-stakes disputes.

In the energy and utilities sector, Lee has negotiated contracts for successful bidders in renewable energy procurements, including offshore and onshore wind, solar, biomass, and landfill gas projects; advised on the acquisition and divestiture of natural gas pipelines, electric generation assets, and water utilities; and assisted utility and telecommunications clients in developing permitting and siting strategies for new and existing facilities. He has obtained permits and siting approvals for numerous renewable projects and represented parties in the acquisition of water rights for municipal drinking water. Lee’s public-sector experience includes serving on Connecticut’s Two Storm Panel, focusing on infrastructure reliability and emergency response, and advising the Governor of Connecticut on energy policy issues.

As one client noted to Chambers, “Lee Hoffman’s background representing municipalities, utilities and developers gives him a practice understanding of the operational and policy considerations facing his clients, and his litigation and appellate experience further strengthens his ability to guide them through challenging disputes.”

For environmental matters, Lee counsels clients before state and federal environmental agencies on compliance and enforcement, brownfield redevelopment, corporate disclosure obligations, and the environmental issues that arise in acquisitions and divestitures. His litigation practice spans civil and criminal environmental cases, administrative appeals, utility regulatory enforcement actions, rate-making proceedings, toxic torts, and Superfund litigation. He has defended Fortune 500 corporations, publicly traded companies, municipalities, water companies, and POTWs in Clean Water Act and other federal and state environmental prosecutions. Lee has represented manufacturers in successful appeals of EPA TSCA sanctions and in administrative hearings before the U.S. EPA and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Office

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association - Business Section; Environment, Energy and Resources Section; and Litigation Section

American Bar Foundation - Life Fellow

Connecticut Bar Association -  immediate past chair, Environmental Section; past chair, Energy, Public Utility and Communications Law Section

Connecticut Bar Foundation James W. Cooper Fellows - Life Fellow

Air & Waste Management Association - board member, Connecticut section

Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast - member and secretary, board of directors 

Connecticut Business and Industry Association's Energy and Environment
Council - chair

Connecticut DEEP's Release-Based Working Group - member

Connecticut General Assembly's Brownfields Working Group - member

Connecticut Power and Energy Society

Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity - past board of directors member

Community Involvement

Town of Windsor's Redevelopment Agency - secretary

Justice of the Peace, Town of Windsor, Connecticut

University of Connecticut School of Law - adjunct professor, 1999 - 2011

Talcott Mountain Science Center for Student Involvement -  STEM Advisory Committee

Boy Scouts of America - member of the Executive Board and Board of Trustees for the Connecticut Rivers Council; various leadership positions in Troop 203 and Pack 203 in Windsor

Honors & Recognitions

Named a 2026 Power 50 by the Hartford Business Journal since 2024

Listed in Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers to Businesses in the area of Energy & Natural Resources (Star Individual) and Environmental Law (Band 1)

Received the highest peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell (AV)

Named Hartford Lawyer of the Year in "Energy Regulatory Law" in 2024 and 2026, and "Environmental Law" in 2027 by The Best Lawyers in America 

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Energy and Environmental Law since 2012 and Energy Regulatory Law since 2022

Selected to the Super Lawyers list since 2007 in the areas of Environmental, Energy & Natural resources and Utilities

Named a Moffly Media Top Lawyer in Fairfield County, 2021 - Energy, Oil and Gas

STEM/Environmental Good Scout Award, Boy Scouts of America, Connecticut Yankee Council, 2019

Named Attorney of the Year, Connecticut Law Tribune, 2015 

Named an MS Corporate Achiever of Greater Hartford by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2008

Recipient of the Hartford Business Journal's "40 Under Forty" Award, recognizing him as one of Hartford County's top "young leaders," 2006

Environmental

• Defense of Fortune 500 corporations, water companies and POTWs against criminal charges of violations of the Clean Water Act and violations of other federal and state environmental statutes

• Obtained approval of site-specific remediation standards to allow for the redevelopment of a contaminated industrial site to an apartment complex

• Obtained permits and siting approvals for renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass projects

• Represented real estate developers in connection with development and construction of commercial properties on brownfield sites

• Represented a manufacturer before the U.S. Court of Appeals in a successful appeal of EPA TSCA sanctions

• Represented Fortune 500 corporations and publicly-traded companies in defense of federal and state Superfund actions

• Defended toxic tort claims against an international manufacturer in matters in five different states

• Redeveloped a contaminated mill into a productive office/light industrial complex

• Defended a municipality in stigma and personal injury cases arising from contamination of drinking water wells and proximity to a landfill

• Advised companies on corporate disclosure requirements under environmental laws

• Represented a television network before Connecticut regulators in connection with carriage rights on various cable company franchises

• Represented various shipping companies in connection with allegations of oil spills and other maritime accidents

• Represented manufacturers in administrative hearings before the U.S. EPA and the Connecticut DEP

Energy and utilities

• Negotiated contracts for successful bidders in renewable energy procurements, including off-shore wind, biomass, solar, and on-shore wind projects

• Negotiated with state agencies to allow the development of solar projects on agricultural land and landfills

• Participated as a member of Connecticut's Two Storm Panel, focusing on increasing infrastructure reliability and emergency response

• Represented independent power producer in connection with regulatory, contractual and insurance issues associated with a construction accident that involved multiple injuries, deaths and property damage

• Advised the Governor of Connecticut on energy policy issues

• Represented several utility companies in connection with their acquisition or divestiture of natural gas pipelines, electric generation assets and water utilities

• Represented both lenders and borrowers in connection with financing of independent power projects

• Assisted utility and telecommunications clients in developing permitting and siting strategies for new and existing facilities

• Represented parties in connection with the acquisition of water rights for municipal drinking water

• Obtained permits and siting approvals for renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, landfill gas and biomass projects

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