Allison Gabala is a Partner at A.Y. Strauss in the firm’s Environmental Law Group. A highly accomplished environmental attorney, Allison focuses her practice on affirmative and defensive environmental litigation, environmental regulatory matters, and high-stakes corporate and real estate transactions involving potential environmental liabilities.

Allison has significant experience managing environmental investigations and remediation at contaminated properties, collaborating with Licensed Site Remediation Professionals, environmental consultants and other experts to help clients navigate their complex investigation, reporting, financing and compliance obligations. She counsels buyers, sellers and underwriters on the full spectrum of environmental risks that may affect corporate and real estate transactions, including conducting due diligence investigations, drafting contract provisions allocating liabilities and providing strategic advice on mitigating, transferring and insuring risk. She is recognized for her ability to translate complex environmental laws and regulations into clear, practical guidance, that helps clients understand and manage environmental risk in their transactions.

With experience spanning both government and private practice, Allison is uniquely positioned to advise clients ranging from large corporations to small family-owned businesses on compliance with federal, state and local environmental laws; obtaining and defending licenses, permits and other approvals from state, regional and federal regulatory bodies; and obtaining insurance coverage. She has represented clients in Superfund and hazardous waste cases, natural resource damage (NRD) suits, and federal and state cleanup, cost-recovery, and contribution actions, as well as government sponsored allocation processes that determine responsibility and accountability in large federal and state environmental/hazardous waste sites.

Prior to joining A.Y. Strauss, Allison served as Senior Counsel at an AmLaw200 firm, representing property owners and developers, industrial manufacturers, nonprofit organizations and life sciences and pharmaceutical companies in administrative and litigation proceedings; counseling clients on remediation, permitting and compliance with environmental laws and regulations at the local, state, and federal levels. She also worked as a Senior Environmental Litigation Analyst at a Big Four accounting firm, where she counseled the U.S. Navy and other federal entities on all aspects of complex environmental litigation.

Allison has been recognized by Best Lawyers® and Super Lawyers® for her work in Environmental Law. She is a frequent speaker on a wide range of environmental law topics including site remediation, natural resource damages, environmental justice rules and regulations, developing and implementing effective environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and policies and environmental compliance.

Publications/Presentations

• Author, NJDEP Amends Ground Water Quality and Remediation Standards, February 6, 2025
• Ethics for Site Remediation Professionals, New Jersey Site Remediation Conference, Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association (LSRPA), April 4, 2024 (Also June 1, 2023, November 28, 2023, June 15, 2022 and December 1, 2022)
• The “E” in “ESG” – Environmental, Social and Governance – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Proposed Climate Disclosure Rules and Related Risks and Opportunities, Chemistry Council of New Jersey (CCNJ), March 7, 2023
• Environmental Justice and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, BCONE – Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast and Rutgers University Office of Continuing Professional Education, April 4, 2023
• How Superfund Sites Impact Your Business – Assigning Responsibility/Allocations in Superfund Cases, Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ), February 23, 2023
• Environmental Justice Implications for Brownfield Redevelopment, Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop, Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE), September 13, 2022
• Environmental Justice: The Regulations, Chemistry Council of New Jersey Webinar, June 22, 2022
• Environmental Justice Recent State and Federal Initiatives, Developments and Impacts on Site Remediation, New Jersey Site Remediation Conference, June 14, 2022
• Environmental Justice 2021 Year in Review: Recent State and Federal Initiatives, Developments and Impacts at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey 36th Annual Conference, October 26, 2021
• Technical and Practical Issues re: Permitting/Remediation Deadlines Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting, Webinar, October 6, 2020

Honors, Awards & Recognitions

• New Jersey Super Lawyers – Rising Stars, Environmental, 2023
• Best Lawyers in America – Ones to Watch List, Environmental, 2023
• Volunteer of the Quarter, Immigration Justice Campaign, 2001

Professional Activities

• Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Association
• Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast
• New Jersey Society of Women Environmental Professionals