John Casey concentrates his practice on land use and environmental matters, with particular emphasis on coastal management, development, permitting, and littoral and riparian water rights. He is a member of Robinson+Cole’s Land Use and Real Estate + Development Groups, and the partner in charge of the firm’s New London office.
Land Use – Zoning
John handles planning, zoning, and wetland permits and applications. He helps his clients secure the necessary local, state and federal approvals for their projects, whether it is an industrial complex, pier, seawall, mooring field, new medical facility, private dock, shoreline bridge, or waterfront home. John regularly appears before local zoning, wetlands, and harbor management commissions, as well as the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He has represented a variety of clients, such as manufacturers, government and quasi-government agencies, hospitals, homeowners, condominium associations, retailers, waterfront property owners, and marinas, helping them make their projects a reality.
John has successfully represented applicants in contested administrative hearings before DEEP hearing officers for coastal development projects. He has also obtained all the necessary approvals for a regional community hospital in Connecticut to build a new 40,000-square-foot cancer treatment facility, secured a permit from DEEP for an onsite community sewerage system for a client who needed it to develop a residential adult community, successfully represented a client in a controversial proposal to rebuild a pedestrian bridge between two islands off the Connecticut shore, and helped property owners save their coastal homes after they were damaged in major storms.
Litigation
John handles litigation related to land use and property rights, including appeals of zoning and permit decisions and DEEP final administrative actions. He has achieved results for clients who have had to pursue litigation over land use matters. He secured money damages and injunctive relief for a client who owns lakefront property, after a neighbor illegally maintained a mooring in his client’s littoral rights area. On behalf of a large grocer, John successfully defended an environmental intervenor’s appeals of land use boards’ approvals, allowing the construction of a new grocery store. John has also successfully defended permits issued by the DEEP in court appeals brought by project opponents.
Previously, John was a member of Robinson+Cole's Trial and Appellate Section. He has extensive experience in all types of civil litigation, including products liability, personal injury, and insurance coverage and subrogation matters.
Admiralty
As an extension of his coastal management practice, John also advises clients on admiralty and maritime matters, such as damage claims concerning vessels and land-based structures. He is one of the primary attorneys in the firm representing the Connecticut Port Authority, a quasi-public agency that is responsible for marketing and coordinating the development of the state’s ports and maritime economy.
