Barry Needleman Headshot
Barry Needleman
Managing Director and Director, Administrative Law Department
Office603-230-4407
900 Elm Street
10th Floor
Manchester, NH 03101

Barry is the firm’s Managing Director and has over 30 years of experience handling environmental and energy matters for regional and national clients. He does a substantial amount of energy facility siting work, primarily before the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, on numerous types of projects ranging from fossil and renewable generation, to electric and gas transmission. He has experience litigating a variety of environmental cases in state and federal courts such as insurance and third-party cost recovery claims at former manufactured gas plants and the defense of State-wide MTBE contamination claims. He also litigates administrative matters before state appellate councils regarding permit appeals under various environmental programs. He regularly represents clients in environmental matters involving permitting, compliance counseling, and defense of administrative and judicial enforcement actions. Barry chairs McLane Middleton’s Energy Practice Group.

Barry received his B.A. from Clark University (1987), his J.D. cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School (1992) and his LL.M (Environmental) with highest honors from George Washington University Law School (1993).

Areas of Focus

  • Energy Project Siting and Development
  • Environmental Law and Litigation

Admissions

  • New Hampshire
  • Massachusetts
  • Maine
  • United States District Court, District of New Hampshire and First Circuit Court of Appeals
  • American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL), Fellow

Involvement

  • New Hampshire Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Board Chair, North Country Camps Foundation
  • Former Board Chair, Hopkinton Library Trustees
  • Former Board member, Adirondack Mountain Club
  • Past chair, Environmental Section of the New Hampshire Bar Association
  • Barry writes and speaks frequently on a wide variety of environmental topics; has taught environmental courses at Vermont Law School, Boston University School of Law, and University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center).

Recognitions

Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America (Energy Law, Environmental Law), 2003 – present
  • American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL), Fellow
  • New Hampshire Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Ranked in Chambers USA: A Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers (2021) (Environment)
  • Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America (Environmental Law), 2013, 2016, 2020, 2021
  • AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
  • New England Super Lawyer
  • Top Attorney in Environmental Law, NH Magazine 2012
  • 1993 Randolph C. Shaw graduate fellow in Environmental Law at George Washington University, National Law Center