Areas of Emphasis:
Redevelopment:
Redevelopment plans, master plans, zoning ordinances and designation of renewal areas;
Property acquisition including development of appraisals in anticipation of condemnation, negotiation of acquisitions, relocation assistance, and condemnation;
Selection and establishment of the entity to be responsible for implementation of redevelopment, including nonprofit corporation, redevelopment agency, housing authority, municipal governing body, and advisory boards working with such entities;
Requests for proposal and regarding issues relevant to selection of private redevelopers;
Contracts between public entity responsible for implementation of redevelopment and private redevelopers;
Loan and grant applications and agreements in connection with governmental assistance for redevelopment projects;
Bankruptcy proceedings affecting redevelopment project participants;
Litigation and appeals involving all of the above in federal and state courts.
Utility, Telecommunications, and Energy Law:
Public Service Electric and Gas Company — represented the Company in Restructuring Proceeding and subsequent appeal pursuant to the New Jersey Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act of 1999; rate cases and appeals and other litigation before the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) (testimony and witness preparation, cross-examination, depositions, briefing);
Verizon New Jersey Inc. — Outside counsel on litigation and appeals before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and in State and Federal Courts, 1988-Present;
Vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Bell Atlantic-New Jersey, 1996-1997 (Legal department function was outsourced to Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer) -- representation before BPU regarding local exchange competition terms and conditions (testimony and witness preparation, lead counsel in hearings before the BPU and briefing); interconnection arbitration proceedings with new local exchange service carriers; also responsible for all legal matters at BA-NJ with primary focus on Regulatory Law;
Merger Approvals -- applications before the Board of Public Utilities on behalf of Verizon New Jersey, Elizabethtown Water Company and Thames Water Holdings Incorporated;
New Jersey Natural Gas Company, Jersey Central Power & Light Company and water and solid waste carter rate cases and annual LPGA cases — represented industrial consumers and/or municipal interveners;
Counseling regarding contacts relating to cogeneration of electric energy; service extension, billing disputes, rights-of-way.
Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA) — represented MCUA in conjunction with rate and environmental issues affecting the regional sewerage treatment facility;
Assisted consumer advocate(s) or utility commission staff(s) in opposition to electric rate cases in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Representative Speaking and Writing Experience:
Redevelopment:
Ms. Babineau lectures often on redevelopment issues for the New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Rutgers and the Department of Community Affairs course on Principals of Redevelopment, and Lorman Educational Services. She has spoken at conferences sponsored by the New Jersey Bar Association, Municipal Assessors of New Jersey, Newman Real Estate Institute, New Jersey Builders Association, among others. Ms. Babineau has served as an officer or member of a variety of industry organizations including New Jersey Future, NAIOP, Urban Land Institute and Counselors of Real Estate. She has also authored articles for the New Jersey Law Journal, New Jersey Municipalities, Urban Land, New Jersey Law Journal, and New Jersey Conference of Mayors Conference Quarterly.
Utility, Telecommunications and Energy Law:
Ms. Babineau has authored the following articles: Public Utility Fortnightly (“The Bathwater and the Baby: The Supreme Court Speaks to Regulators Regarding the Protection of Competition Rather than Competitors,” November 15, 1999), New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) magazine; New Jersey Lawyer (“The Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act — A Landmark in the Evolution Toward Retail Choice” and “Full Competition Comes to the Telecommunications Market in New Jersey,” June 1999).
Former chair, Public Utility Law Section, NJSBA. Member: Telecommunications Section, Association of the Bar of the City of New York; Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey.
Moderator, New Jersey Institute of Continuing Legal Education, 2003 seminar on “Recent Developments in Public Utility Law.”
Speaker, NJSBA Public Utility Law Section 2000 Spring Conference, Moderator of panel on “What Are The Financial Implications Of Deregulation/Competition And Consolidation?”
Speaker and conference chair, NJSBA, Public Utility Law Section 1999 Spring Conference, “Preparing For A Competitive World.”
Speaker and Panelist, NJSBA Public Utility Law Section 1996 Spring Meeting, “The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996,” and 1997 Spring Meeting, “Impact of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 — Year Two.”
Speaker, New Jersey Utilities Association Annual Conference 1993, “Can and Should Current Regulatory Policy Adapt to a Competitive Environment and Stimulate Economic Growth?”
Speaker, NJSBA Public Utility Section, Annual Public Utility Law Conference 1989, “The Deregulation of the Natural Gas Industry: The Impact on the Utility, the Regulators and the Ratepayers.”