Chen

Kevin Y. Chen

Associate
Boston

I represent clients in environmental, energy, and land use litigation, permitting, and renewable energy deals.

Kevin Chen is a Boston environmental and energy litigator. He represents clients in federal and state trial and appellate courts and before administrative agencies, often in disputes with the government. He also advises on environmental permitting, regulatory compliance, and due diligence for renewable energy projects.

Kevin is a member of Foley Hoag’s Energy & Climate practice. He represents businesses, municipalities, nonprofits, and federal grant recipients in environmental, energy, and land use litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts and in administrative appeals. His litigation work includes challenges to federal agency actions, PFAS litigation, Superfund and contamination disputes, eminent domain litigation, and zoning permit appeals. He advises clients on environmental permitting and compliance, including federal permitting for energy infrastructure and grant compliance under the Inflation Reduction Act. He also conducts environmental due diligence for renewable energy financings and acquisitions, including utility-scale solar projects and investment tax credit transactions.

Kevin currently co-chairs the Air Quality & Climate Change Subcommittee of the Boston Bar Association’s Environmental & Energy Law Steering Committee.

From 2021 to 2022, Kevin served as a law clerk to the Honorable Denise J. Casper of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

While attending Harvard Law School, Kevin served as President of the Environmental Law Society, a member of the Board of Student Advisers, and an editor on the Harvard Environmental Law Review. He won best brief in the Ames Moot Court Competition.

Kevin studied environmental policy at Brown University and remains committed to advancing practical, innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
 

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2020
  • Brown University, A.B., 2015

Bar and Court Admissions

BAR ADMISSIONS
  • Massachusetts
COURT ADMISSIONS
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit    
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts    

Experience

LITIGATION AND APPEALS
  • Won preliminary injunction halting construction of new White House ballroom in lawsuit filed on behalf of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
  • Represent Inflation Reduction Act/Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grantees in federal court litigation challenging the Trump Administration’s purported elimination of grant programs, including winning summary judgment on behalf of Harris County, TX, vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s unlawful decision to terminate the $7 billion Solar for All grant program
  • Won motion to dismiss on behalf of electronics manufacturing company in multi-billion-dollar indemnity lawsuit arising from historical environmental contamination
  • Secured favorable settlement for the City of Revere, MA, in high-profile eminent domain damages case after prevailing on several key pre-trial motions
  • Successfully opposed motion to join party to class-action PFAS litigation
  • Won preliminary injunction in administrative appeal of state agency decision revoking license
  • Successfully defended state agency decision on administrative appeal
  • Authored briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, including certiorari petition and amicus brief
  • Authored appellate merits and amicus briefs filed in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court
  • Represent clients in adjudications and appeals before state agencies
  • Represent client in dispute with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding scope of remediation at Superfund site
  • Represent clients in zoning permit appeals in Massachusetts trial and appellate courts
  • Represent clients in eminent domain litigation
  • Represent and advise client in negotiations with Massachusetts Attorney General’s office regarding Assurance of Discontinuance
     
REGULATORY AND TRANSACTIONAL
  • Advise recipients of federal grants under Inflation Reduction Act regarding grant compliance and Trump Administration’s federal funding freeze
  • Advised The Nature Conservancy regarding environmental regulatory issues in transaction involving FERC-regulated hydropower facilities on lower Kennebec River in Maine
  • Advise clients regarding project eligibility for Energy Community investment tax credit adder
  • Supported client in implementing U.S. Department of Energy funding award to develop solar facility
  • Conduct environmental and litigation risk due diligence in renewable energy transactions, including financings and acquisitions 
  • Advised energy transmission company on federal permitting requirements for offshore transmission development
PRO BONO
  • Won grant of asylum for client from El Salvador
  • Represent former North Korean client in immigration proceedings
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Denise J. Casper of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (2021–2022)
  • Teaching Assistant, Legal Research and Writing, Harvard Law School
  • Teaching Assistant, Environmental Law and Policy, Brown University

Other Publications

IN THE MEDIA

Honors & Involvement

INVOLVEMENT
  • Morgan v. Hennigan Committee 
  • City of Cambridge, Charter Review Committee
  • Boston Bar Association, Environmental & Energy Law Steering Committee, Air Quality & Climate Change Subcommittee, Co-Chair (2026–2027)
  • Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts

Speaking Engagements

  • Moderator, "Morgan v. Hennigan 50th anniversary commemorative kickoff event," Foley Hoag (December 2024)