About the Green Initiatives Group 

In 2007 Horack Talley formed the first Green law practice in the Carolinas, called the Green Initiatives Group (GIG), to help local and regional firms navigate the new territory of carbon-conscious business. GIG focuses on clean technology, renewable energy projects, green debt and equity (including venture funding), Green real estate development (including green leases, building standards and contruction), carbon finance, and strategic consulting for corporations. The majority of the Green Initiatives Group’s practice is in real estate and corporate law, helping Green pioneers in the region with their strategic approach to the upcoming transformation of the economy that will be brought by Green.

Distinct from environmental law, which deals with the preservation of and restoration to the environment, Green law focuses on the business opportunities and changes to how businesses will run as the tidal shift toward Green takes effect.

Horack Talley began its Green practice partly through chance and partly through strategy. Lawrence L. Ostema, formerly in private practice as a partner with Baker & Hostetler in Denver, Colorado, and as General Counsel for a real estate firm in Denver, became a Horack Talley client on matters here in North Carolina.

Ostema’s passion is in creating win-win business solutions that benefit both the economy and the environment. This focus intrigued Smithy Curry and the Management Committee at Horack Talley.

With his commitment, drive, and sixteen years of experience in alternative energy and sustainability technologies, Horack Talley felt that Mr. Ostema was the right attorney to build a leading-edge Green practice in North Carolina. At the same time, Horack Talley could offer Ostema the autonomy and funding he needed to achieve his goals. Ostema moved here and became the first attorney in the Carolinas to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Accredited Professional designation from the US Green Building Council. The practice was born.

Lawrence L. Ostema

“To be competitive in a world economy, the United States needs to be at the forefront of the tidal change toward Green,” maintains Ostema. “There’s no reason why North Carolina can’t be a lodestone for Green in the US.”

Horack Talley agrees. As managing partner Smithy Curry maintains, “Green is as good for the economy as it is for the environment.”

Thus far, the firm's clients for the GIG practice include a developer of green medical office projects, an investor group developing a green hotel and mixed-use project, and several clean technology and renewable-energy companies. GIG now comprises eight attorneys, six of whom are LEED APs, making Horack Talley second in the nation in terms of LEED Accreditation at this writing.

Ostema has a busy schedule of speaking engagements, client work, and writing. He recently completed a chapter outlining climate change policies and recommendations for real estate practice in Green Building and Sustainable Development: the Practical Legal Guide which was published for attorneys nationwide by the American Bar Association in the fall of 2009.