Jennifer Novak: Sidestepping Environmental Traps That Can Taint Family Wealth

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the potential environmental liabilities lurking in your property investments, then you are not alone! You may already have real estate attorneys, business attorneys, and trust attorneys, but if you're not fully aware of the environmental risks, your protection may not be as solid as you think. It's time to arm yourself with knowledge and ensure you're fully safeguarded against potential environmental liabilities.

In this episode, your hosts, Jason and Scott, together with Jennifer Novak discuss how to:

• Understand how environmental law impacts property investments.
• Protect your business from potential environmental liabilities.
• Determine responsibility for environmental contamination in property investments.
• Gain valuable insights into identifying and mitigating environmental risks.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding Environmental Law Impact

Environmental law, as explained by Jennifer, impacts every aspect of our lives, from the air we breathe to the water we drink. By understanding this, individuals and business entities can make informed decisions that adhere to regulations and reduce potential legal liabilities. 

• Protecting Business from Liabilities

Jennifer talks about the cruciality of segregating potentially problematic assets, such as polluted properties, from other assets to lower the risk of legal liabilities. By diversifying these elements into separate legal entities like LLCs or corporations, business owners can minimize the risk of unwanted legal issues. 

• Effective Strategies for Proving Innocence

Those accused of causing environmental contamination are often tasked with proving their innocence - a task Jennifer acknowledges can be both costly and burdensome.

"The quality of the air you breathe, the quality of the water you drink, what kind of materials can go into the clothing you're wearing or the furniture that you have in your home, whether you could put a school right by a refinery. All of those things are guided by environmental laws.” - Jennifer Novak

About Jennifer Novak: 

Jennifer F. Novak is a former Deputy Attorney General with a wide range of experience in the field of environmental law. At the Department of Justice, she represented California’s natural resources agencies, including the State Water Resources Control Board and several regional water quality control boards, Cal-EPA, CalFIRE, Fish & Wildlife, Food & Agriculture, Pesticide Regulation, Parks & Recreation, and the Air Resources Board. Since 2013, she has been the principal of an all-female, all-environmental law firm in Southern California, helping good people who find themselves in bad situations given the complexities of California law. The firm offers clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to developers, farmers, small family businesses, and everything in between, expertise in soil and groundwater contamination, surface water regulation, water rights, improper materials storage and handling, litigation, and general compliance advice.

In her spare time, Jennifer has served as the Chair of the California Lawyers Association’s Environmental Law Section, on numerous non-profit boards, including the California YMCA Youth & Government Program, and is an active community volunteer. As a recent empty-nester, she looks forward to taking lessons in taiko drumming and pickleball and doing more traveling.

Connect with Jennifer Novak: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-novak-133a624b/ 

Website: https://www.jfnovaklaw.com/ 

Connect with Jason and Scott:

Website:     https://henderxcapital.com/masteryourmillions

X (Twitter): @MasterYourMs https://twitter.com/MasterYourMs 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/realestateinvestorsofutah 

Instagram: @henderxcapital https://www.instagram.com/henderxcapital/

         @jasonihenderson https://www.instagram.com/jason.henderson/ 

Email: jasonchem@gmail.com, scott@henderxcapital.com