About the Firm

Young/Sommer LLC was founded in 1999 as the merger of two smaller Albany, New York firms with complementary legal practices in the general area of environmental law and zoning and land use planning and development: Young & Ritzenberg (established in 1992) and Ward, Sommer & Moore (established in 1995). Today, we are a medium sized law firm of 15 attorneys, with additional attorneys as “of counsel.”

Young/Sommer LLC is unique among area law firms in that we are a “boutique” law firm concentrating in environmental/municipal law. We were founded with this specialty area of practice in mind, and have thrived in that role. Because of the unique nature of our practice, the attorneys at Young/Sommer have developed a working understanding of the principles of surveying, planning, engineering, geology and environmental science. The firm sponsors Y/S Connects events bringing together legal and technical professionals in the environmental field for discussions on topics of mutual interest. We greatly value these relationships, and many of our client referrals come from these technical professionals.

Young/Sommer LLC has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of the top environmental law firms in New York for each of the last nineteen years. Partners Kevin Young and Dean Sommer are ranked by Chambers as leading environmental lawyers in the country.

The firm is a member of the Albany County Bar Association and the Environmental and Municipal Law Sections of the New York State Bar Association. The firm has presented training sessions at the New York Association of Towns’ annual meeting for several years.