Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Represent the nation's largest provider of treated drinking water in litigation challenging Biological Opinions issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service restricting operation of the State Water Project.
Northern California River Watch v. California Department of Fish and Game
Obtained summary judgment dismissal of a federal Endangered Species Act citizen suit alleging that a housing developer and the California Department of Fish and Game violated the plant protection provisions of the Act. The Ninth Circuit affirmed in a published decision, 620 F.3d 1075 (9th Cir. 2010).
NextLight Renewable Resources LLC
Advise NextLight with respect to protected species, wetlands and water quality permitting for solar energy site development
Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council
Advise the Stewardship Council on the legal requirements for the development and implementation of a Land Conservation Plan for PG&E lands to promote beneficial public values, including California Environmental Quality Act compliance by California Public Utilities Commission, BLM and USFS authorities to enter into land transactions, and California conservation easement and real property law.
California Forestry Association
Serve as outside counsel to California's timber industry trade association on environmental regulatory and litigation matters.
Wild Equity Institute v. City and County of San Francisco, et al.
Defeated preliminary injunction and summary judgment motions that threatened to shut down the historic Sharp Park Golf Course, working pro-bono on behalf of the nonprofit defendant-intervenor San Francisco Public Golf Alliance (SFPGA). Environmental advocacy groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Wild Equity Institute, filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco seeking to shut down the Golf Course, alleging impacts to the California red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake, both listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Succeeded in getting the lawsuit dismissed after a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Biological Opinion substantiated our argument that extensive studies and expert scientific analysis support the claim that protected species and public golf can (and, indeed, do) enjoy a symbiotic relationship.