Pioneer Environmental Lawyers

Skilled in explaining litigation risks and strategy to business professionals. Practiced in assessing a company's exposure to litigation risks and analyzing litigation to resolve issues. Environmental. I have experience in both regulatory and litigation aspects of environmental law. I have negotiated Title V permits for steel companies, reviewed environmental provisions of transactions, negotiated NPDES permits, and resolved air excursion issues with state regulatory agencies. I have designed decision tree analysis for the resolution of environmental issues. In addition, I have been successful in litigating all manner of environmental claims in the courts and in administrative tribunals. Litigation. I have successfully prosecuted and...

Michael P. Thornton is founder and chair of Thornton Law Firm LLP. A nationally recognized expert on toxic tort litigation, Mr. Thornton graduated from Dartmouth College and Vanderbilt Law School. In the 1970’s he successfully undertook the representation of a number of shipyard and construction workers who had developed asbestos-related diseases. Over the years, the firm has grown to become the largest firm in the Northeast representing victims of asbestos and other toxic materials. The firm has brought justice to workers who contracted cancer and other health issues from exposure to chemicals, defective drugs, and defective products, and to...

Philip Shakhnis is a forceful, meticulous and compassionate attorney with over 20 years of experience representing tenants. Philip has represented hundreds of tenants forced to live in slum conditions. Philip has also helped tenants poisoned by carbon monoxide leaks, exposed to mold and whose children have been lead poisoned. Philip is at the forefront of representing tenants wrongfully evicted from properties protected by local rent control laws. Philip focuses his law practice on representing tenants because he strongly believes that every family and every person deserves the right to a safe, decent and healthy home. As part of his experience...

I am an accomplished California attorney, representing clients with Government, Environmental, Natural Resources and Land Use matters. I have over 30 years of experience with a broad array of federal, state and local issues. I bring knowledgeable and skilled advocacy to effectively and efficiently meet your legal needs. A recipient of CalCIMA's Spirit of the Industry Award, I am also listed among The Best Lawyers in America and Northern California Super Lawyers.

My law practice encompasses a broad variety of litigation matters, ranging from complex commercial disputes to white collar criminal defense. I have represented clients in federal and state courts in cases involving copyright and trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, securities violations, bank fraud, tax fraud, toxic torts, unfair competition, and civil and criminal racketeering. I also have extensive experience in commercial mediation and arbitration.

Most recently, my work has involved class action litigation involving wage and hour claims; a partnership dispute over a multi-million dollar capital call; and a variety of intellectual property and business disputes in Los Angeles...

Tracy Owens is an Associate in the Gresham Savage Real Estate & Land Use Practice Group. Ms. Owens assists clients with all aspects of commercial, industrial and residential development, including land use applications, zone changes, subdivisions, common interest developments, environmental compliance issues, and governmental approvals of projects. Ms. Owens has experience with projects affecting sensitive or endangered species, wetlands and cultural resources, and assists businesses and developers in complying with air and water quality regulation, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Ms. Owens is also experienced in title analysis and resolution of title problems,...

Lara Leitner handles legal matters involving CEQA, NEPA, RLUIPA, environmental law, and litigation.

Prior to joining JMBM, Lara was an associate at a municipal law firm where she represented numerous cities and special districts in complex litigation matters, including real estate, eminent domain, breach of contract, environmental, water, and employment cases in both state and federal court.

Lara received her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. She served as the Comments Editor for the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. During law school, Lara developed her land use and environmental law experience as a legal research...

A partner and co-founder of Carmel & Naccasha LLP, Tim Carmel has practiced law extensively in San Luis Obispo County for over 37 years in the areas of municipal law, land use, real property transactions, and related matters. Tim has devoted much of his practice to public sector clients, including cities, community services districts, sanitary and other special districts, and he served in the office of the City Attorney for the City of Arroyo Grande for 30 years. In that role, he was responsible for advising the City Council, City Manager, and all City departments on points of law and ensuring...

Mr. Donadio was raised in Concord, Massachusetts, where he graduated in the top 10% of his high school class. In 1985 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. After moving to California, Mr. Donadio went to the University of San Francisco Law School (USF), where he was president of the Environmental Law Society. After graduating from USF, Mr. Donadio spent a summer clerking for the White House's Council on Environmental Quality and obtained a masters degree in law, with a concentration in environmental law, from Vermont Law School. Mr. Donadio began work...

Stanford Lawyer offering representation in following areas: DUI and criminal law defense, business law, civil rights law, and environmental law. Has conducted more than 100 jury trials. Experience includes: 21 years as a prosecuting attorney, including 13 years as supervising prosector for the Mendocino Coast in the Mendocino County District Attorney's office, and including being Head of Special Prosecutions for the San Francisco District Attorneys office; 16 years as a defense attorney, including being retained by the Black Panther party; 6 years as "County Counsel" for Mendocino County; and 4 years as Corporate Counsel for Pacific Energy & Minerals, Ltd....

Paul Lee is engaged in the relentless pursuit of justice for victims of serious injuries. He has successfully handled hundreds of major personal injury matters, including those involving vehicle accidents, workplace accidents, products liability, toxic torts and premises liability, including severe spinal cord injuries, brain damage, fractures, amputations, third degree burns, severe lung damage, leukemia and other injuries. In the area of defective and dangerous products, Paul has successfully settled cases involving automobiles, heavy machinery and equipment, consumer products, chemicals and pharmaceutical products. Before founding Kaplan Lee LLP, Paul was a litigation partner at Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith LLP, one of...

Mr. Rogers is a founding partner of Rogers, Sheffield & Campbell, LLP. He is a leading business and real estate lawyer in Santa Barbara, representing individuals and businesses throughout California's Central Coast. During a legal career spanning almost five decades, Mr. Rogers has represented clients in a wide range of corporate, business and real estate matters, including entity formations, asset and entity purchases, sales, financings, mergers and acquisitions, complex contract negotiations, commercial transactions, real estate syndications, land use planning and development and acquisition, and leasing and licensing of oil and gas rights.

Mr. Rogers has been awarded a Martindale-Hubbell rating of...

Mr. Young is a graduate of Harvard College and The Cornell Law School. He was Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alaska, and Assistant Attorney General of Alaska. Mr. Young was a member of the legal team involved in the structuring and financing of the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, one of the largest construction projects in the United States. He was further involved in the litigation which allowed the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline to be successfully built. Besides business transactions and litigation, Mr. Young is experienced in complex litigation against State and Federal Governments and Agencies, including...

Kimberly Leue Bick is the founding and co-managing partner of Bick Law LLP. She combines extensive experience in environmental law with her earlier career as an environmental engineer to help clients resolve complex environmental challenges. She has extensive experience representing major aerospace, manufacturing, land use, biotech, and real estate companies, in environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, enforcement, and corporate transactional work involving environmental issues.

Julia Consoli-Tiensvold's practice includes general commercial litigation, land use litigation, and corporate defense and investigation matters.

I have over 21 years experience serving Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Monterey Counties with superior and efficient land use, real estate, and business law services – all backed by professionalism and integrity. In my current practice in Capitola, I represent individual, business and public agency clients in a wide range of real estate, land use, and public law matters (transactional and litigation), with special emphasis on: Land use permits; Zoning compliance and red tag removal; CEQA and Coastal Act compliance and litigation; Writ of mandate litigation (against or on behalf of public agencies); Real estate transactions, disputes...

Allison Ross is an associate at Bick Law LLP. Before joining Bick Law, Allison was an associate in the Litigation Department at O’Melveny & Myers, where she handled matters pertaining to qui tam actions; False Claims Act litigation; derivative claims; class actions; contract disputes; intellectual property litigation; and employment discrimination. She also has arbitration, discovery, and significant motions practice experience in both state and federal trial and appellate courts. Allison graduated from the University of Southern California Law School in 2014. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Allison studied opera, performing at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and at Vassar College,...

I was an elected official in Santa Cruz County, California for twenty years. Now, I am an environmental attorney, practicing law in Santa Cruz County. To get my perspective on politics, law, and government, read the postings I make, daily, to my blog, "We Live In A Political World." You can find my blog at www.gapatton.net.

Sean T. Cahill, the principal of the firm, is an experienced litigator and trial attorney emphasizing practice areas in commercial transportation, high risk operation claims, construction, personal injury, real estate, business, sports & entertainment and employment. The firm's clients seek and rely on Mr. Cahill's common sense approach to simplifying otherwise seemingly complex legal matters. Mr. Cahill is an arbitrator for the Contractors State Licensing Board and Better Business Bureau in which he presides over a variety of business and construction disputes and has been involved in numerous industry boards and organizations. He has served on the Board of Directors...

Ju is a corporate lawyer by training and an entrepreneur at heart. She graduated from UCLA School of Law where she focused her studies on International Business Law. After law school, she practiced corporate law and litigation in the Los Angeles and Hong Kong offices of an international renowned law firm, Latham & Watkins, where she advised domestic and foreign clients, including Fortune 500 companies, on various corporate matters including general commercial contracts, corporate finance, IPOs and mergers and acquisitions.

?Ju co-founded Parsus in 2009 with a vision to transform the legal services industry to make quality legal advice more...

As a dedicated Rancho Santa Fe attorney at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, Charles LiMandri has had a lot of success. His extensive legal history includes many successful trials and cases. Through hard work, tenacity, and the relentless pursuit of excellence, he has obtained tens of millions of dollars on behalf of his clients. He started his legal career at the University of San Diego and went on to Georgetown University Law Center. His list of accolades include inclusion into the Million Dollar Advocates Circle, recognition as one of “San Diego’s Top 120 Top Most Influential, and more. If you want...

Harry Harrison is a San Diego based attorney and a partner at Bodell Law Group a San Diego employment firm. Harry focuses his practice on personal injury, employment, insurance, harassment, workplace sexual harassment, wrongful termination and business litigation matters

Terrance J. Evans is a partner in the Trial Practice Group of Duane Morris in San Francisco. He concentrates his practice in representing the financial services industry, which includes international, national and community banks; loan service companies; and insurance companies.

With respect to the insurance industry, Mr. Evans concentrates his practice in complex commercial litigation and policy interpretation and analysis. He has represented commercial primary, excess and umbrella insurers in a wide range of multimillion-dollar cases, including declaratory relief, bad faith, rescission, subrogation, indemnity, additional insurance, interpleader and reformation actions.

In relation to the banking industry, Mr. Evans has represented international,...

Peter Hsiao has 33 years of experience as a lead trial lawyer and is head of the West Coast U.S. Environmental, Health & Safety Practice of King & Spalding LLP resident in the Los Angeles Office. He was named Environmental Litigation Attorney of the Year in Los Angeles by Best Lawyers in America, and one of 16 lawyers named as a Distinguished Environmental Advocate by the American Bar Association. The National Law Journal identifies him as a Trailblazer in Energy and Environmental Law, and is named by Chambers, Legal 500 and Super Lawyers one of the nation’s best...

Jeff LaFave has gained an outstanding reputation for his expertise as a plaintiff’s trial attorney. Mr. LaFave has an impressive 19-year track record representing injured families, homeowners, renters, workers and children. For almost two decades, he has specialized in environmental litigation, including representing adults and children made sick by poor indoor air quality in their homes, workplaces and schools. Mr. LaFave has pioneered indoor air quality litigation since helping to successfully resolve the first known mold exposure lawsuit brought in 1992. He has represented hundreds of injured people in poor indoor air quality, sick building, water damage and toxic exposure...

Certified Appellate Specialist, Board of Legal Specialization of State Bar of California

Practice Summary: Complex federal and state litigation in contracts, land use, government, administrative, constitutional property and speech, trusts and estates, product liability, land use and insurance law.

Specialties: Appeals, injunctions, writs of mandate, land use administrative proceedings, challenging local, state and federal action and enforcing local, statutory and constitutional law in federal and state courts.

Represents both plaintiffs and defendants; insurance defense; owners and contractors in construction disputes; beneficiaries and administrators

Mr. Brodsky earned his Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley, with highest honors in English and highest distinction in general scholarship, graduating first in his class and earning the University Medal as the most distinguished graduate of 1994. He earned his Juris Doctor Degree from Yale Law School in 2001 and clerked for the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson at the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit in 2001–2002.

Prior to completing his undergraduate and law degrees, Mr. Brodsky was a construction sub-contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area for fourteen years, installing ceramic...

Brandon is committed to direct, effective representation of clients and their interests. His practice includes complex environmental litigation, insurance coverage, and business disputes. Brandon represents clients in a wide variety of toxic tort litigation, bad faith insurance cases, and construction disputes. He successfully argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He collected over $2.0 million in construction funds. He won summary judgment motions for clients in a number of cases. Brandon represented clients in environmental and personal injury defense cases, including several substantial exposure federal and state environmental clean-up litigations involving CECRLA and RCRA, as well as analogous state statutes...

Santino Tropea is a founding partner of Tropea McMillan. A significant portion of his practice includes representation of clients in toxic tort claims, actions brought under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and all phases of CERCLA and the Superfund process. He has successfully represented clients in regulatory disputes and negotiations with both state and federal agencies, and has implemented supplemental environmental projects/pollution prevention plans to reduce or eliminate fines and penalties. He defends Proposition 65 cases and citizen's suits alleging False Claim Act violations and other related matters. Santino's experience includes representation of California municipalities, large chemical,...