I focus my law practice on commercial real estate, land use, and environmental law counseling and litigation, representing real estate owners, developers, manufacturing facilities, and non-profits in a variety of disputes. I have substantial experience in commercial purchase-sale and landlord-tenant disputes, easement and deed restriction creation and enforcement, quiet title and boundary litigation, and financing workouts. I have twenty years’ experience in California federal and state courts, from pre-litigation counseling through trial. My environmental practice includes representing property owners, developers, and manufacturers in brownfield projects and in litigation under hazardous substances laws (e.g., CEQA & RCRA), regularly representing clients before federal and state environmental agencies and water boards. My land use practice involves representing institutional and individual clients in obtaining and defending project entitlements for the development and use of their real property under NEPA, CEQA, and zoning and planning laws. I regularly appear before federal, state, and local agencies commissions in pursuing those entitlements. I also have a strong non-profit practice in land conservation matters, including representing numerous land trusts in conservation easement and mitigation bank creation, management, and enforcement.

I took a planned sabbatical to (i) volunteer with the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program and other environmental non-profits as a pro bono attorney and as an outdoor educator; (ii) complete environmental sciences coursework through the University of California's Sierra Nevada Research Station in Yosemite; and (iii) travel extensively internationally and domestically, including considerable time in Asia, the Himalaya, and the American Southwest.

I represented numerous large corporations and their senior executives in a variety of complex litigation and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. Representative matters included:• Advised investors of Pacific Lumber Company on NEPA, CEQA, Clean Water Act, and state forestry laws and regulations related to the Headwaters Forest Reserve in northern California.• Represented the counties of El Dorado and Los Angeles in land use and public finance litigation.• Following a multi-year investigation, negotiated a rare negligence-only settlement with the SEC for the former CEO of a publicly-traded food company to resolve securities fraud claims. • Obtained a $20 million award through a 6-week international arbitration trial for a financial services company asserting securities fraud claims against multiple foreign defendants.• Settled an $18 million breach of contract case for 1.3% of plaintiff’s original demand following a partial summary judgment victory.• Renegotiated a multi-year supply contract for a publicly-traded health care company by identifying weaknesses in the existing contract, resulting in savings of over $25 million.• Traced and recovered 85% of a $10+ million embezzlement by a global manufacturer’s former employee who forged documents and transferred funds offshore to evade detection.

I researched and wrote memoranda regarding a variety of legal issues raised in pending cases, including constitutional, administrative, and environmental law (e.g., NEPA, CWA, ESA, and USFS actions and regulations). I consulted with the judges and court staff concerning recommended dispositions, and I drafted court opinions as well as two dissents later vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court upon review.

Working with Justice Chin and his chamber attorneys, I conducted extensive legal research and writing on pending issues before the California Supreme Court.

Working with Justice Johnson and his chamber attorneys, I conducted extensive legal research and writing on pending issues before the California Court of Appeal.