Career Highlights

• Litigating and arguing cases in the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal, as well as U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit and D.C. Circuit.
• Successfully representing plaintiffs and petitioners in numerous published cases, including: Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency, 722 F.3d 401 (D.C. Cir. 2013), Bair v. California State Department of Transportation, 867 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2012), Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish & Wildlife, 62 Cal. 4th 204 (2015), King and Gardiner Farms, LLC v. County of Kern, 45 Cal. App. 5th 814 (Cal. App. 5th Dist. 2020), Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Assn. of Govs., 17 Cal. App. 5th 413 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. 2017), Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish & Wildlife, 1 Cal. App. 5th 452 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2016), Lotus v. California State Department of Transportation, 223 Cal. App. 4th 645 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 2014); California State Parks Foundation v. Superior Court, 150 Cal. App. 4th 826 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. 2007).
• Spending several years as Climate Legal Director and Senior Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute.

Community Service, Publications, and Recognitions

• California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award (2016) (for work on Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish & Wildlife).
• Frequent panelist on CEQA, climate change, forestry, and other topics at conferences such as the Yosemite Environmental Law Conference, UCLA Extension Land Use Law and Planning Conference, and Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.
• Publications include: Strong Law, Timid Implementation. How the EPA Can Apply the Full Force of the Clean Air Act to Address the Climate Crisis, 30 UCLA J. ENVTL. L. & POL’Y 185 (2012) (co-authored with Kassie Siegel and Vera Pardee); Comment, “Officer, Where’s My Stuff?” The Constitutional Implications of a De Facto Property Disability for Homeless People, 1 HASTINGS RACE & POVERTY L.J. 57 (2003); Book Note, Accounting for Race in Environmental Thought, 30 ECOLOGY L.J. 377 (2003) (reviewing FACES OF ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM: CONFRONTING ISSUES OF GLOBAL JUSTICE (Laura Westra & Bill E. Dawson eds., 2d ed. 2001)); Current Events Commentary, The Headwaters Agreement: A History, Summary, and Critique, 5 HASTINGS W.-NW. J. ENVTL. L. & POL’Y 361 (1999) (co-authored with journal staff).

Bar Memberships

Member of the Bar of the State of California; U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth and D.C. Circuits; and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Education

UC Berkeley, JD, 2003

Oberlin College, BA, 1993

Clerkships: Honorable Procter R. Hug, Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and Honorable David W. Hagen, U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada

About Me

Prior to law school, I spent several years defending ancient redwoods and native fish on California’s North Coast. I currently live in Berkeley with my public-interest lawyer partner and our daughter.