SMW Attorney on Faculty of Land Trust Alliance Advanced Legal Symposium
On June 10, 2021, Tamara Galanter spoke on amendments to conservation easements and the use of building areas in conservation easements at the Eighth Symposium on Advanced Legal Topics in Land Conservation sponsored by the Land Trust Alliance. As a faculty member, Tamara joined seven other leading legal experts and practitioners to educate more than […]
Rancho Jamul Land Exchange Defeated
SMW and its client Endangered Habitats League scores a major victory in 2020 in its battle to save the Proctor Valley in San Diego County. The Wildlife Conservation Board voted down a proposal to convey a 220-acre state ecological reserve to a private developer as part of a 1,200-unit upscale housing project. Read more here: […]
Court Overturns Sprawl Development in Wildfire Risk Zone
The firm successfully challenges San Diego County’s 2019 approval of the Harmony Grove Village South Project, which would have brought sprawl development to a fire-prone, rural area of the County.
Conservation Easement Enforced in Sonoma County
The firm prevails in a landmark case to enforce a conservation easement protecting sensitive lands in Bennett Valley (Sonoma County) on behalf of the Sonoma Land Trust. After a 19-day trial, the court orders the violators to pay to restore the property. (Sonoma Land Trust v. Thompson.) Image by SMW
Non-Profit Compliance with Public Contracting Laws
The firm provides ongoing advice to California Trout regarding compliance with public contracting and labor and wage laws for state-funded restoration projects.
SMW Drafts State Legislation to Facilitate Land Conservation and Restoration
Photo Credit: West Marin Environmental Action Committee from “Parks Are For Everyone” In 2019 the firm drafts and helps secure passage of state legislation enabling public agencies to acquire threatened lands and prepare an environmental review for restoration efforts after first protecting the land from development.
Coyote Valley Saved!
The firm works with the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, and the City of San Jose to preserve 937 acres in Coyote Valley for wildlife and open space in 2019. SMW partners Bill White, Tamara Galanter, and Sara Clark receive the 2020 California Lawyer’s Attorney of the Year (CLAY) […]
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger Announces New Partners Sara Clark and Sarah Sigman
San Francisco – Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is proud to announce the addition of two new partners, Sara A. Clark and Sarah H. Sigman. Both attorneys were associates of the firm before joining the partnership. “We are excited to have Sara Clark and Sarah Sigman join our team of partners,” said Richard S. Taylor, […]
Protecting Ag Land from Development
The firm successfully represented the Cleveland National Forest Foundation in challenging San Diego County’s approval of a residential subdivision on ranchland protected under the Williamson Act. The Court of Appeal held that such projects are permissible only where homes would support the land’s agricultural use.
SMW Contributes to the Land Conservation Movement at the National Level
Photo credit: DJ Glisson, II / Firefly Imageworks From 2017-2020, firm partner Tamara Galanter serves on the Land Trust Alliance Conservation Defense Advisory Council, working on land conservation issues at the national level.