Environmental & Land Use Law
Environmental Protection & Public Health Litigation
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We represented several non-profit environmental and advocacy organizations in a legal challenge to state agencies' handling of the remediation of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a heavily contaminated former nuclear research facility located near Simi Valley.
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We successfully obtained further geological study on proposed residential building sites in mapped Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones, ensuring future occupants of buildings are not exposed to life-threatening surface fault rupture.
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We successfully halted the repeal of a single-use plastic bag ban by the City of Huntington Beach, helping reduce plastic pollution in the state’s waterways.
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We enforced state laws concerning solar approvals, representing an avocado rancher whose solar permits were wrongly withheld by the County of San Diego.
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We represented a local government challenging a federal permit for gravel excavation under the federal National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act.
Land Use Advocacy & Enforcement Litigation
California’s environmental protection and land use laws ensure a robust review of the environmental impacts of proposed projects. Our deep understanding of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as well as state and local land use laws allows us to successfully represent clients before local governments, administrative boards, and trial and appellate courts throughout the state.
Specifically, we represent clients in proceedings before local governments concerning controversial development projects, draft comment letters on environmental analyses and approval findings, and retain necessary experts to build an administrative record that will support a legal challenge, if one is necessary. We are also experienced in negotiating settlement agreements that provide a means to address community and non-profit concerns about project developments through the creation of funding mechanisms and monitoring programs to address potential impacts. Finally, our experience extends to litigation matters challenging governmental land use approvals under CEQA and state and local land use laws.
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We successfully challenged the City of Los Angeles’s Hollywood Community Plan update for failing to use a proper population baseline and failure to adequately analyze a range of alternatives. (Fix the City v. City of Los Angeles, L.A. Sup. Ct., No. BS138580.)
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We overturned Los Angeles County’s approval of a luxury housing development and obtained a ruling requiring preparation of an Environmental Impact Report. (United Homeowners Association II v. County of Los Angeles, Cal. Ct. App., No. B308682.)
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We overturned the City of Los Angeles’s approval of a Mitigated Negative Declaration for a 27-story tower on a residential street in Koreatown and vacated project entitlements. (Fix the City v. City of Los Angeles, L.A. Sup. Ct., No. BS161800.)
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We overturned the City of Los Angeles’s processing of second dwelling unit applications for non-conformance with state law. (Los Angeles Neighbors in Action v. City of Los Angeles, L.A. Sup. Ct., No. BS150559.)
