practice areas |
public agencies |
community groups |
members of the firm |
hiring
Rachel B. Hooper
Rachel Hooper joined Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger in 1984 and has served as the firm’s Managing Partner since 1998. She is a graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law, and received her B.A. from Yale University, graduating summa cum laude. Before joining the firm, Ms. Hooper served for two years as Law Clerk to the Honorable Laughlin E. Waters, United State District Judge, Central District of California.
Ms. Hooper’s practice includes representation of citizens' groups and public agencies in state and federal litigation regarding CEQA, NEPA, state Planning & Zoning law, and election law. She has extensive experience in drafting and defending land use initiatives and referendums. A sampling of accomplishments includes:
-
Lead attorney in litigation challenging Placer County’s approval of the Martis Valley Community Plan, an action that would have allowed sprawling residential and commercial development in a sensitive biological area near Lake Tahoe. Petitioners prevailed in the suit, with the result that the court issued an order directing the County to rescind the Plan and enjoined its implementation. In September 2006, the court approved a comprehensive settlement significantly reducing permissible development in Martis Valley, protecting important watershed resources, and raising an estimated $100 million for land conservation—and workforce housing—in the Valley.
-
Lead attorney in litigation challenging the City of Stockton’s approval of a 20-year, $600 million water privatization contract. In a ruling issued November 2006, the court concluded that the contract violated CEQA and must be rescinded in its entirety.
-
Lead attorney representing plaintiffs in a successful challenge to the United States Department of Transportation’s plan to develop a freeway bypass to Highway One through the biologically important area of Hatton Canyon (near Carmel), based on the agency’s noncompliance with both NEPA and CEQA. The case resulted in a permanent injunction against construction of the freeway.
-
Lead attorney in numerous other successful lawsuits brought under CEQA and the state Planning & Zoning Law, including challenges to Caltrans’ approval of a major roadway project near the Town of Somis in Ventura County, San Diego County’s rezoning of 200,000 acres of wilderness in the County’s backcountry, and Tulare Irrigation District’s decision to install cement lining on canals near the City of Visalia. The firm prevailed in all of these cases.
-
Lead attorney representing Napa County in defense of the validity of Measure J, an initiative measure preserving agricultural land in County (DeVita v. County of Napa, 9 Cal.4th 763 (1995)); and representing the City of Ventura in defense of Measure I, a local growth control measure. In both cases, the agency prevailed on all causes of action.
-
Drafted numerous initiatives on behalf of community groups and local governments. These include measures that amend the city or county general plan to set urban growth boundaries, establish anti-sprawl policies, and restrict development impinging on sensitive resource areas. Examples include initiatives in Brea, Healdsburg, Laguna Beach, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Napa County, City of Sonoma, San Diego County, and Stanislaus County. In addition, drafted referendums challenging development approvals in various areas throughout the state, including Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Novato, Palo Alto, Stockton, and Yorba Linda.
-
Ms. Hooper lectures extensively on state environmental laws, including CEQA and land use initiatives. She has been a guest lecturer at Stanford Law School from 2000 to the present, and serves on the editorial board of Matthew Bender’s California Environmental Law Reporter.
-
Ms. Hooper is a member of the Bars of the State of California, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California.
portraits by Liza Heider