SMW Attorney Teaches Land Use Law at UC Berkeley School of Law
SMW Partner Andrew Schwartz taught Land Use Law at UC Berkeley School of Law for the Spring Semester 2021-2022 and will repeat the class Spring Semester 2022-2023. Mr. Schwartz also teaches Land Use Law at Stanford Law School.
SMW Attorney Updates Land Use Law Treatise
Andrew Schwartz and his co-author updated their chapter on Exactions in the California Land Use Practice treatise published by the California Continuing Education of the Bar.
SMW Attorneys Revise and Update Environmental Law Treatise
Matthew Zinn and Andrew Schwartz, partners at SMW, with the assistance of associate attorneys Ben Gonzalez and Orran Balagopalan, revised and updated the Takings Chapter of California Environmental Law and Land Use Law, a treatise co-edited by Loyola Law Professor and SMW Of Counsel Dan Selmi.
SMW Attorney Teaches Land Use Law at Stanford Law School
SMW partner Andrew Schwartz is once again teaching Land Use Law at Stanford Law School for the fall quarter 2021-2022. The course focuses on the pragmatic (more than theoretical) aspects of contemporary land use law and policy, including the tools and historical/legal foundation of modern land use law; zoning and General Plans; the process of land development; affordable housing; growth […]
San Diego Superior Court Ruling Stops Sprawl Development in Fire-Prone Area
Photo: Quino checkerspot butterfly Earlier this month, the San Diego County Superior Court reversed San Diego County’s approval of the Otay Ranch Village 14 project, a proposed development that would have paved over critical wildlife habitat while building 1,100 homes on fire-prone land east of Chula Vista. In a consolidated cases brought by a coalition of environmental groups and the People of California, the court ruled that the […]
SMW Attorney Presents at the CLA Environment Law Section Conference
On October 16, 2021, SMW Partner Matt Zinn spoke on a panel at the annual California Lawyers Association (CLA) Environmental Law Section 2021 Yosemite Virtual Conference. The panel provided updates and discussion about major environmental law cases pending in and decided by the United States Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the […]
SMW Attorney Presents at Intro to Environmental Law Series
On October 4, 2021, SMW Fellow Mindy Jian spoke on a CEQA 101 panel, part of the California Lawyer’s Association Environmental Law Section and California Young Lawyers Association’s joint series covering introductory topics in environmental law. The panel provided an overview of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), discussing the statute’s purposes, scope, and application.
Daily Journal Article: Competition and Collusion on the Road to Clean Cars
SMW Legal Fellow Peter Damrosch and Partner Matt Zinn traced the history of antitrust enforcement and vehicle emissions in a recent article in the Daily Journal: Competition and Collusion on the Road to Clean Cars. The article provides historical context for the Trump administration’s use of antitrust enforcement to intimidate automobile manufacturers that opposed his environmental rollbacks, which is now the subject of a new […]
The Public Trust – What Local Decisionmakers Should Know
The ancient public trust doctrine is as relevant as ever in today’s California, with implications for how local governments make decisions that could directly or indirectly affect water resources.
Building Decarbonization Update: Local Governments in California Consider Strategies to Reduce Natural Gas Use in Existing Buildings
Following up on the October 2019 and February 2020 editions of In the Public Interest, this article provides an update regarding strategies proposed by several cities and counties to encourage or require existing buildings to go all-electric.