Career Highlights

• Representing the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. in utilities commission proceedings nationwide to improve consumer access to solar energy.
• Serving as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Cupertino; advising Cupertino and other cities on public contracting and competitive bidding.
• Helping Mendocino County residents reverse the County’s vested rights determination that would have let a quarry operate without a use permit or other limits and environmental oversight (Keep the Code, Inc. v. County of Mendocino, et al., No. A147544 (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 30, 2018)).

Community Service, Publications, and Recognitions

• Amicus Service Award from International Municipal Lawyers Association for amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Knick v. Township of Scott.
• Laura D. Beaton and Matthew D. Zinn, Knick v. Township of Scott: A Source of New Uncertainty for State and Local Governments in Regulatory Takings Challenges to Land Use Regulation, 47 Fordham Urb. L.J. 623 (2020).
• Guest lecturer on land use at Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley School of Law.
• Board President, Sierra Nevada Alliance.
• Board Member, The Erythromelalgia Association.
• Past Board Member, Cascadia Wildlands.

Bar Memberships

Member of the Bar, State of California and State of Montana (Inactive), United States Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California.

Education

University of Oregon School of Law, JD, 2011, Order of the Coif

Southern Oregon University, BS, 2008

About Me

Before becoming a lawyer, I devoted my time to defending old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, which included scaling ancient Douglas fir trees in search of the threatened Oregon red tree vole. I enjoy adventurous travel with my partner and our kid.