Career Highlights

• Serving as lead petitioners’ counsel in Orange Citizens for Parks and Recreation v. Superior Court, 2 Cal.5th. 141 (2016), in which the California Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed the integrity of General Plans in California and upheld the voters’ ability to use the referendum power to challenge local land-use decisions.
• Serving as lead plaintiff’s counsel in San Francisco Baykeeper v. Tosco Corporation, 309 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir. 2002), which was included in the National Law Journal’s July 21, 2003 special feature: The Plaintiffs’ Hot List, Twenty-Five Go-To Teams for When the Going Gets Tough.
• Successfully defending the California Department of Fish and Game (now, CDFW) against a series of lawsuits challenging protections for the longfin smelt.

Community Service, Publications, and Recognitions

• Northern California Super Lawyer each year since 2009.
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America each year since 2012.
• Frequent speaker and author on CEQA and local ballot measures.
• Past Chair of the California State Bar Environmental Law Section.
• Greenbelt Alliance Public Policy Committee.
• Past President, Alameda Contra Costa Youth Soccer League.

Bar Memberships

Member of the Bars of the State of California, the U.S. Supreme Court, 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.

Education

UC Berkeley School of Law, JD, 1996, Elected Order of the Coif; Editor-in-Chief, Ecology Law Quarterly

Harvard University, BA, 1986

Clerkship: Honorable Thelton E. Henderson, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

About Me

I’m an avid hiker, backpacker, and gardener. Point Reyes is my favorite place.