Updates and Articles
City of Half Moon Bay Launches Civilian-Response Model for Mental Health Emergencies
Public agencies across the nation have spent the last few years re-examining policing and public safety models. SMW client City of Half Moon Bay is prioritizing improving mental health services as a key feature of its policing reform efforts. The city's mobile mental health response program, Crisis Assistance Response and Evaluation Services (CARES), provides an alternative response to mental health-related 911 calls...
Read MoreBased on Recently-Passed SB 54, Local Governments May Consider Banning Certain Single-Use Foodware Items Before Year’s End
The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act may encourage local governments to ban certain single-use packaging and plastic food service ware materials before January 2024 to avoid its collection requirement.
Read MoreJob Announcement: Associate Attorney, Renewable Energy Practice
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is seeking to hire an Associate Attorney to support its renewable energy practice. The firm is located in San Francisco, although candidates wishing to work remotely full-time from other locations will be considered.
Read MoreTwelve SMW Attorneys Recognized as Leaders in Environmental Law
This year’s Lawdragon News list of the “Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law” includes 12 Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys. They were selected through nominations, journalistic reporting, and vetting by a board of peers. Kevin P. Bundy, Ellison Folk, Tamara S. Galanter, Ellen J. Garber, Winter King, Robert “Perl” Perlmutter, Gabriel M. B. Ross, Andrew W. Schwartz, Sky C. Stanfield, Richard Taylor, William J....
Read MoreRemote Meetings Under the Brown Act
Under the Brown Act, legislative bodies must conduct their business in open, public, and noticed meetings. Before COVID-19, decisionmakers, staff, and the public almost always attended meetings in person. Infrequently, public agencies invoked a narrow provision of the Brown Act to allow one or more members to “teleconference” into a meeting from a remote location, provided that the public was given notice and could attend...
Read MoreConstitutional Limits to Abating Homeless Encampments, and Best Practices for a Cooperative Approach
California is home to nearly one-fourth of the nation’s unhoused population, and homelessness in California continues to rise. For example, according to the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, from 2019 to 2022, California’s unhoused population increased from approximately 151,000 to 171,000. Of the 171,000 unhoused individuals counted in 2022, 67%, or 115,000 persons, were unsheltered, living in places not...
Read MoreSMW Attorney Presents on Disaster Response to the Association of California Water Agencies
Severely eroded portion of the California Coastal Trail. All photos courtesy of City of Half Moon Bay. SMW attorney Catherine Engberg presented on the topic of disaster response to the Water Quality Committee of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). The 2023 winter storms / atmospheric river severely impacted SMW client City of Half Moon Bay, as well as its sewer agency, Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside...
Read MoreSpreading Good Cheer at the End of The Year
As another year draws to a close, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger is continuing to make charitable contributions to groups engaged in environmental justice and anti-racism work. “We feel fortunate to be able to continue our tradition of supporting non-profit organizations engaged in environmental justice, anti-racism, and empowerment work, through annual contributions to groups doing this work,” said managing partner...
Read MoreSara Clark Leads Panel Discussion at Yosemite Environmental Law Conference About Beneficial Fire
At the fall 2022 Environmental Law Conference, SMW partner Sara Clark moderated a panel titled “Restoring Beneficial Fire in California.” The conference, sponsored by the California Lawyers Association, is held every year at Yosemite National Park. Panel participants Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Craig Thomas, and Don Hankins discussed the history of fire exclusion in California and the resulting impacts on ecosystems,...
Read MoreSMW Attorney Contributes to Journal of California Supreme Court Historical Society
SMW attorney Pearl Kan was recognized by Rob Mullaney, clinical director of the Aoki Water Justice Clinic at @UCDavisLaw, for her help in an article published in the Journal of the CA Supreme Court Historical Society related to the Clinic’s foundation.
Read MoreSMW Attorneys Speak at National Land Trust Conference
At the Land Trust Alliance’s annual national conference in New Orleans in September, SMW firm members Sarah Sigman and Tamara Galanter shared their expertise with land trust representatives and others in the conservation community. Sarah presented on best practices for preparing the baseline reports that document the condition of the conservation property at the time the landowner enters into the conservation easement...
Read MoreSMW Halts “Underground Regulation” Threatening Solar and Storage Projects
In a settlement with SMW client the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA), a state licensing board rescinded regulations that would have prohibited solar contractors from installing solar panels paired with batteries for energy storage. The regulations would have been devastating to California’s solar contractors and their workers, as well as to consumers who are increasingly demanding solar and storage...
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