---THIS POSITION IS HYBRID---

We serve government agencies, private businesses, and mission driven organizations on regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters. Our attorneys are consistently recognized by leading legal directories and industry publications for public sector, complex litigation, and regulatory practice work. What sets our practice apart is deep public agency experience paired with a full service private sector bench, offering clients counsel who understand both sides of complex land use, infrastructure, and regulatory matters. Joining us means substantive early responsibility, direct client contact, and mentorship from senior attorneys leading consequential matters.

Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Of Counsel to provide highlevel legal advice and lead matters in land use and environmental law. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in CEQA and related environmental statutes, significant litigation experience, and a proven ability to manage complex entitlement, permitting and regulatory matters for public and private clients. This role combines substantive legal work, case leadership, client counseling, and mentoring of junior attorneys.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide expert legal advice and representation on land use, environmental review and entitlement matters, with a particular focus on CEQA compliance and strategy.
• Lead and manage CEQA litigation, administrative appeals, and other environmental and land use-related litigation, including discovery, motions, hearings, and trial preparation.
• Draft, review and negotiate environmental documents, petitions, briefs, regulatory filings, permits, mitigation agreements, memoranda, and client correspondence.
• Counsel clients on project approvals, rezoning, conditional use permits, subdivision maps, development agreements, and other land use entitlements.
• Conduct environmental due diligence for transactions, in response to agency inquiries, or as part of project planning; coordinate Phase I/II studies and risk assessments as needed.
• Coordinate and communicate with federal, state and local regulatory agencies, hearing bodies, planning departments, and outside experts and consultants.
• Advise clients on compliance with CEQA, NEPA, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and other relevant environmental statutes and regulations.
• Provide litigation strategy and crisis response for environmental enforcement actions, citizen suits, and administrative enforcement by agencies.
• Supervise, mentor, and train junior attorneys and staff; oversee delegation of work, quality control, and professional development.
• Participate in business development activities, client relationship management, and fee/budget oversight for matters handled as Of Counsel.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school and admission to practice law in the relevant state (California preferred).
• Minimum 8+ years of substantive experience in environmental and land use law, including significant CEQA work and litigation experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading CEQA litigation and administrative proceedings, including drafting pleadings, motions, and appellate briefs.
• Strong track record advising on land use entitlements, permitting and regulatory compliance for public and private sector clients.
• Experience with federal environmental statutes (NEPA, CWA, ESA) and familiarity with local planning and zoning processes.
• Proven courtroom and hearing experience, including trial and appellate exposure, and comfort handling complex discovery and evidentiary issues.
• Excellent legal writing, analytical and oral advocacy skills; ability to explain complex legal concepts to nonlawyers and public officials.
• Experience supervising and mentoring junior attorneys and coordinating multidisciplinary teams of consultants and experts.
• Business development skills and client management experience, including preparing fee estimates, staffing plans, and maintaining client relationships.
• High standards of professional ethics, strong judgment, and the ability to manage multiple matters and deadlines effectively.