Obtained 11-0 en banc decision in the Ninth Circuit regarding environmental challenge to long-term contracts for the delivery of more than 2.2 million acre-feet of California Central Valley Project water as posing a severe risk to the survival of threatened Delta smelt and salmon.

Obtained appellate affirmance of a trial court order requiring three paint manufacturers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars into a fund dedicated to remediating health hazards caused by deteriorating lead-based paint in private residences throughout California. Helped defeat manufacturers’ petitions for California Supreme Court review and U.S. Supreme Court certiorari.

Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion on the effect of the California Central Valley Project’s operations on threatened Delta smelt and obtained protective interim remedies, including reduced water pumping from the Sacramento‑San Joaquin River Delta and an order requiring the Service to issue a new biological opinion. Also obtained an en banc decision from Ninth Circuit reversing the District Court and holding that the Bureau of Reclamation was obligated to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the effect of renewing long-term water contracts on the threatened Delta smelt.

Settlement on behalf of California public entities of public nuisance challenge by public entitites to opioid manufacturers’ conduct contributing to the creation of statewide epidemic of opioid overuse.

Successful representation of union amici in defense of Cal-OSHA emergency temporary COVID-19 standards against challenges by retail and agricultural industry employers.

Successfully helped defend, on behalf of an intervenor, the constitutionality of Proposition 65’s mechanism for listing known carcinogens against a challenge brought by Monsanto.

Obtained a Ninth Circuit ruling (later overturned by the Supreme Court) blocking for several years the federal government’s decision to allow Mexico‑domiciled trucks to travel throughout the United States without an Environmental Impact Statement and a Clean Air Act conformity analysis.

In a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s systematic failure to enforce federal food safety laws, obtained a consent decree that required dozens of cancer‑causing pesticides to be removed from the food supply.

Obtained a settlement of a lawsuit against California’s Governor and environmental agencies to prevent delays in adding substances to the list of chemicals that are known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm.

Obtained a ruling that the California Department of Forestry’s approval of a plan to log vast portions of California’s redwood forests violated the California Forest Practice Act’s requirements for a sustainable yield plan.

Representation of environmental group seeking to require local governments in California to comply with the state’s water-efficiency regulations under the Water Conservation in Landscaping Act.

Representation of nonprofit group seeking to enforce California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act with respect to a pediatric organic whole food formula for tube feeding.

Obtained a court ruling that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation illegally dried up California’s second longest river by diverting excessive amounts of water for agricultural and other uses, and subsequently negotiated a comprehensive settlement providing for restoration of the river and reintroduction of native salmon population.

Required the Environmental Protection Agency to strictly apply the Delaney Clause’s prohibition against cancer‑causing substances in processed foods.

In association with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, overturned the National Marine Fisheries Service’s biological opinion on the effect of the California Central Valley Project’s operations on three species of threatened and endangered salmon and obtained protective interim remedies, including early opening of dam gates and shortening the periods in which the gates are closed, facilitating migration up and down the Sacramento River; also obtained an order requiring the Service to issue a new biological opinion.

Compelled major faucet manufacturers to eliminate lead from drinking water faucets, pursuant to Proposition 65, the California Toxics Initiative.

Obtained a writ of mandate overturning a state administrative agency’s approval of an extensive development project on top of a major levee in the Sacramento River Delta, for violating regulations governing flood control levees.

Successfully advocated in land use proceedings, on behalf of a coalition of environmental, labor, and community organizations, for stringent environmental conditions to be placed on a large solid waste landfill in Los Angeles County.

Settled a Clean Air Act case requiring warning labels on processed foods manufactured with methyl bromide, an ozone‑depleting substance.

Forced the Environmental Protection Agency to reassess the safety of some of the nation’s most dangerous pesticides, to protect children, farmworkers, and consumers.

Required reductions in lead content of calcium dietary supplements.

Successfully challenged the widespread use of lead in submersible water pumps, under the California Toxics Initiative.

Defeated a declaratory judgment action brought by an oil company to preclude environmental organizations from seeking penalties for its discharges of dioxin.

Compelled the EPA to stop holding “closed‑door” meetings with industry representatives before setting pesticide health and safety standards.

Forced a state environmental agency to withdraw a “records retention” policy that had required agency scientists to destroy data and documents that were inconsistent with final agency position.

Required the Governor of California to timely determine whether to expand the list of reproductive toxicants subject to the California Toxics Initiative to include five dozen chemicals identified as reproductive toxicants by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Required manufacturers of water meters that leach lead into residential drinking water to shift to a low lead-emitting alloy.

Required large grocery retailers to achieve a substantial reduction in diesel truck emissions around their grocery distribution centers, which are located primarily in low‑income areas.

Required manufacturers to eliminate unlawfully high levels of arsenic, trihalomethanes, and heterotrophic bacteria from bottled drinking water.

Obtained a consent judgment in a Proposition 65 lawsuit against a manufacturer of a seaweed product that requires the company to provide warnings to consumers regarding cadmium contained in the product.

Required warnings to be provided to consumers regarding the health dangers of smokeless tobacco products.

Obtained a Ninth Circuit ruling that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act by failing to consider whether mitigation measures in addition to those measures proposed by the U.S. Navy for its use of low-frequency sonar were necessary to achieve the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammals.

Obtained a consent judgment banning the continued sale in California of a fertilizer manufactured from hazardous waste that contained excessive levels of arsenic and lead.

Obtained a consent judgment under California’s Proposition 65 requiring manufacturer to provide warnings regarding the presence of chemicals in its cement mixes and products that are known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm.

Obtained settlements requiring food retailers to post consumer warnings regarding the presence of lead in balsamic vinegar.

Persuaded the California Attorney General to conduct a review of the terms of a proposed merger of two hospitals, including the extent to which the merger would serve or disserve the needs of the affected communities.

Joined with U.S. Interior Department in defeating San Joaquin Valley water districts’ attempts to compel the government to provide them low-cost drainage services, which would have kept more toxic-laden agricultural lands in production and required more water diversions.

Obtained a consent judgment in a Proposition 65 lawsuit against a distributor and retailer of eleven health food products requiring the company to provide warnings to consumers regarding lead and cadmium contained in the products, pay civil penalties to an enforcement agency, and make additional settlement payments.

Obtained a consent judgment in a Proposition 65 lawsuit against a distributor of a seaweed product requiring the company to provide warnings to consumers regarding lead and cadmium contained in the product, conduct studies to identify cleaner alternative sources for the product, pay civil penalties to an enforcement agency, and make additional settlement payments.

Obtained a consent judgment in a Proposition 65 lawsuit against a manufacturer of protein bars that requires the company produce products below designated lead levels or provide warnings to consumers regarding lead contained in the product.

Obtained a preliminary injunction preventing the federal Bureau of Reclamation from increasing pumping out of its South delta pumping station and reinstating a pre-existing limit on pumping that is more protective of imperiled migrating fish populations.

Successful defense in the Texas Court of Appeal on personal jurisdiction grounds of ExxonMobil’s claim that California public entities interfered with its free speech rights by filing public nuisance actions against it in California that alleged the company engaged in a 50-year campaign of climate deception.

Obtained a ruling (based on arguments in a merits brief filed on behalf of environmental organizations) rejecting a challenge brought by agribusiness interests to the federal government’s reduction of contractual water allocations to a local water district for the purpose of protecting threatened salmon and smelt.

Defeated a certiorari petition filed by a national coalition of prescription drug manufacturers that challenged Alameda County’s innovative Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance under the dormant Commerce Clause.

Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of McDonald’s employees compelling their employer to comply with COVID-19 health and safety measures, including not requiring workers to work while sick, and ensuring sufficient cleaning, personal protective equipment, and social distancing.

Successfully advocated on behalf of a labor organization, in land use proceedings, for environmental, affordable housing, and public transit conditions to be placed on a large hotel and residential development in San Diego County.

Overturned a regulation exempting food, drugs, and cosmetics from the California Toxics Initiative.

Overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s moratorium on public disclosure of industry pesticide health and safety studies.

Obtained a dismissal under California’s anti‑SLAPP statute of an oil company’s defamation action against a non‑profit environmental advocacy group.