Gene Livingston

Gene Livingston

Gene Livingston has practiced law since 1965. He founded Livingston & Mattesich in 1982 to represent clients in their interactions with the State of California. Gene was among the first attorneys in Sacramento to provide experienced and effective advocacy in all forums of public decision-making: legislation, regulation, and litigation. In February 1998, California Lawyer Magazine named Mr. Livingston one of the ten most "powerful lawyer-lobbyists in Sacramento" and noted, "Livingston was appointed by the Governor as the first director of California's Office of Administrative Law. The Office was created in 1980 to review all state agency regulations, to reduce their number and improve their quality. The experience gave Livingston an insider's view of every state agency." Gene has effectively combined his insider's knowledge of state government, litigation experience, knowledge of the Legislature, state agencies, and the courts to the full advantage of his clients. His philosophy of tailoring services to the exact needs of each client remains a central theme.

Gene's government practice covers a wide variety of regulatory and policy issues, and offers services unique to a lawyer-lobbyist. That includes the ability to:

· write or review a proposed law and predict how the agencies and courts might act on it

· evaluate whether or not a regulation complies with the underlying law, court decisions and the administrative procedures for adopting regulations

· remedy legislative and regulatory misdeeds in the courts

Gene's clients include businesses and trade associations with significant interests in California. His work encompasses advising and representing clients in a wide range of regulatory, administrative and legislative matters. Gene's specialties include business regulations before the various regulatory agencies, such as California's unique "Proposition 65" statute, environmental issues involving Cal EPA, and regulatory matters before the California Department of Insurance. He also handles matters involving healthcare regulations and advises clients seeking contracts with the state of California.

Prior to founding the firm, Gene held a number of governmental and academic appointments. He served in two gubernatorial-appointed and state senate-confirmed positions in California state government. As the first director of the California Office of Administrative Law from 1980 to 1982, he organized the office charged with reviewing all state agency regulations. Under Gene's leadership, new regulations adopted by the 124 state agencies were cut by 50%, over 11,000 pages of existing regulations were evaluated with 24% targeted for elimination, and another 33% changed to conform to the law. The Legislature and the business community hailed the Office of Administrative Law as a unique success in state government.

For five years before organizing the Office of Administrative Law, Gene served as Chief Deputy Director and then acting Director of the California Employment Development Department, an agency with 15,000 employees and a budget of $2.5 billion. He operated several major programs, including the collection of unemployment, disability insurance and state income taxes and the payment of unemployment and disability insurance benefits.

Areas of Concentration

· Advocacy before the California Legislature, State Agencies and the Courts

· Business Regulation and Compliance

· Proposition 65 Compliance and Litigation

· Environmental Regulation

· Insurance Regulation

· Public Contracts

Significant Representations

· With our client, created a coalition of insurers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, business, law enforcement and other organizations to oppose legislation that would have authorized third party claims against insurers.

· Developed a coalition of pharmaceutical companies, doctors, public and private universities and others to oppose legislation that would have criminalized animal testing necessary to verify the safety of medical and consumer products used on humans.

· With our client, developed a coalition of realtors, builders, insurers and labor to secure passage of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA). The $10.5 billion privately funded CEA enabled the client to reenter the homeowners insurance market, a market it limited following the Northridge earthquake due to the risks.

· Helped shape the regulations implementing California's Proposition 65 (duty to warn) initiative statute.

· Served on the APA Advisory Group to advise the Director, pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order, on improvements to California's Administrative Procedures Act.

· Successfully challenged a regulation doubling the fee paid by commercial entities that electronically access the Department of Motor Vehicles' records.

· Litigated through the Court of Appeal an action invalidating regulations adopted by the Insurance Commissioner that restricted insurers use of claims history data.

· Represented a major pharmaceutical client in a Proposition 65 case in which the California Supreme Court sustained the client's defense that the Proposition 65 claims was preempted by federal law.

Awards & Recognition

· Listed, Best Lawyers in America, 2009

Articles, Publications, & Lectures

Miscellaneous

· Frequent speaker at seminars and conferences on Proposition 65, the regulatory process, and effective legislative advocacy

· Sponsor of the Prop. 65 Clearinghouse Annual Conference

Documents by this lawyer on Martindale.com