Sheppard Mullin

Sheppard Mullin advises and represents clients in matters relating to their activities on our federal, state and municipally owned public lands. We can navigate the often conflicting governmental requirements and political pitfalls that can arise in negotiating with the government for the use of public lands. We provide the vital legal and political counsel on the broad range of land and water use issues to insure that your project can be completed and your rights will be guaranteed. Not only can we manage efficiently the routine compliance issues associated with land and water use, but we also have helped to guide clients through many complex, precedent-setting, and controversial natural resource conflicts of the past 25 years. Whether the issue is a major interstate land exchange, a controversial special use permit to use and occupy public lands for solar or windpower, a complex project requiring a Section 404 CWA permit and a consultation under the ESA, or a change in legislative or administrative policy, our attorneys have the legal and political experience to find solutions that work, are legally defensible, and are acceptable to all interested parties. One of our most important specialties is the use of lands owned by the State of California.

During the course of a representation, a single client may have to interact with a dozen or more different agencies with jurisdiction over federal environment and natural resource policy. Our firm’s professionals have extensive experience working with these agencies, not only on behalf of clients, but also, earlier in their careers, as high-ranking officials within the agencies themselves.

Our experience includes working with the following types of public lands and public agencies:

Public Lands
Bureau of Land Management Lands
National Wildlife Refuges
National Parks & Monuments
National Forests & Grasslands
Military Reservations & Installations
Department of Energy Research Facilities or Other Sites
Bureau of Reclamation Lakes & Reservoirs
Federal lands included in state irrigation districts
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lakes
Mining and Mineral Rights
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
California State Lands
California State Trust Lands
California Wildlife Refuges
Coastal Lands & Tidelands
California State Parks & Monuments

Public Agencies
Bureau of Land Management
Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Department of the Interior
U.S.D.A. Forest Service
Department of Agriculture
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
Bureau of Reclamation
Department of the Interior
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Department of Defense
United States Bureau of Mines
United States Geological Survey
Minerals Management Service
California State Lands Commission
California Fish and Game Commission
California Natural Resources Agency
California Coastal Commission
California Natural Resources Agency

Our public land team has the experience to:
 

• Manage and expedite environmental documentation, federal approvals, special and temporary use permits, rights-of-way acquisition, utility and transportation corridor permitting, and the governmental certifications, concurrences and clearances necessary for ensuring that land and water use on private or public land is in compliance with all applicable environmental laws.
• Structure and negotiate exchanges of private and federal lands and represented client interests before federal agencies and state and local officials. Sheppard Mullin has the expertise and creativity needed to advance important exchanges as well as obtain the congressional approvals required for interstate land exchanges.
• Help navigate intricate water rights proceedings. In particular, our firm has broad experience working in the complex arenas involved in managing the legal control of water in the arid western states, including water storage and habitat enhancement projects; water rights permitting; water supply contracts and administration; small conduit hydroelectric development; interstate water banking and exchanges; water infrastructure authorization, funding and implementation; Indian water rights settlements; water recycling and reuse; and international treaties on water flow, development, and control of invasive species.
• Manage the complex wetlands permitting process under Section 404 of the CWA and negotiated effective resolutions to wetlands disputes. We are also experienced in the compensatory mitigation and innovative mitigation banking projects that provide cost-effective mitigation and significant economic opportunities for our clients.
• Navigate the complicated regulatory requirements associated with the Endangered Species Act, ranging from regulatory compliance and counseling, to the development of single- and multi-species habitat conservation plans, to the identification and implementation of multi-forum approaches to ESA challenges.
• Provide leadership on how best to develop environment and natural resource policy.

"As Sheppard Mullin continues to grow, it is important that we not lose sight of the need to recruit women, attorneys of color and others of diverse backgrounds."
-Guy Halgren, Chairman of the Executive Committee

At Sheppard Mullin, we make every effort to recruit the finest lawyers and nurture their talents. The firm recognizes the importance of diversity and the need to create a workplace of inclusion. We need ¿ and our clients demand ¿ a team of attorneys that is as diverse as our increasingly global client base. Achieving and maintaining diversity is key to great client service ¿ a core value of our firm. What distinguishes good intentions from results is a commitment by senior management to find the best attorneys possible coupled with the sincere belief that people with diverse backgrounds bring valuable attributes to the firm. At Sheppard Mullin, the Executive Committee, Diversity Committee, and the lawyers in each of our offices work hard to ensure that all attorneys who join our firm fit in seamlessly and are encouraged to succeed.

Members of our Diversity Committee include ethnically diverse attorneys and a representative from the firm's Executive Committee. Diversity Committee members have served on the Boards of the Anti-Defamation League, the Black Women Lawyers Foundation (Los Angeles), and the Charles Houston Bar Association (northern California). Women and minority attorneys participate on key committees of the Firm (Executive Committee; Compensation Committee; Diversity Committee; Recruiting Committee; Professional Personnel Committee; Associate Issues Committee). Four of the Firm's nine Office Administrative Partners are women, one of whom is African-American and another is multi-racial.

"Serving on the firm's Diversity Committee is one of the most important things I do. I firmly believe that we must be vigilant in our efforts to recruit talented women attorneys and attorneys of color. Our success in this area has a positive effect our firm's culture, practice and client relationships."
-Joan Story, Member Executive Committee and Diversity Committee

Below is a description of just some of our outreach efforts.

• The firm participates in and financially supports the California Minority Counsel Program and the ABA Minority Counsel Program, as well as several minority bar associations. These groups are dedicated to increasing access for and promoting and retaining minorities in the legal profession.
• The firm actively recruits law students of color, e.g., we participated in the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) of the Western Region job fair held at UCLA School of Law.
• Sheppard Mullin contributes to the Minority Corporate Counsel Association; California Women Lawyers; Queen's Bench; Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles; and the National Black Law Students Association, among others.
• We actively participate with other major Los Angeles law firms in the Diversity Directors Roundtable, a group that is committed to promoting diversity in the legal profession and in our firms.
• The firm received the Law Firm Award from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation for its strong commitment to the promotion of community and pro bono activities.
• Multicultural Law magazine named Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as one of "The 2011 Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity."
• Sheppard Mullin helped underwrite the production of a motion picture project entitled "Soul of Justice: The Life and Times of Thelton Henderson." The film chronicles the life of respected African-American jurist Thelton Henderson, a crusading civil rights litigator and role model.
• The firm signed the Bar Association of San Francisco's "No Glass Ceiling Initiative," BASF's "Minority Goals and Timetables," the New York County Lawyers' Association Diversity Statement, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Diversity Statement.

Much of our pro bono work relates to the diversity of the communities in which we practice; sample clients include:

• Constitutional Rights Foundation
• Domestic Violence Project, Los Angeles Bar Association
• Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
• Task Force for the Women's Resource Fair, City of San Diego
• Tolerance Through Education Program, Beverly Hills Barristers Associations
• Violence Against Women Act Program, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

Awareness of diversity enables us to understand the value of differences. At Sheppard Mullin, we are committed to hiring top tier attorneys, without regard to race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.