T: 415.954.4918
F: 415.954.4480
sspaulding@fbm.com
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Paul P. “Skip” Spaulding, III, Partner
Skip Spaulding is a partner in Farella Braun + Martel's Environmental Law Department and has more than 25 years of environmental litigation and counseling experience. He was chosen as one of only 750 California lawyers included in Who's Who Legal California in its inaugural 2007 edition and as a Northern California "Super Lawyer" by Law and Politics from 2005-07.
Mr. Spaulding represents private companies, universities and government institutions in environmental litigation and counseling. He leads Farella's Natural Resource Group and handles all types of RCRA, CERCLA, AEA, NEPA, CEQA, water, wetlands, species and SMARA matters. He has been lead trial counsel in numerous environmental matters, including federal court litigation in California, Arizona, Hawaii and New Mexico. His notable engagements include representing a national defense laboratory in RCRA litigation in New Mexico, defending a large Arizona city in NEPA, ESA, RCRA and Clean Water litigation matters and representing private entities in CERCLA, RCRA and state law environmental contamination litigation. He is well-known throughout the Western United States for his defense and prosecution of citizen lawsuits brought under federal environmental laws.
Mr. Spaulding maintains a robust natural resource counseling practice. He has particular experience in obtaining federal and state natural resource permits for real estate, energy and other development projects. He has represented a California film production company in obtaining permits for a major studio development, represented a California utility in obtaining permits for transmission line and substation projects, assisted wineries in obtaining appropriative water rights and development permits, obtained NPDES water permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and various California water boards for clients, represented many clients in obtaining wetlands permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, negotiated a diverse array of endangered species issues with federal and state wildlife agencies, and advised a wide range of clients on particularly challenging natural resource issues.
Prior to joining Farella Braun + Martel, Mr. Spaulding was a managing attorney and the national litigation director for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (1989-1995), where he was the lead counsel in landmark citizen lawsuits under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, NEPA and other laws relating to the international destruction of chemical weapons, the STARS program, the Hawaii geothermal project, sea turtle strandings in the Gulf of Mexico and many other issues. In one series of cases, he formulated innovative Clean Water Act citizen lawsuit settlements in Hawaii which have since been widely imitated.
Mr. Spaulding is a well-known speaker and writer on environmental law and litigation topics. Among other things, he served as the co-chair of the 2007 and 2008 California Water Law Conferences (CLE International) and is a regular lecturer at the Environmental Law Institute's Western Environmental Law Boot Camp (2005-08). He was an adjunct law professor at the University of Hawaii Law School for three years and has taught many environmental law, trial practice and evidence seminars over the last 20 years. He serves as a board member for several public interest organizations.