Our Team

Attorneys

Mr. Walter is an associate attorney who practices in environmental, land-use, administrative, and water law. He represents both public and private sector clients with an emphasis on regulatory compliance, water rights, water quality, and land-use matters.

Legal Experience

Mr. Walter performs a number of legal services for clients including in-depth legal research, regulatory compliance assistance, and litigation-related support. Specific areas of experience include:

• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Endangered Species Acts (Federal and State)
• Clean Water Act
• Water supply assessments and verifications
• Urban Water Management Plans
• Land-use matters
• Regulatory permits
• Administrative proceedings

Prior to and while attending law school, Mr. Walter worked as an Environmental Scientist for the California Department of Water Resources from January 2001 to July 2006, where his primary responsibilities included:

• Ensuring that water projects complied with State and Federal environmental laws.
• Preparing and conducting environmental and water supply analyses.
• Developing and performing biological restoration, mitigation, and monitoring activities.
• Working on inter-agency teams to resolve environmental, flood, and water supply challenges.

Mr. Walter’s public employment background, which also includes work for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, serves him well in representing both public agencies and the private clients involved in permitting and other regulatory issues with those agencies. His interdisciplinary education and experience also allow Mr. Walter to quickly assimilate issues and develop solutions to legal matters when complex biological and scientific information is involved.

Practice Examples

Recent examples of legal matters Mr. Walter has handled on behalf of clients include:

• Assisting Federal Endangered Species Act litigation involving the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta
• Reviewing the adequacy of CEQA and NEPA documents
• Developing water supply strategies for clients to demonstrate long-term supply availability to comply with California laws regarding development projects
• Assisting private applicants with approval of reclamation plans under the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA)
• Assisting litigation defining the scope and applicability of the California Endangered Species Act
• Advising clients and drafting water transfer and sales agreements for water buyers and sellers
• Participating in teams representing private and public sector clients in environmental and water rights litigation before both state and federal courts. Mr. Walter’s litigation-related activities include conducting background legal research and drafting pleadings
• Preparing Freedom of Information Act and Public Record Act requests to Federal and State agencies

Reported Decisions

• Natural Resources Defense Council v. Kempthorne (2009) 627 F.Supp.2d 1212
• Natural Resources Defense Council v. Kempthorne (2009) 621 F.Supp.2d 954
• California Water Impact Network v. Newhall County Water Dist. (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 1464
• Natural Resources Defense Council v. Kempthorne (2008) 539 F.Supp.2d 1155

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Mr. Walter speaks and writes on water related issues for a variety of educational and professional organizations. Examples include:

• Author, “Should We Build and Ark to Comply with the ESA? Applying the Endangered Species Act’s Causation Element to Climate Change,” ABA Water Resources Committee Newsletter, Nov. 2009
• Speaker/Panelist, Urban Drought Management Workshop: Managing the Crisis, Rules and Regulations for Declaring Drought and Shortage, Association of California Water Agencies and Water Education Foundation, April 2009
• Guest Lecturer, Biodiversity and Water Resource Management Case Study: The Sacramento-San Joaquin River(s) Delta, UCLA, March 2009
• Speaker/Panelist, The Wagner ESA Decisions, 42nd Annual Mid-Pacific Region Water Users Conference, Jan. 2009

His other professional activities and affiliations include:

• Member, Water Education Foundation’s Water Leaders Program, 2008-2009
• Member, California State Bar Association
• Member, Sacramento County Bar Association

Additionally, In relation to his masters work in wildlife resources, Mr. Walter wrote several scientific publications, including:

• “Chukar”, in Birds Of Oregon: A General Reference, 171-173, David B. Marshall, et al. eds., (Univ. of Oregon Press, 2003)
• “Fall Diet of Chukars (Alectoris chukar) in Eastern Oregon and Discovery of Ingested Lead Pellets”, 63(3) Western North American Naturalist 402-405 (2003)
• “Natural History and Ecology of the Chukar (Alectoris chukar) in the Northern Great Basin”, 5(1) Great Basin Birds 28-37 (2002)
• “Ecology of the Chukar (Alectoris chukar) in Eastern Oregon”, M.S. Thesis (2000)

Academic Background

B.S., Forestry, University of California, Berkeley, 1996

M.S., Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, 2000

J.D. University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 2006

• Valedictorian of Evening Division
• Member, Order of the Coif
• Dean’s Honor Roll, 2002-2006
• Witkin Award for highest grade in Water Law, Property, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Business Associations, Wills & Trusts, Transnational Arbitration
• Teaching Assistant, International Advocacy Course, August – May 2005