MITCHELL CHADWICK - Key Persons
Alexander graduated with distinction from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law where he concentrated in water and environmental law. During law school, he externed at the Department of Toxic Substances Control, working on projects dealing with toxic waste management, and CEQA mitigation.
Experience
Researched and drafted memoranda on complex issues relating to water rights, the Endangered Species Act, and energy;
Before attending law school, Austin served in the U.S. Navy, completing an eight-month deployment on the U.S.S. Nimitz Aircraft carrier, and traveling around the world. Austin graduated from UC Davis School of law, King Hall, in 2021 with a concentration in environmental law. While in law school, he was the President of the Water Association of Law and Policy, hosted the Water Law Symposium at King Hall, and was the Co-President of the Veterans Association. While in law school, Austin pursued his passion further for environmental law taking courses such as administrative law, land use, water law, climate change, natural resources, food and farming law, and energy law. Austin worked at the California State Water Resources Control Board, where he became familiar with the administrative process and public entity laws, and was a teacher's assistant for an Undergraduate Water Law course at UC Davis.
Austin D. Turner Before attending law school, Austin served in the U.S. Navy, completing an eight-month deployment on the U.S.S. Nimitz Aircraft carrier, and traveling around the world. Austin graduated from UC Davis School of law, King Hall, in 2021 with a concentration in environmental law. While in law school, he was the President of […]
Braiden's clients include Fortune 500 companies with business interests in California, including commercial, residential, agricultural, and industrial businesses. His representation regularly includes appearances before local, regional, state and federal administrative agencies in connection with use permits and other entitlements. He handles all aspects of environmental compliance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), land-use permitting and any resulting litigation. His permitting work extends from California's largest ski resorts, to residential developers, oil gas and energy companies, wineries, agricultural entities, landfills, mitigation/conservation banks, high-speed rail, and mining companies.
As one of the state's most knowledgeable authorities on mitigation/conservation banking, Braiden is consistently on the faculty for legal and industry conferences on cutting-edge banking issues. The key to his success is working closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Army Corps of Engineers to entitle mitigation banks throughout California. This work is highly specialized, and includes in-depth title examination, negotiation with landowners, cities, Counties, and State and federal agencies to resolve conflicts with mineral rights, endangered species, jurisdictional waters, traditional land-use laws, and helping create crediting methodologies used by administrative agencies. He understands both the regulatory risks as well as the business interests driving his client's projects. His professional working relationships with agency staff and counsel, as well as his unparalleled experience in this area of the law, makes Braiden uniquely suited to help his clients get their projects approved quickly and economically.
Braiden is also one of California's leading experts on the Williamson Act. He was directly involved on behalf of the solar industry to help shape recent legislation modifying the Williamson Act to accommodate solar facilities on non-productive farmland. He also frequently represents multinational oil and mining companies, residential and commercial developers and a variety of landowners on Williamson Act issues, including compatible use determinations, potential litigation, and petitions for cancellation of existing Williamson Act contracts.
Experience
Representative Oil, Gas and Mining Experience
Represents both international and independent oil and gas companies throughout California preparing oil, gas, mineral and geothermal title opinions, including drill site, supplemental, acquisition and division order title opinions.
Haley graduated from the University of California, Davis School of Law with a certificate in
Public Service Law. During law school, she served as an Editor for the Business Law Journal,
and as Treasurer for the Women's Law Association. She received the Witkin Award for
Academic Excellence in Legal Research and Writing. She also interned at the California
Scott Miller helps clients navigate the complex and often bewildering landscape of regulatory compliance, administrative, real estate matters, including land use permitting, conservation easements, water rights applications, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance and litigation, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) compliance and litigation, inverse condemnation matters, and development agreements. Scott has worked with private clients and public agencies on transactional matters involving water rights, recycling, cannabis, affordable housing, construction and public works contracts, and zoning issues.
Scott's experience includes counseling and litigation of civil actions involving contract disputes, cost recovery, torts, water rights, inverse condemnation actions, land use matters, administrative writs and appeals, and municipal election contests. Scott has litigated complex cases involving toxic tort claims, groundwater remediation claims, oil-spill/release clean-up actions, and environmental claims in both state and federal courts, and has represented clients in matters involving PCE contamination, oil spill and contamination and remediation, pollution liability, and mold remediation issues. Scott also advocates for public and private sector clients in administrative hearings before state and local agencies such as the California State Water Resources Control Board and county and local commissions, and has extensive familiarity with federal and state environmental statutes and regulations, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (California's Proposition 65), the Hazardous Substances Account Act (HSAA), and the Polanco Redevelopment Act. Among other notable engagements, Scott successfully first chaired a 5-day bench trial involving a contested county supervisor election, with the decision affirmed on appeal, and second-chaired a water rights phase of a comprehensive groundwater adjudication involving over 200 property owners.
Scott served as an extern for the Honorable Marvin R. Baxter (retired) of the California Supreme Court. He is also active in professional associations and community organizations, including including the Sacramento County Bar Association, American Bar Association, Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), the Sacramento Community Concert Association, school site councils and homeowners' associations, and as a Vanderbilt University Law School Alumni Interview Program volunteer. Scott has also written for trade publications and treatises on topics including environmental matters, land use disputes, and related issues.
Education
Vanderbilt University School of Law (J.D., 2007)
University of Tennessee (M.M., 2000)
Rhodes College (B.A., 1997)
J. Scott Miller Scott Miller helps clients navigate the complex and often bewildering landscape of regulatory compliance, administrative, real estate matters, including land use permitting, conservation easements, water rights applications, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance and litigation, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) compliance and litigation, inverse condemnation matters, and development agreements. Scott has worked […]
Natalie Mitchell assists clients throughout California on various development and conservation projects for private companies. She has specialized knowledge related to the preparation, entity designation, and tax deductibility of agricultural conservation easements. She has also worked on major aggregate mine permitting and compliance issues throughout the state. Natalie has worked on preparing administrative records for major CEQA litigation matters related to mining, commercial and residential development projects. She has experience in CEQA, SMARA, endangered species, wetlands and other legal areas. She is able to interact with clients and regulators in a manner that helps resolve conflicts.
After college Natalie taught middle school for two years through Teach for America in a school in Los Angeles, California. After law school, Natalie worked as an associate attorney for Downey Brand LLP in Sacramento, California.
Experience
Key attorney working on and having completed the largest prime agricultural land conservation easement in California history, covering 9,300 acres in Fresno County;
Patrick G. Mitchell's practice focuses on mining, land use and environmental issues. His clients include many of the largest multinational and national mining companies in the world. He is recognized throughout California as the top mining attorney in the state. He has also worked on permitting some of the largest residential and commercial development projects ever approved in California. His primary work is for the California mining industry. He has also permitted wind farms, landfills, port expansions, residential, commercial and industrial projects over the years. He led the legal team regarding the largest agricultural conservation easement in California history of prime agricultural land. He has also worked on permitting and compliance work for wildlife and wetland mitigation banks.
Patrick has worked on several hundred mining and public land projects over the years on issues such as mine permitting; due diligence review for mine purchases/sales; mining lease and sale agreements; mine title issues; hazardous materials and hazardous waste issues; California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA) reclamation plans, permits, annual filings, compliance, and Department of Conservation and State Mining and Geology Board appeal issues.
He has also worked on U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service plans of operation, final reclamation compliance, inspections, and annual filing requirements; road and utility rights-of-ways; State Lands Commission exploration permit and mining leases, school land issues and title settlement agreements; streambed alteration agreements/wetlands (404 and 401) permits; waste discharge requirements; endangered species act permits (2081 and 2090, sections 7 and 10a); wildlife mortality issues; private mineral ownership disputes; federal mining claim issues, title issues, and mine claim contest actions; and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review of EIRs, EIS', mitigated negative declarations and EA/FONSI's.
Patrick's experience with mining issues involves most California counties (including the county planning and environmental health departments), the California Division of Mines and Geology, the California State Lands Commission, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He also has extensive experience with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, several Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
His expertise encompasses work on over 200 different mine sites, involving underground, open pit, in-stream, and quarry mines involving gold, talc, clay, limestone, marble, gypsum, hectorite, garnet, iron, geothermal, lightweight aggregate, silica, soda ash, tourmaline, decomposed granite, sand and gravel, and crushed rock mines.
Experience
Agricultural
Peter C. Jansen Peter graduated from the University of California, Davis School of Law with certificates in Environmental Law and Business Law. During law school, he served as Editor-in-Chief of Environs Journal, Symposium Co-Chair for the Environmental Law Society, and Vice President of Water Association of Law and Policy. While in law school, Peter interned […]
Rachel graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with certificates in Environmental Law and Native Hawaiian Law. During law school she worked with the impact investment firm Ulupono Initiative to develop renewable energy policy and interned with the Department of Land and Natural Resources. She served as a senior editor of the Asian Pacific Law and Policy Journal and was a National Environmental Law Moot Court competitor. After law school, she clerked for the Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals, and completed her certification in Sustainable Capitalism & ESG from Berkeley Law.
Education
William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (J.D., 2020)
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (B.A., Geography, minors in Botany, English, History, 2015)
Sarah Lawrence College (Literature and Philosophy, 2009)
Rachel M. Goldberg Rachel graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with certificates in Environmental Law and Native Hawaiian Law. During law school she worked with the impact investment firm Ulupono Initiative to develop renewable energy policy and interned with the Department of Land and Natural […]
Job Titles:
- Mineral Law Foundation, Member
- Mineral Law Foundation, Member Former Trustee Annual Site Selection Committee, Former Chair