Holland & Knight's Government Practice Expands West Coast Presence
July 19, 2005
PHOTO CAPTION: (Standing l to r) Danielle
Sveska, Andrea Sumits, Peter Landreth, Jennifer Hernandez, Alfred Fraijo, Amanda
Monchamp, Besty Lake. (Seated l to r) Nicole Leonard and Tamsen Plume. (Not
pictured) David Friedman.
Prominent group of environment and land use lawyers join
firm's San Francisco and Los Angeles offices
SAN FRANCISCO - Holland & Knight LLP furthers the West Coast expansion
of its national environment and land use practice with the arrival of a
prominent group of lawyers in its San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. The
group, formerly with Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., is headed by partners Jennifer
Hernandez and Elizabeth (Betsy) Lake and includes David Friedman, of counsel, Andrea Sumits, senior counsel and six associates.
“These
lawyers are highly regarded for their wealth of experience and knowledge in all
aspects of natural resource and environmental transactions, complex project
permitting, compliance counseling, and regulatory and legislative development,”
said Amy Edwards, National Environmental Team Leader.
This addition is the latest in a series of strategic growth moves for the
firm’s
Government Section, which recently has welcomed such high-profile arrivals as
defense procurement lawyer Mary Ann Gilleece; Kathryn Lehman, former chief of
staff for the House Republican Conference; and former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell
(R-CO).
“We have
continued to expand and diversify our core practice groups in a meaningful way
so that the firm can better serve its national client base,”
said Whayne Quin, Land Use & Government Practice Group Leader. “This group
complements our existing strengths in environment and land use law and provides
additional depth as we continue to build a strong presence in San Francisco and
Los Angeles.”
About Jennifer Hernandez (Partner)
Ranked among California’s
top 10 environmental lawyers by Chambers USA – America's Leading Business
Lawyers, Hernandez has achieved national prominence in work on brownfields
redevelopment, wetlands and endangered species, and complex development
projects. She represents clients in the private, public and non-profit sectors
in land use and environmental project permitting, compliance, litigation and
public advocacy work, and teaches land use and environmental law at Stanford Law
School and the University of California.
Hernandez co-founded and served as the first board chair and general counsel
for Landbank, Inc., was appointed by President Clinton and served on the board
of trustees for the Presidio Trust for the Presidio National Park in San
Francisco, and currently serves on the boards of the California Center for Land
Recycling, the California League of Conservation Voters, and Mid-Peninsula
Housing Coalition. Mayor Brown proclaimed Oct. 9, 2002, as “Jennifer
Hernandez Day in San Francisco”
for her work on sustainable land use and called her a “warrior on
the brownfield”
for reclaiming vacant contaminated property for housing, parks and schools.
She received her undergraduate degree cum laude from Harvard
University and her law degree from Stanford University. Hernandez will divide
her time between the firm’s
San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, and will serve as co-leader of the
National Environment Team.
About Elizabeth Lake (Partner)
Lake’s
practice focuses on natural resource and environmental transactions, complex
project permitting, compliance counseling and regulatory and legislative
development. She represents property owners, project proponents, corporations
and public agencies in transactions, federal land leasing and concessions,
conservation banking and mitigation transactions, and brownfields
redevelopments. She also advises clients in land use, environmental review,
permitting and litigation matters for complex land use and development projects
involving environmental impact reports/statements, local entitlements, wetlands
and endangered species issues.
Lake brings significant experience in the enactment and amendment of
environmental and land use statutes and regulations as well as environmental
management, audit and enforcement matters involving federal, state and local
agency regulation of air and water quality, hazardous materials and waste
management, radioactive and medical product and material management, worker
safety, wetlands, protected species and land use. She is an appointed member of
the California State Bar Environmental Section Executive Committee, a member of
the Legislative Committee of the State Bar of California, Environmental Law
Section and is a board member of the State Parks Association.
She received her bachelor’s
degree magna cum laude from Amherst College and her J.D. from Stanford
Law School in 1995. Lake will work in the firm’s San Francisco office.
The team also includes:
David Friedman, Of Counsel, Land Use & Development, UCLA (J.D.)
Alfred Fraijo, Jr., Associate, Land Use & Environmental law, Loyola
Law School, (J.D.)
Peter Landreth, Associate, Litigation & Project Development, Stanford
Law School (J.D.)
Nicole Leonard, Associate, Environmental law, Duke University School
of Law (J.D.)
Amanda Monchamp, Associate, Land Use & Environmental law, Vermont Law
School (J.D.)
Tamsen Plume, Associate, Land Use & Environmental law, University of
California, (J.D.)
Andrea Sumits, Senior Counsel, Environmental law, Santa Clara University, (J.D.)
Danielle Sveska, Associate, Land Use & Environmental law, University
of Michigan, (J.D.)
Contact: Beth Salvosa, (202) 663-7240