Greg Newmark is a member of the litigation, land use and environmental law practice groups. Previously with Fox & Sohagi, Greg has represented local agencies in litigation and compliance matters regarding inverse condemnation, First Amendment and other constitutional issues. One of Greg's recent cases involved defending a municipality against an adult entertainment operator's multi-million dollar civil rights damages claim in trial court litigation. Greg also represented local government in quiet title litigation. He advised public entities on compliance with CEQA and NEPA, including review of environmental documents on behalf of lead agencies.Greg was a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice for six years prior to joining Fox & Sohagi. In that capacity, he represented natural resources agencies in trial court and appellate litigation including the State Water Resources Control Board, Air Resources Board, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Game. He litigated air and water pollution, inverse condemnation, CEQA, exotic species, endangered species, fertilizer regulation, fire suppression cost recovery and other cases as plaintiff and defense counsel at trial and appellate levels. Greg presented oral argument in the first Clean Water Act case reviewed by the California Supreme Court. (Burbank v. State Water Resources Control Board (2005) 35 Cal.4th 613.) He argued the first California reported decision to adjudicate a challenge to the merits of a TMDL under the Clean Water Act and California's Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act.(City of Arcadia, et al. v. State Water Resources Control Board, et al. (2006) 135 Cal.App.4th 1392.) He was lead counsel for the state in a complex multi-party enforcement action resulting in a settlement providing hundreds of millions of dollars in injunctive relief to improve wastewater infrastructure and substantial penalties.Prior to joining the Attorney General's Office, Greg represented plaintiffs in environmental citizen suits on behalf of non-profit groups, such as Proposition 65 actions against large corporate defendants and litigation of citizen suits under the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. During law school, Greg served as a judicial extern to Honorable A. James Robertson II in San Francisco Superior Court.Greg was a guest lecturer for the UCLA Environmental Law Clinic on Municipal Sewage Spill Litigation in Spring 2003. He has also been a panelist and a workshop presenter for various conferences, speaking on environmental law topics, such as sewage spills, forest fire investigations, Clean Water Act and Proposition 65. He received a certificate of commendation from the U.S. Department of Justice for outstanding performance and invaluable assistance in support of the activities of the Environment and Natural Resources Division in 2004. Greg was also a California delegate for the National Association of Attorneys General Clean Air Act conference in 2002.Greg is admitted to the United States District Court Northern and Central Districts of California. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He was an associate editor for Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and participated in the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation. He received his B.A. from the University of New Mexico, cum laude, in History with a minor in Biology and also graduated magna cum laude from the General Honors Program. |