Downey Brand Promotes Natural Resources Attorney Austin Cho to Counsel

January 8, 2024

Downey Brand is delighted to announce that Austin Cho has been promoted to Counsel effective January 1, 2024.

A near-lifelong resident of California, Austin is a dedicated water lawyer with a close connection to his clients and a passion for all things water. Austin counsels local public agencies and private clients alike in a wide variety of matters, including water rights permitting and litigation, flood control, groundwater management, and project development and financing. Austin regularly advises on public agency law (including the Brown Act, Public Records Act, public bidding, contracting, and elections), the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Austin is also a frequent contributor to the California Water Law & Policy Reporter and the Environmental, Energy, & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter. In 2023, he was recognized by Best Lawyers in America© as a member of “Ones to Watch” in natural resources law. Austin earned his J.D. from the University of California at Davis School of Law in 2015 and his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2006.