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Kevin M. O'BrienPartner621 Capitol Mall |
Areas of Law:Environmental, Water, Litigation, Natural Resources, Water Rights, Endangered Species |
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Admitted to Practice in:California, Colorado (inactive) |
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ExperienceKevin O'Brien is a member of the firm's executive committee and the former head of the water practice group. The focus of his practice is environmental and natural resources law, with special emphasis on water rights. He represents public and private sector clients in a broad range of water-related matters including litigation, administrative proceedings and business transactions involving the transfer of water rights. Mr. O'Brien has served as lead counsel in several major water right litigation matters including the adjudication of rights to groundwater in the Santa Maria Basin (Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties) and the Seaside Basin (Monterey County). He serves as special water counsel to the Monterey County Water Resources Agency on matters relating to the Salinas Valley Water Project, a water supply project designed to halt seawater intrusion in the Salinas Valley. Mr. O'Brien also serves as special counsel to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District in matters relating to the proposed new appropriation of substantial quantities of water from the Santa Ana River. He also serves as special counsel to the Semitropic Water Storage District in Kern County on matters relating to groundwater rights and groundwater management. Mr. O'Brien has represented buyers and sellers in numerous water transfers. For example, he represented the Dublin San Ramon Services District in connection with the permanent assignment of State Water Project entitlements from agricultural water users in Kern County to municipal and industrial users in Contra Costa County for a major mixed-use development. He has also served as lead counsel for agricultural water purveyors in connection with the temporary transfers of water from Northern California to south-of-Delta water users. Prior to joining Downey Brand in 1985, Mr. O'Brien served as an associate with Kirkland & Ellis in Denver, Colorado, where his practice emphasized natural resources law and litigation. Immediately following law school he served as an Honors Program Attorney with the United States Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, in Washington D.C. Representative
Clients MEMBERSHIPSAmerican Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, Past Chair; Water Resources Committee, Member State Bar of California, Real Property Law Section, Executive Committee, Former Member Sacramento County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Member Placer County Bar Association, Member Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), Legal Affairs Committee and State Legislative Committee, Member Northern California Water Association (NCWA), Member EDUCATIONUniversity of Denver
College of Law (J.D., 1980) PUBLICATIONS36 McGeorge Law Review 435, “The Governor's Commission Recommendations on Groundwater: Treading Water Until the Next Drought,” 2005, Author American Bar Association Water Resources Committee newsletter, “Recent Phase 8 Bay-Delta Settlement,” 2001, Author Natural Resources & Environment (a publication of the ABA Section of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law), Volume 11, No. 2, "A Tale of Two Coasts: How Two States Link Water and Land Use Planning," Fall 1996; speech on same topic at ABA meeting in Boston, Co-Author with Barbara Markham 25 Pacific Law Journal 1053 (part of a symposium on California Water Law), "Water Marketing in California Revisited: The Legacy of the 1987-92 Drought," 1994; Co-Author with Robert Gunning California Environmental Law & Regulation Reporter, "From D-1485 to Delta Smelt: A Description of the Controversy Surrounding the Bay-Delta Estuary," September 1994, Co-Author with David Aladjem California Real Property Journal , "Water Service Issues," December 1991, Author 19 Pacific Law Journal 1165 (part of a symposium on California water law), "Water Marketing in California," 1988, Author 33rd Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute Proceedings, "New Conditions for Old Water Rights: An Examination of the Sources and Limits of State Authority," 1988, Author American Law of Mining, 2d ed., Matthew Bender, Contributing Author Administrative Law Review, Former Managing Editor California Water Law and Policy Reporter, Editorial Board, Former Member PRESENTATIONSUniversity of California, Davis, Extension, “Principles of Groundwater Law, Hydrology and Management,” 2001-Current, Lecturer State Bar Environmental Law Section, Environmental Institute, "What Every Environmental Attorney Should Know About California Law of Groundwater Rights and Groundwater Management," 1998, Presenter University of California, Davis, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, 1987-1991, Lecturer CHARITABLEEureka Schools Foundation (non-profit corporation raising private funds for the Eureka Union School District ), Former President Youth soccer coach, Former Coach
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