Sophia B. Castillo

Partner

Sophia Castillo (“Sophie”) is an environmental lawyer that helps her clients comply with, and litigate, complex issues relating to California’s Proposition 65, toxics and contaminated sites, and water quality laws.

She specializes in developing risk management and risk avoidance strategies and in crafting regulatory compliance programs that are in line with those risk goals. She prides herself on her excellent client relationships and helping her clients develop practical, common-sense, and creative solutions to their most difficult environmental and regulatory problems.

Sophie’s clients include industrial facilities, oil and gas companies, public agencies, consumer goods manufacturers, and those in the food industry. She defends complex, multi-party CERCLA/contaminated property cases and has expertise in natural resource damages claims, natural resource damage assessments, oil spill response, the Oil Pollution Act, and Clean Water Act matters. She counsels clients on environmental transactional issues related to water and waste compliance and release reporting under California and federal law.

She frequently represents clients in Clean Water Act lawsuits and litigation, and has litigated and resolved favorably for her clients numerous water quality matters. In her Clean Water Act practice, she represents industrial facilities faced with litigation regarding the State of California’s General Industrial Stormwater Permit, and public agencies faced with challenges to the operation of their wastewater collection and treatment systems.

Sophie has been an active Proposition 65 defense attorney for many years, representing consumer goods manufacturer clients in the food, cosmetics, home and garden, housewares, hardware, glassware, and cleaning products industries in litigation, negotiations, and in building and implementing compliance programs. Sophie has a particular interest in and passion for Proposition 65 as it relates to the food industry and counsels national brands, private labels, and institutional suppliers and family-owned food processing businesses. She is well versed in the nuances of exposure analyses that shape Proposition 65 compliance decision making in the regulated community. Sophie authors a monthly update describing trends in Proposition 65 60-Day Notices of Violation by citizen plaintiff groups, which is published on LinkedIn and JD Supra.

Professional, Community And Pro Bono Involvement

  • Bar Association of San Francisco, Environmental Law Section
  • Ad-Hoc Industry Resource Management Group
  • Association of California Water Agencies, Water Quality Committee
  • California Stormwater Quality Association
  • Central Valley Clean Water Association
  • California Association of Sanitation Agencies
  • Association of Women in Water, Energy and the Environment
  • San Francisco Bay Planning Coalition

Honors & Rankings

  • U.C. Hastings Pro Bono Attorney Honor Roll, U. C. Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, 2012
  • Hastings Law Journal, Articles Editor, 2004-05
  • U.C. Hastings Moot Court Team, Roger Traynor Appellate Moot Court Competition, Second Place – Best Oral Argument, 2004

Proposition 65 Counseling & Litigation Defense

  • Represented product manufacturers and retailers in defending and settling numerous Proposition 65 matters, both at the pre-litigation notice phase and in litigation, in the following industries: cosmetics, food and beverage, lead hardware, power tools, notebooks, sports equipment, glassware, and cleaning products.
  • Advised clients on Prop. 65 compliance programs and supply chain management issues resulting from Proposition 65 compliance decisions.
  • Advised clients on indemnity concerns and supply chain communications following Proposition 65 compliance programs and litigation claims.

Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Litigation

  • Represented city in Clean Water Act citizen suit, alleging sanitary sewer overflows. Settled case favorably for our client prior to trial and expensive expert discovery.
  • Represented scrap metal recycling facility in Clean Water Act citizen suit, alleging violations of the State of California’s General Industrial Storm Water Permit. Settled case favorably for our client prior to formal litigation.
  • Represented industrial compressed gas facility in Clean Water Act citizen suit, alleging violations of the State of California’s General Industrial Storm Water Permit. The Plaintiff dismissed the case in its entirety during motion practice in the litigation.
  • Represented marine shipping terminal in Clean Water Act citizen suit alleging violations of the State of California’s General Industrial Storm Water Permit. Settled case favorably for client following successful Motion for Summary Judgment, discovery motions and expert discovery.

Contaminated Property Litigation

  • Litigated multiple CERCLA/superfund contaminated property cases at former dry cleaning sites and managed settlement and mediation efforts for cost recovery issues.
  • Defended three state court coordinated actions with ten plaintiffs asserting CERCLA and state law personal injury claims arising from alleged vapor intrusion from alleged soil/ground water contamination at former dry cleaning site.

Water Rights/Supply Projects & Litigation

  • Prosecuted, through trial, a complex water right dispute between three public agencies.
  • Assisted in representation of developer in litigation relating to purchase and sale of water rights in Southern California.
  • Settled a dispute relating to water system capital maintenance costs between two public agencies on the cusp of arbitration.
  • Counseled water district client in large water transfer/purchase and wheeling project through the Delta and through multiple public water district facilities, which included multiple contracts between multiple agencies as well as associated environmental review.

Land Use Projects & Litigation

  • Assisted developer with CEQA historic resource analysis, issues and advocacy before local public agency.
  • Represented public agency in CEQA historic resource writ matter.
  • Represented multiple cities and counties in CEQA and local land use writ matters brought by citizen groups.

In the News

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Press Releases

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Speaking Engagements / Events

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Legal Alerts

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Publications

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Sophie loves being outside and on the water, and is most comfortable in flip flops at the beach or on a boat with her husband and daughters. She and her family enjoy sailing in San Francisco Bay and traveling to warmer climes (including Florida, where they are from) and swimming in the ocean without a wetsuit.

Sophie is also devoted to women’s and children’s issues, and volunteers at her daughter’s school, Convent of the Sacred Heart, in San Francisco. She has also been actively involved in The Junior League of San Francisco, a non-profit women’s organization that supports and strengthens the lives of women and children in the San Francisco community.

Professional, Community And Pro Bono Involvement

  • Bar Association of San Francisco, Environmental Law Section
  • Ad-Hoc Industry Resource Management Group
  • Association of California Water Agencies, Water Quality Committee
  • California Stormwater Quality Association
  • Central Valley Clean Water Association
  • California Association of Sanitation Agencies
  • Association of Women in Water, Energy and the Environment
  • San Francisco Bay Planning Coalition

Honors & Rankings

  • U.C. Hastings Pro Bono Attorney Honor Roll, U. C. Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, 2012
  • Hastings Law Journal, Articles Editor, 2004-05
  • U.C. Hastings Moot Court Team, Roger Traynor Appellate Moot Court Competition, Second Place – Best Oral Argument, 2004