Shute Mihaly & Weinberger LLP

Shute Mihaly & Weinberger LLP Environmental/Land Use Law Firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is a law firm specializing in government, land use, natural resource and environmental law.

Since 1980, the firm has provided public agencies and community groups throughout California with the highest quality legal representation, offering an array of litigation, counseling and planning services. Known for its commitment to promoting environmental and community values, SMW is at the forefront of the major land use and development issues facing California today.

SMW Of Counsel Rachel Hooper and her husband Peter at a rally in Oakland in support of SB 954, the bill that would roll ...
09/17/2026

SMW Of Counsel Rachel Hooper and her husband Peter at a rally in Oakland in support of SB 954, the bill that would roll back last year’s CEQA exemption for “advanced manufacturing” projects (SB 131).

Led by Communities for A Better Environment (CBE), the rally was intended to urge Buffy Wicks, chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, to support the bill.

Six Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys have been recognized in the 33rd edition of The Best Lawyers in America®: Rache...
09/10/2026

Six Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger attorneys have been recognized in the 33rd edition of The Best Lawyers in America®: Rachel B. Hooper, Fran M. Layton, Deborah Miller, Robert “Perl” Perlmutter, Richard S. Taylor, and William J. White.

All six of these honorees have appeared on the list in previous years. Additionally, attorney Lauren Tarpey was selected for the seventh edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America, which highlights outstanding practitioners earlier in their careers.

California Forever is lobbying state officials to fast-track a shipyard deal to jump-start its new-city development on B...
09/08/2026

California Forever is lobbying state officials to fast-track a shipyard deal to jump-start its new-city development on Bay Area farmland, pushing for legislation to expedite environmental reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and facilitate land annexation that would bypass local voter-approval requirements.

However, skeptics argue that California Forever has provided scarce project details and has failed to address the consequences of converting vast farmlands into industrial factories. Skeptics warn that the transition poses severe risks to the surrounding ecosystem.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-06-27/california-forever-tech-billionaires-lobby-bay-area-city

For public agencies, unresolved property title defects can derail vital infrastructure projects, land transfers, or fina...
09/04/2026

For public agencies, unresolved property title defects can derail vital infrastructure projects, land transfers, or financing agreements. In this guide, SMW attorney Caitlin Brown outlines how agencies can navigate "quiet title" lawsuits, which is the primary statutory mechanism under California law to resolve competing claims and establish clear ownership.

Read the full analysis to learn more.

https://www.smwlaw.com/2026/06/24/quiet-title-101-what-public-agencies-need-to-know/

In a major resolution to a 14-year legal battle, the League to Save Lake Tahoe (Keep Tahoe Blue) and Sierra Watch have r...
09/02/2026

In a major resolution to a 14-year legal battle, the League to Save Lake Tahoe (Keep Tahoe Blue) and Sierra Watch have reached a landmark settlement agreement with Alterra Mountain Company and Palisades Tahoe to substantially scale back future development at the Northern California ski resort for the next 25 years and permanently preserve sensitive parcels near Shirley Canyon as open space.

https://www.sierrawatch.org/landmark-agreement-on-palisades-tahoe-development/

Bravo to our hardworking volunteers who made our recent Volunteer Day a success! And a huge thank you to the team at Ale...
08/31/2026

Bravo to our hardworking volunteers who made our recent Volunteer Day a success! And a huge thank you to the team at Alemany Farm for hosting us and for the invaluable work they do every day.

Located in southeast San Francisco, Alemany Farm is a 3.5-acre organic farm ecosystem. All of the produce grown on-site is distributed entirely for free to local neighbors, volunteers, and community food security organizations like The Free Farm Stand.

Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is accepting applications for our Fall 2027 Fellowship program. Our fellowship program ha...
08/28/2026

Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is accepting applications for our Fall 2027 Fellowship program.

Our fellowship program has a strong track record of launching successful public-interest and environmental legal careers.

Past fellows have gone on to serve as counsel for state and local public agencies or environmental nonprofits, deputy city attorneys, deputy attorneys general, sustainable development associates at private firms, and law school professors.

Apply by September 1st, 2026 at https://www.smwlaw.com/apply-for-fellowship/

San Francisco Baykeeper has filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court challenging the California State Lands Comm...
08/26/2026

San Francisco Baykeeper has filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court challenging the California State Lands Commission's approval of ten-year sand mining leases in the San Francisco Bay.

The suit alleges the commission violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the state's public trust doctrine by using flawed baseline data to authorize two private companies to extract up to 1.75 million cubic yards of sand annually.

SMW attorneys Robert “Perl” Perlmutter and Orran Balagopalan represent Baykeeper in the litigation alongside the organization’s in-house legal team.

https://www.smwlaw.com/2026/06/17/smw-client-san-francisco-baykeeper-challenges-sf-bay-sand-mining-leases/

To assist local governments in navigating California’s complex housing legislation, the state’s California Department of...
08/24/2026

To assist local governments in navigating California’s complex housing legislation, the state’s California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) has released resources that can help guide implementation decisions, discussed in this article with a focus on SB 79 advisory memos and a primer for the bill’s provisions to facilitate transit-oriented development.

https://www.smwlaw.com/2026/06/24/housing-law-guidance-senate-bill-79-advisories-and-further-resources-from-hcd/

SMW Partner Deborah Miller and Senior Counsel Marlene Dehlinger recently joined our client, the Central Contra Costa Sol...
08/20/2026

SMW Partner Deborah Miller and Senior Counsel Marlene Dehlinger recently joined our client, the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority, for an informative tour of Recology’s composting facility in Vernalis.

Pictured over Deborah’s shoulder is the raw, incoming organic material just before it enters the facility's rigorous multi-stop filtration and curing process to be transformed into high-quality compost.

Address

396 Hayes Street
San Francisco, CA
94102

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+14155527272

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