Somach Simmons & Dunn

Profile

Mr. Simmons' practice emphasizes water, natural resources, and environmental law, including water rights, water quality regulation, wetlands, endangered species, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). He received his J.D. cum laude from Cornell University in 1984, where he also served as editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal. Mr. Simmons has been in private practice in California since 1986. Mr. Simmons is admitted to the State Bars of New York, California and Oregon.

Areas of Practice Emphasis

Water law, natural resources law, environmental law, administrative law, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California and federal Endangered Species Acts, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), water quality regulation, wetlands regulation, public agency law, all phases of litigation in state and federal courts.

Prior Positions

Shareholder: McDonough, Holland & Allen, Sacramento, CA, 1991; Water & Power Section. Associate Attorney: McDonough, Holland & Allen, Sacramento, CA, 1986-1990; Water & Power Section. Staff Attorney: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agriculture and Commodity Stabilization Division, Washington, D.C., 1984-1986.

Education

Cornell University (J.D., 1984)
Grinnell College (B.A., 1979)

Bar Admissions

State Bar of California, 1987.
State Bar of Oregon, 1997.
State Bar of New York, 1985.
U.S. Supreme Court, 2000.

Publications

Simmons, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement: A Convergence of Opportunity (The Water Report, Vol. 49 (2008)).

Simmons, Klamath Project: Fossil or Phoenix? (Proceedings of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, Vol. 48, 24C-1 (2002)).

Simmons, Whither Wallop? Water Supply and Other State Law Implications of Clean Water Act TMDL Regulations (Published by California Water Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 10, No. 7, April, 2000).

Presentations

Speaker, 2008: Western Water Law Conference, Denver (CLE International); Oregon Water Law Conference, Portland (The Seminar Group); Endangered Species Act Conference (University of California, Davis, Extension); California Water Law and Policy Conference, San Francisco.
Panelist, Symposium of Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, University of Oregon, Eugene, At the Crossroads: In Search of Sustainable Solutions in the Klamath Basin, January 2007.
Speaker, CLE International, Water Law Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada, Does the Endangered Species Act Create a Water Right? Why it Matters and Doesn't, September 26, 2006.
Speaker, Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of California, Modesto, California, Water Quality Regulation in the Central Valley and Its Statewide Connection, April 28, 2005.
Speaker, Adaptive Implementation Science Panel, National Research Council, Urban Water Research Center, University of California, Irvine, California, Adaptive Implementation of TMDLs: Legal Issues and Constraints, January 19, 2005.
Speaker, 12th Section Fall Meeting, American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, San Antonio, Texas, "Best Science" in Water Management, October 9, 2004.
Speaker, California Water Law and Policy Conference, San Francisco, California, Federal Regulation and State Water Rights, April 10, 2003.
Speaker, Central Valley Water Quality Managers Conference, Sacramento, California, There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here: Basin Plans and NPDES Permits, March 27, 2003.
Speaker, Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference, Fresno, California, Endangered Species Act Effect on Water Supplies, January 2003.
Speaker, Oregon Water Law Conference, Portland, Oregon, The Klamath Project Revisited: Has Anything Come Out of Nothing?, November 14-15, 2002.