Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP‘s real estate, energy, land use, & environmental team helps developers, investors, and owners cross California’s regulatory waters and develop projects in sectors as diverse as energy, hospitality, and healthcare. The department is led by San Francisco’s Keith Garner, who assists clients with a scope of issues from land use planning and entitlement to associated litigation; and San Diego’s Michael Leake, who fields a broad real estate practice representing commercial and industrial owners and tenants. In New York, Jodi Stein and Eva Schneider advise developers on obtaining discretionary land use approvals as well as compliance throughout the project lifecycle. San Francisco’s Jennifer Renk advises her clients on the environmental hurdles implicit in the Californian development process; San Diego’s Jeffrey Forrest litigates similar issues. Lorie Soares Lazarus and Peter David Ballance joined the practice in late 2023 while Jennifer Brough, Douglas Yeager, Bruce Grabow, and Jeffrey Smith joined in 2024.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
- Profile
Key clients
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and All Vision, LLC
- PMB
- The Hanover Company
- Hines
- Whole Foods
- City of Thousand Oaks, City of Salinas
- Pacific Communities Builder, Inc.
Work highlights
- Defended All Vision in a lawsuit filed by multiple petitioners challenging the Metro Board’s January 2023 approval of a Transportation Communication Network program to develop and operate dozens of digital signs on numerous sites throughout the City of Los Angeles.
- Served as land use counsel in this P3 transaction representing PMB, a leading healthcare real estate developer, to develop the 455,000 square-foot Mead Valley Wellness Village for the Riverside University Health System. When completed, the project will provide integrated behavioral health care, medical care and social services.
- Leading the team for the winning bid to a Request for Proposals from the New York City Economic Development Corporation to develop a produce market in Hunts Point, Bronx and are now facilitating the complex zoning approvals for a two million-square-foot, state-of-the-art produce storage facility.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Eva Schneider
Practice head
Keith Garner; Michael Leake
Other key lawyers
Jodi Stein; Eva Schneider; Jennifer Renk; Jeffrey Forrest; Lorie Soares Lazarus; Peter David Ballance; Jennifer Brough, Douglas Yeager, Bruce Grabow; Jeffrey Smith