Western Burrowing Owl is now a Candidate Species under CESA

On October 10, 2024, the California Fish and Game Commission accepted a petition to list western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and designated the species as a candidate species. Threats facing burrowing owls in California are direct mortality and permanent habitat loss caused by urbanization and ...Read More

Mitchell Chadwick LLP Partners Recognized as 2024 California Super Lawyers

We are pleased to share that G. Braiden Chadwick and Patrick G. Mitchell have again been recognized as 2024 Northern California Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers, which is a part of Thomson Reuters, for their high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Only a few attorneys from each state are selected to Super Lawyers ...Read More

SCOTUS Overrules Chevron Deference for Government Agencies

Today, June 28, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued an opinion (link HERE) overruling Chevron deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. Chevron deference call referred to the prior rule that courts should defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing the opinion ...Read More

Biden administration finalizes reversal of Trump Endangered Species Act rollback

From The Hill:

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a finalized update to Endangered Species Act (ESA) rules that advocates say reverses some Trump administration rollbacks but fails to fully restore them.

In 2019, the Trump administration made a number of alterations to the ESA rules, including adding language to protection criteria to allow consideration of ...Read More