Intro
As Hanson Bridgett's Director of Pro Bono and Social Impact, Samir oversees the firm's pro bono, community service, and charitable giving programs. Samir also works with outside organizations and internal firm stakeholders to advance the firm's environmental sustainability and impact investing goals. Samir is a member of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel and the Executive Committee of the California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section. He is also a member of the firm's Pro Bono Committee, Recruiting Committee, and RACE Task Force.
Samir's legal practice focuses on environmental litigation, advice, and counseling in regulatory enforcement actions, contaminated property remediation, land use entitlement and permit proceedings, water rights, product labeling, and state and federal court litigation involving natural resources and other environmental issues. Samir’s environmental law expertise includes a broad range of state and federal environmental and land use laws, including the Clean Water Act (CWA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act, and California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (“Proposition 65”).
Areas of Focus
Education
Academic Distinction
Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, Executive Symposium Editor
Pro Bono Publico Award for Public Service, as Public Benefits Advocate with General Assistance Advocacy Project (2007-2009)
CALI & Witkin Awards, Film & the Law Writing Seminar
Admissions and Courts
Role
Director of Pro Bono & Social Impact
Represented global manufacturing company in 7-week arbitration to allocate investigation and remediation costs at industrial property regulated under RCRA and CERCLA
Represented federal contractor conducting Superfund site remediation in SF Bay Area
Defended public agency in CWA enforcement action initiated by environmental non-profit organization
Defended multinational financial services company in capacity as trustee managing environmental investigation and remediation of contaminated property
Resolved California district attorney investigation regarding hazardous materials management and hazardous waste disposal for Fortune 500 company
Investigated historical domestic uranium mining and evaluating potential liability arising out of ownership or operation of abandoned mines
Defended toxic tort mass action alleging neighborhood-wide exposure to hexavalent chromium and related damages by thousands of plaintiffs
Defended civil enforcement action by state agency regarding discharge of hazardous waste at airport facility
Defended numerous manufacturers, distributors and retailers of consumer products in California in Proposition 65 private enforcement actions
Litigated historical water rights threatened by government actions in California, Nevada and New Mexico
"Why Hanson Bridgett Prizes B-Corp Status and Being Green," Law360 Pulse (April 2022)
"Hanson Bridgett gets 6th B Corp certification," Daily Journal (April 2022)
“Foundation Partners Lead the Way on Access to Justice,” California Lawyers Foundation Legal Perspectives (December 2021)
"Hanson Bridgett Creates Head of Pro Bono, Social Impact," Law360 Pulse (August 2021)
"Unexplored Territory.' Trump Jumps into NEPA Legal Limbo," E&E News (June 2020)
"EGEB: Trump Suspends Environmental Reviews, Putting Americans’ Lives Further at Risk," Electrek (June 2020)
"VW Banks on Federal Shield to Beat States' Emissions Suits," Law360 (December 2018)
California Lawyers Association, Wiley W. Manuel Pro Bono Legal Services Award (2021)
Judicial Extern for the Honorable Judge James Larson (Ret.), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
"Join Us as a Leader in the 'Business as a Force for Good' Movement," The Global Legal Post (May 2022)
"Expert Opinion: Hazardous waste compliance is different in California," co-author, Chain Store Age (March 2018)
"Comply and Conserve," co-author, SF Apartment Magazine (May 2016)
"Competing TSCA Reform Bills: A Break in Partisan Fever?" co-author, Corporate Counsel (May 2015)
"New Proposition 65 Regulations Being Considered in California," co-author, Natural Products Insider (March 2015)
"Court Signals Mixed on NEPA Analysis," American Oil & Gas Reporter (April 2014)
“The Ethics of Pro Bono Practice,” Hanson Bridgett MCLE Marathon (January 2022)
"Coffee and Compliance: Environmental Compliance Requirements During COVID-19," co-panelist, Mapistry Webinar (April 2020)
"Hazardous Materials Violations," co-speaker, Mapistry's Pollution Prevention Summit (October 2019)
"Environmental Arbitration: Trial Light or Trial 2.0?," co-speaker, The Bar Association of San Francisco (May 2019)
"Hazardous Waste Compliance Programs: What Works and What is Trouble, the Legal Perspective," Pollution Prevention Summit (September 2018)
"California's Proposition 65: Regulations & Reality," PMI Webinar (March 2018)
"Technical Track Panel," co-speaker, 2017 PMI Conference (November 2017)
"Environmental Law Basics: Understanding Hazardous Waste," moderator, The Bar Association of San Francisco (November 2017)