Judy Davidoff

Judy V. Davidoff is a special counsel in the San Francisco office and a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee. She previously served as Practice Group Leader for the Real Estate, Land Use, Natural Resources and Environmental practice group firmwide.

Ms. Davidoff’s practice emphasizes land use, environmental, and development law. She focuses on all aspects of state and federal land use and environmental matters, including CEQA/NEPA compliance, climate change, natural resources, air and water law, public trust and coastal matters, endangered species, cultural and historic resources, initiatives and referendums, public land permitting, and administrative proceedings and litigation.

Ms. Davidoff has worked on a wide variety of significant land use projects throughout California, including destination resorts, regional shopping centers, office and industrial parks, telecom facilities, new towns, residential, mixed use and golf course developments, waste management facilities, coastal developments, hi-tech campuses, and long-range strategic plans for developers and non-developer institutions and groups.

She is an expert on CEQA compliance and has advised on the legal adequacy of hundreds of EIRs for projects throughout California. Ms. Davidoff also specializes in litigation and has handled a number of significant land use and environmental cases, including co-authoring the briefs in the landmark California Supreme Court CEQA case of Citizens of Goleta Valley v. Board of Supervisors of Santa Barbara County.

She regularly appears before the California Coastal Commission and related coastal regulatory agencies. Ms. Davidoff is the author of numerous publications relating to CEQA, environmental issues and climate change, and frequently lectures on land use issues.

Prior to joining Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Ms. Davidoff was a partner with Steefel, Levitt & Weiss practicing in the Land Use and Real Estate Group. Earlier, Ms. Davidoff was an international partner with Baker & McKenzie practicing in the California Land & Resources Group in San Francisco. From 1977-1989, she was in-house counsel for the Forest Service, specializing in natural resources matters.

Education:

• J.D., Boston College, 1977, with honors
• B.A., State University of New York, Albany, 1973, summa cum laude

Admissions:

• San Francisco Bar
• California Bar
• The District of Columbia Bar
• Massachusetts Bar

Memberships:

• Past-President, CREW-SF (Commercial Real Estate Women)
• CREW – Governance Committee, 2009-2010
• CREW-SF Board, 2000-2005
• Member, Northern California ICSC Program Committee
• ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) Sponsorship Chair, Monterey Idea Exchange 2012
• Member, ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers)
• Member, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)
• Member, San Francisco Bar, Environment, Water Law and Real Property Sections