WHO WE ARE
At age five, Jennifer Novak decided she had two goals: to be a lawyer and to be a mom. She’s proud to have achieved both. Jennifer is a second-generation California female attorney, who has practiced litigation across a broad spectrum of fields since 1996. As a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice, she handled cutting-edge legal issues in matters valued in the hundreds of millions and billions of dollars on behalf of the People of the State of California. Now back in the private sector, she founded this law firm to be of service to people who understand the importance of environmental laws but want to keep the regulatory process fair for those who take compliance seriously.
Based upon her experience representing clients ranging from Fortune 500 and national companies, to retirees who operated manufacturing businesses decades ago, she understands the stress and uncertainty that a threatened (or actual) lawsuit brings. Jennifer believes in demystifying environmental laws, providing comfort through stressful times, and working alongside her clients to fight for them every step of the way.
When Jennifer is not managing the firm or representing her clients, you’re likely to find her supporting her son at high school basketball and baseball games, trying to be brave after sending her daughter off to college, volunteering her time to work with students, cleaning up beaches, sorting food donations, and leading the California Lawyers Association’s Environmental Law Section through a pandemic.
EDUCATION
University of California, Berkeley – 1993
University of California, Davis, King Hall School of Law – 1996
PUBLICATIONS
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“A Trial Preparation Checklist,” Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, Feb. 2002
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“The Value of Simplifying Case Presentation,” Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine, Feb. 2005
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
PUBLISHED CASES
Megan Meadows has been practicing in California for more than 10 years and recognizes and values the need for creative and sustainable solutions for clients. In the context of litigation and administrative matters Ms. Meadows has worked extensively with many federal, state, and local environmental regulations (including CERCLA, RCRA, the Clean Water Act), and has relished researching and advising on novel and unique questions of environmental law. Her primary goals are to get clients the best solutions possible, and to pass along her love for the law in the process.
Megan ran track at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was featured as a subject in the 2007 documentary “A Lawyer Walks into a Bar” which won the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest.
EDUCATION
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—1998
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles—2006
PUBLICATIONS
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“Getting Clients in the Door: How a Client Can Find the Door Even When It’s Off the Beaten Path,” published in “the Practitioner,” the Solo & Small Firm Section of the California Lawyers Association, Winter 2020 Volume 26, Issue 2.
Kim has spent her entire career in environmental protection, with over 25+ years representing or working within environmental groups, foundations and tribes advocating for environmental protection pertaining to all elements of the water cycle (storm water, wastewater, water diversions, groundwater), endangered species, land use, air quality, toxins, and climate change.
Among her achievements, Kim has overseen the legal advocacy program for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and represented the Orange County Coastkeeper to successfully protect Crystal Cove’s Area of Special Biological Significance from the Newport Coast development.
Kim also represented the Ventura Coastkeeper to protect water quality and indigenous rights in a proposed Ahmanson Ranch development, represented the Friends of the Los Angeles River to ensure prospective developments along the LA River had best practices in watershed management or were preserved for open space; and represented Heal the Bay to successfully challenge Las Virgenes Municipal Water District’s improper discharges into the Malibu Lagoon.
Kim is the proud Founder of environmental education nonprofit, Grades of Green, which has inspired and empowered close to a million students across 47 states and 27 countries to care for the environment.
Combining her environmental legal and education experience, Kim’s blog, Everyday Eco-Habits for Everyday People, provides simple actions - “Everyday Eco-Habits” - that "Everyday People" can adopt to live a little greener (kimlewandmartin.com).
Kim loves to spend her time in the great outdoors, especially if she can convince her daughter and son to join her . . .
EDUCATION
University of California, Los Angeles – 1988
Pepperdine University School of Law – 1992
PUBLICATIONS
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Kimberly E. Lewand, Clear Trend Emerging in Limiting PRPs to section 113 Contribution Claims in Pursuing Other PRPs -Is It a Distinction Without a Difference?, Feature Article, 7, 9 Envtl. Liability, Enforcement & Penalties Rep., 173, 173-179 (1997), 12, 1 Los Angeles County Bar Association Envtl. Law Newsletter (February - March 1998).
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Kimberly E. Lewand and Wendy Conole, California Supreme Court Reaches Landmark Decision -- Holds Cleanup "Order" Is Not A “Suit" Triggering Coverage, Feature Article, 8, 7 Calif. Envtl. Law & Remediation Rep., 141, 141-147 (1998), 12, 2 Los Angeles County Bar Association Envtl. Law Newsletter (October-November 1998), 9, 1 Envtl. Liability, Enforcement & Penalties Rep.1, 1-7 (1998).
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Kimberly E. Lewand and Tod 1. Zuckerman, United States v. Olin and Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida: After One Year, What Have Been Their Impacts?, Commentary, 11, 2 MeaIey's Lit. Rep.: Superfund 20-44 (1997).
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Kimberly E. Lewand and Gregory D. Trimarche, What Is the Scope of The Duty to Defend?, Feature Article, 7,9 Calif. Envtl. Law & Regulation Rep., 169, 169-175 (1997).
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Kimberly E. Lewand, Second Circuit Reverses Course - Landmark Decision Exposes Municipal and Household Waste to CERCLA Liability, Feature Article, 7, 2 Envtl. Liability, Enforcement & Penalties Rep., 49, 49-53 (1997).
PRESS
kimlewandmartin.com/press
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ABC interview for Earth Day (April 2017)
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She Boom Interview (2016)
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Planet Experts Interview (2016)
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KIIS FM Manny on the Streets Interview (2015)
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100.3 The Sound Interview (2012)
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KTLA Interview (April 2012)
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
BOARDS & AFFILIATIONS