Michael V Brady

Michael V. Brady has practiced environmental law and litigation in Sacramento since 1990. Mr. Brady’s litigation and counseling practice is diverse. In the Brownfields arena he represents the City of Emeryville Redevelopment Agency, the cities of Davis, Daly City and South Gate and most recently advised Thomas Enterprises in connection with remediation of the Sacramento Railyards.

Mr. Brady has also developed an expertise in Indian Gaming matters. He was lead counsel in El Dorado County’s four year fight against the Shingle Springs Rancheria casino. That effort involved litigation in state court (under CEQA), federal court (NEPA and tribal recognition) as well as extensive involvement with the California Legislature and the Governor’s Office. The result of the efforts is a Memorandum of Understanding between the County and the Tribe that will see the County receive over $200 million over twenty years.

Michael also represents General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC in Clean Air Act matters. In the area of contaminated properties, Michael’s practice includes both transactional and litigation expertise. On the transactional side he has advised public and private clients buying, selling, condemning, leasing and negotiating easements over contaminated properties throughout California. Michael has also litigated some of the very same issues that arise in these representations in state and federal courts throughout the state. Michael has also litigated issues under SMARA on behalf of lead agencies as well as miners.

Most of Michael’s major representations are characterized by a very high level of complexity and public scrutiny. Negotiating remediation agreements with state and federal regulators necessarily requires a certain level of scientific understanding as well as the ability to articulate and defend a private or public client’s strategy to the public and, occasionally, a court.

Michael has been a contributing author to a number of publications on environmental and development issues. He was a contributing author to “Natural Attenuation: CERCLA, RBCAs and the Future of Environmental Remediation,” (1997) published as part of the Sandia National Laboratories Natural Attenuation Project. Michael also authored the hazardous substance remediation and funding chapter of “Redevelopment in California, 2nd. Ed.” One of his published decisions on water issues includes Locklin v. City of Lafayette, (1994) 7 Cal.4th 327, an opinion by the California Supreme Court articulating the rules of liability for natural watercourses. Michael also authored the public trust portions of the California Department of Fish and Game’s brief which lead to the State Water Resources Control Board’s decision setting water levels at Mono Lake. Michael is very conversant with state and federal law relating to development in the floodplain having litigated these issues before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Michael is a member of the State Bar of California, and is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts, Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal and United States Supreme Court. He served as an officer of the Sacramento County Bar Association and is active in its Environmental and Administrative Law Section. Michael received the City of Woodland’s League of Women Voters 2007 Democracy Award for his efforts in developing the City of Woodland’s Green Waste program.

Michael received his degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984. While at Cal, he was a three-year letterman as a defensive tackle on the varsity football team. In 1989, he received his J.D. degree from Tulane University, where he received the prestigious Maurice Hirsch award for his role in drafting Louisiana’s Hazardous Waste Land Ban Regulations under RCRA. Additionally, he was Managing Editor of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal in 1988 and 1989. From 1989 to 1997 he was an associate in the Environmental Department at McDonough, Holland & Allen. From 1997 until 2007 Michael was a shareholder with The Diepenbrock Law Firm, later Diepenbrock Harrison, and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2007. In 2011, along with Michael E. Vinding, Mr. Brady founded the firm “Brady & Vinding.”