News

Judy V. Davidoff and Arthur J. Friedman have joined the San Francisco office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP as partners in the firm's Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental practice group. Davidoff and Friedman most recently practiced with Steefel, Levitt & Weiss in San Francisco. 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, 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. Friedman has extensive experience litigating real estate, land use and various commercial matters. He also has significant experience practicing before the California Courts of Appeal, which resulted in a number of recently published decisions concerning the interpretation of CEQA and the Subdivision Map Act. "Judy is a star in the area of land use law. Her talents, combined with Art's litigation experience, will significantly enhance our real estate practice, which is already one of the best in California," said Guy Halgren, chairman of the firm. "I look forward to growing the firm's California land use practice, specifically in the Bay Area,” Davidoff said. “Sheppard Mullin is a top-notch national firm with an impressive real estate group. I am thrilled to be practicing on such a strong platform with the firm's great lawyers here in San Francisco and throughout California." "With Judy and Art joining us, we continue to grow signature practice groups like Real Estate and expand capabilities to better serve client needs," said Betsy McDaniel, managing partner of the San Francisco office. "We now have 84 attorneys in San Francisco and are on a roll. This year the office celebrates its 25th anniversary in San Francisco, and we were just named one of the 'Best Places To Work' in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times for a third consecutive year." "Judy and Art are excellent additions to the firm's Real Estate practice group, which now includes 74 attorneys firm wide," commented Domenic Drago, chair of the firm's Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental practice group. "They bring an incredible collective background, having worked on ground-breaking land use matters and cutting-edge real estate-related litigation." 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. Davidoff also specializes in litigation and regularly appears before the California Coastal Commission and related coastal regulatory agencies. Davidoff received her B.A., summa cum laude, from the State University of New York, Albany in 1973 and her J.D., with honors, from Boston College in 1977. Friedman received his B.A., cum laude, from Yale University in 1989 and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas, Austin in 1992. About Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with 490 attorneys in 10 offices located throughout California and in New York, Washington, D.C. and Shanghai. The firm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego. Founded in 1927 on the principle that the firm would succeed only if its attorneys delivered prompt, high quality and cost-effective legal services, Sheppard Mullin provides legal counsel to U.S. and international clients. Companies turn to Sheppard Mullin to handle a full range of corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions. In the U.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com.