Victor M. Sher, Principal

REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS

U.S. Department of State; State of New Hampshire; State of New Mexico; City of New York; City of Pomona; City of Santa Monica; City of Santa Barbara; City of Pomona; Orange County Water District; City of Riverside; Sacramento County Water Agency; Sacramento Groundwater Authority; Citrus Heights Water District; Del Paso Manor Water District; Fair Oaks Water District; Florin Resource Conservation District; Rio Linda Elverta Community Water District; Sacramento Suburban Water District; San Juan Water District; California-American Water Company; City of Sacramento; City of Roseville; Quincy Community Services District; City of Sunnyvale; Sunnyvale Redevelopment Agency; Yosemite Springs Park Utility Company; Hawaii Water Services Company; California Water Services Company; Montara Water and Sanitary District; City of Oceanside; City of Alhambra; City of Livingston; City of Shafter; City of Wasco; City of Delano; City of St. Louis (MI); Lamont Public Utilities District; City of Bakersfield; Plumas County*; County of Maui Board of Water Supply*; South Tahoe Public Utility District*

*Mr. Sher represented these clients before joining Sher Leff.

Mr. Sher has brought landmark environmental litigation on behalf of plaintiffs for 30 years.  He co-founded the firm of Sher Leff LLP in January 2003 where his practice focuses solely on representing public water suppliers and other public agencies in lawsuits against the manufacturers of toxic chemicals that pollute sources of drinking water.  Named a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2005, in 2009 he was lead trial counsel for the City of New York in City of New York v. ExxonMobil, a federal jury trial over MTBE contamination in Queens that resulted in a verdict for the City of $104.7 million.  He is currently the lead outside counsel for the State of New Hampshire in State of New Hampshire v. Amerada Hess et al., co-outside counsel for the State of New Mexico in State of New Mexico v. Amerada Hess et al., and was designated by the court as national co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in In re MTBE Litigation, a federal multidistrict litigation.  Representative other clients of Mr. Sher since starting Sher Leff include the United States Department of State, City of Santa Monica, City of Riverside, California Water Service Co., Hawaii Water Services Co.,  Montara Water and Sanitary District; City of Livingston, City of Oceanside, City of Shafter, City of Wasco, City of Delano, City of St. Louis (MI), as well as numerous other public water agencies and utilities, in matters involving MTBE, TCP, DBCP, PCE, DDT, and a variety of other chemicals.  Mr. Sher’s previous representations, among others, included the plaintiffs in South Tahoe Public Utility District v. Arco, et al. (MTBE), City of Riverside v. Shell Chemical, et al. (DBCP), and Board of Water Supply of the County of Maui v. Shell, et al. (DBCP).

From 1986 until 1997, Mr. Sher practiced with the public interest law firm Earthjustice, including as its President from 1994-1997.  During this period, The American Lawyer called some of his work among the “most important public lands management litigation in this country’s history.”  The ABA Journal noted that Mr. Sher’s lawsuits caused a “dramatic new direction in forest policy” for tens of millions of acres of federal forests, “forcing an end to business as usual.”  Mr. Sher also litigated many cases against state and federal agencies to protect communities from toxic chemicals, preserve endangered ecosystems and species, conserve public lands, and improve air and water quality.

Mr. Sher is a 1976 graduate of Oberlin College, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, received high honors, and was awarded the Comfort-Starr Award for excellence in the study of government.  He received his law degree in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review.  He was in private practice until 1986.  Mr. Sher received a Pew Scholarship in Conservation and the Environment in 1992, and shared the Natural Resources Council of America Award of Achievement for Policy Activities in 1993.  The American Lawyer Magazine named Mr. Sher to its 1997 “Public Sector 45”, a list of “45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.”  He is a frequent public speaker and author, and has appeared regularly in local and national radio, print and television media (including a CBS “60 Minutes” episode in January 2000 on MTBE contamination of groundwater). 

Victor M. Sher Born Bayshore, NY, August 2, 1954; Admitted to California Bar (1980), Washington State Bar (1987); U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Central and Eastern Districts of California, Western and Eastern Districts of Washington; Third, Ninth, and District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals; U.S. Supreme Court. Professional Experience:  Founding Principal, Sher Leff LLP, 2003 to present; Vice President, Miller Sher & Sawyer 1998-2002; Vice President, Miller & Sher 1997-98; President, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Inc. (Earthjustice), 1994 -1997; Founding and Managing Attorney, SCLDF Northwest Office (1987-1994); Law Offices of Victor M. Sher (1985-1986); Founding Partner, Lobdell Miller & Sher (1982-1985); Associate, Petty Andrews Tufts & Jackson (1980-1982). Honors:  Pew Scholar in Conservation and the Environment (1992), Natural Resources Council of America Award of Achievement for Policy Activities (1993), The American Lawyer “Public Sector 45" (1997); Northern California Super Lawyer (2005 to present). Education: Oberlin College, A.B. 1976, Phi Beta Kappa, Comfort-Starr Award for Excellence in Government; Stanford Law School (J.D. 1980), Member and Associate Editor, Stanford Law Review; Board of Editors, Environmental Law Society; Founder, Alternative Law Studies Organization; Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington D.C. (Spring 1979). Board Memberships:  Island Press (1996 to present, Chair, 2002 to 2007); Western Environmental Law Center (1997 to 2006); Defenders of Wildlife (2002 to present, Chair 2007 to present); League of Conservation Voters (1994-1998); Friends of the Earth Action (1997 to present).  Member: Consumer Advocates of California; American Trial Lawyers Ass’n.   Representative Publications and Speeches: “Taming the Tiger in the Tank:  The South Tahoe Public Utility District and Its MTBE Litigation,” in Common Law Remedies to Protect the Environment:  A Practical Guide to Heroic Litigation (ELI 2007); “MTBE Mega-Litigation in Federal Court:  Current Progress of In re Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether” (2006 NGWA Western Focus Ground Water Conference, May 16-17, 2006); “MTBE New Rulings in the Federal MDL Break Ground(water)” (Mealey’s Sep. 26, 2005); In re: MTBE Product Liability Litigation:  Mega-Combined MTBE Litigation in Federal Court (NGWA, Jul. 22, 2005); “Emerging Contaminants:  1,2,3 Trichloropropane” (2005 Ground Water Summit, Apr. 18, 2005); “Shifting Liability to the Real Bad Guys:  The Emergence of a New Philosophy of LUST Liability” (Mealey’s MTBE and LUST Liability Conf., Dec. 2004); “Litigation and Damages Involving Public Agencies and Contaminated Drinking Water” (Bridgeport Continuing Education Oct. 2004); “Closing the Deal:  Wrap Up Your Case With Persuasive Arguments” (Cal. State Bar, Oct. 2004); “Groundwater Contamination Litigation: Making the Plaintiff’s Case” (San Francisco Bar Ass’n, Feb. 2004); “Who Will Pay to Get Perchlorate Out of Arizona’s Water” (Am. Groundwater Tr., Feb. 2004); “Smoking Guns and Toxic Plumes:  Holding Manufacturers Responsible for MTBE Contamination” (Sacramento County Bar Ass’n, Sep. 2003); “Contamination of Public Drinking Water Supplies:  MTBE, DBCP and Other Unapproved Additives” (Mass Torts Made Perfect, Jun. 2003); “Water Quality as a Constraint on Land Use Planning:  The Next Frontier” (UCLA Extension Public Policy Program 17th Annual Land Use Law & Planning Conference, Jan. 2003); “The South Tahoe MTBE Case” (American Groundwater Trust, Dec. 2002); “Tactics and Considerations in MTBE Litigation” (Mealey’s California MTBE Conference 2002); “Litigating and Settling Drinking Water Contamination Cases” (Nat’l Ground Water Assn Aug. 2002); Co-chair, “Mealey’s California MTBE Conference” (May 11-12, 2000); “MTBE and Enforcement of UST Laws and Regulations” (Cal. District Attorneys’ Ass’n, Nov. 16, 1999); “Breaking Out of the Box: Toxic Risk, Government Actions, and Constitutional Rights,” 13 J. Envt’l Law & Litig. 145 (1998); “Surveying the Wreckage: The 104th Congress and Environmental Laws on Federal Public Lands,” 8 Fordham Envt’l L.J. (1997); “Three Trends in Citizen-Enforced Law” (State Bar of California Oct. 1997); “Environmental Rights and Civil Justice: The Legacy of William O. Douglas” (Inaugural William O. Douglas Lecture, Whitman College 1996); “The Incredible Disappearing Citizen Suit: Whither Enforcement of Environmental Laws on Public Lands?” (ABA 1996); “The Interplay Between the Federal Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act: The Columbia River Basin Dioxin TMDL From An Environmentalist’s Perspective” (ABA 1995); “The Role of Counsel in Environmental Justice Litigation” (NAACP 1995);  Round Table Discussion: Science, Environment, and the Law, 21 Ecology L. Quarterly 346 (1994); “Travels with Strix: The Spotted Owl’s Journey Through the Federal Courts,” 14 Pub.Land L.Rev. 41 (1993); -- & C. Hunting, “Eroding the Landscape, Eroding the Laws: Congressional Exemptions from Judicial Review of Environmental Laws,” 15 Har.Env’l.L.Rev. 435 (1991); “Ancient Forests, Spotted Owls, and the Demise of Federal Environmental Law,” 20 ELR 10469 (Nov. 1990); -- & A. Stahl, “Spotted Owls, Ancient Forests, and Congress: An Overview of Citizen’s Efforts to Protect Old-Growth Forests and the Species that Live in Them,” 6 N.W.Env’l.J. 361 (1990); “Unwanted Progeny: The Problems of Existing Stocks of Banned Pesticides,” 9 J.Pesticide Reform 3:38 (Fall 1989); “Pests, Poisons, and Power: Constitutional Implications of State Pest Eradications Projects in California,” 1 J. Envt’l Law & Litig. 89 (1986). Representative Cases: City of New York v. ExxonMobil (S.D.N.Y. 2009); South Tahoe Public Utility District v. ARCO (S.F. Sup. Ct. No. 999128); City of Santa Monica v. Shell (O.C. Sup. Ct. No. 01CC04331); State of New Hampshire v. Amerada Hess et al. (2nd Cir. 2007); State of New Hampshire v. Amerada Hess (N.H. Sup. Ct. No. 03-C-550); County of Maui Board of Water Supply v. Shell (Maui Sup. Ct. No. 96-0370(1)); Portland Audubon Soc’y v. Babbitt, 998 F.2d 705 (9th Cir. 1993); Seattle Audubon Soc’y v. Espy, 998 F.2d 699 (9th Cir. 1993); Portland Audubon Society v. Endangered Species Committee, 984 F.2d 1534 (9th Cir. 1993); Lane County Audubon Society v. Jamison, 958 F.2d 290 (9th Cir. 1992); Seattle Audubon Society v. Evans, 952 F.2d 297 (9th Cir. 1991); Seattle Audubon Society v. Evans, 771 F.Supp. 1081 (W.D.Wash. 1991); Seattle Audubon Society v. Moseley, 798 F.Supp. 1494 (W.D.Wa. 1992); Portand Audubon Society v. Lujan, 795 F.Supp. 1489 (D.Or. 1992); Portland Audubon Society v. Lujan, 884 F.2d 1233 (9th Cir. 1989); Portland Audubon Society v. Hodel, 866 F.2d 302 (9th Cir. 1989); Northern Spotted Owl v. Hodel, 716 F.Supp. 479 (W.D.Wash. 1988); Northern Spotted Owl v. Lujan, 758 F.Supp. 621 (W.D.Wash. 1991); Pilchuck Audubon Society v. MacWilliams, 19 ELR 20526 (W.D.Wash. 1988); Boise Cascade Corp. v. EPA, 942 F.2d 1427 (9th Cir. 1991); Longview Fibre Co. v. Rasmussen, 980 F.2d 1307 (9th Cir. 1992); Sierra Club v. Electronic Controls Design, Inc., 909 F.2d 1350 (9th Cir. 1990); Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Navy, 841 F.2d 927 (9th Cir. 1988); Friends of the Earth v. Hall, 693 F.Supp. 904 (W.D.Wash. 1988); Dioxin/Organochlorine Center v. Clarke, 57 F.3d 1517 (9th Cir. 1995); Northwest Food Processors Ass’n v. Reilly, 886 F.2d 1075 (9th Cir. 1989); National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides v. EPA, 867 F.2d 636 (D.C. Cir. 1989); Oregon Environmental Council v. Oregon Dep’t of Environmental Quality, 1992 WL 242123 (D.Or.Sep. 24, 1992); Greenpeace Action v. Franklin, 982 F.2d 1342 (9th Cir. 1992); Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative v. Franklin, 882 F.Supp. 1479 (D.Or. 1993); Pacific Rivers Council v. Thomas, 30 F.3d 1050 (9th Cir. 1994); Idaho Conservation League v. Mumma, 956 F.2d 1508 (9th Cir. 1992).

Alexander Leff, Principal

Alexander Leff has nearly twenty years of experience as a business counselor and strategic advisor to some of the nation's leading for-profit, government and non-profit enterprises.

Mr. Leff graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1979 from Stanford University where he earned degrees in both Economics and Human Biology.  He received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1983 and is a member of the State Bar of California.

After graduating from law school, Mr. Leff joined McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting firm, where his clients included a number of Fortune 100 companies.  For the past decade, Mr. Leff has been a management consultant based in San Francisco.  His practice has consisted of advising a range of for-profit and non-profit enterprises on issues of strategy, negotiation, and conflict resolution.

Mr. Leff co-founded the law firm of Sher Leff LLP in order to apply his experience in law, strategy, and negotiation to the resolution of the difficult environmental challenges facing the nation's groundwater and drinking water supplies.

Todd Eric Robins, Partner

Todd Robins has dedicated his career to environment and resource management litigation.  A cum laude graduate of Princeton University, Mr. Robins received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law in 1996.  During law school, he interned at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Lead Safe California, and the Berkeley Community Law Center.  He was also a Teaching Assistant in the Legal Writing and Research Program at Boalt Hall.

After graduating from Boalt Hall, Mr. Robins became a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Public Interest ] Research Group (PIRG) in Washington, D.C., a national environmental and consumer watchdog organization.  At PIRG, Todd focused on water issues including Clean Water Act enforcement and compliance.

Mr. Robins later became General Counsel at the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) in Washington, D.C., a national organization that provides legal services to public employee whistleblowers in cases involving the environment.  While at PEER, Todd managed a substantial caseload of active litigation matters arising under the federal whistleblower protection laws on behalf of public employees around the country.  Todd also tried a high-profile whistleblower discrimination case and won the largest damages award ever for a whistleblower to date.

In 1999, Mr. Robins joined the Lexington Law Group in San Francisco where he worked as an attorney focusing on public interest civil litigation including citizen enforcement of state environmental and consumer protection laws.

Mr. Robins has been an active volunteer including spending a year teaching English in a remote African community under the auspices of the WorldTeach program.  He has also volunteered his legal services to the homeless community in the Bay Area and currently serves as a volunteer arbitrator for the San Francisco Department of Human Services to resolve disputes between homeless shelters and their residents.

Jeffrey Shopoff, Attorney

Jeffrey Shopoff has extensive trial experience in a wide range of complex disputes, with dozens of trials in state and federal court in California, Washington, Oregon, and New York. He has emphasized accounting, corporate/partnership disputes, intellectual property, contract, fraud, securities, class actions, banking, and employment litigation.

Jeffrey graduated from the University of Michigan Law School, cum laude, in 1969, and UM Business School, with a B.B.A. in accounting, with distinction, in 1965. From 1970 to 1992, he practiced with the San Francisco law firm Feldman, Waldman & Kline, where he was managing partner and chairman of the litigation department. From 1992 to 2002, he was a partner with the San Francisco office of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro. Since 2002, he has practiced at his own firm in San Francisco, Shopoff & Cavallo LLP, handling a variety of complex civil cases.

Marnie Riddle, Associate

Marnie Riddle joined Sher Leff in September 2007.  Ms. Riddle received a B.S. in biological psychology and neurochemistry from Duke University.  As an undergraduate, she received a Howard Hughes Research Fellowship and a Duke Neurosciences Research Fellowship to pursue independent research in molecular biology and neuroanatomy.  These experiences led to a career interest in eliminating carcinogens, teratogens, endocrine disruptors and other contaminants from the nation's public water supplies.

Ms. Riddle received her law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 2004.  At Boalt Hall, Ms. Riddle was Executive Editor and Articles Editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly.  She also served on the Executive Committee of the California Law Review and as an Articles Editor for the Berkeley Business Law Journal.  In addition, she completed an internship in the offices of U.S. Magistrate Judge James Larson.

Ms. Riddle is the author of an article titled Interpreting the Relevance of Economic Harm in the Clean Air Act: Tennessee Valley Authority v. Environmental Protection Agency, 30 ECOLOGY L. Q. 617 (2003).  Prior to joining Sher Leff, she spent three years as an associate at the Law Offices of Stephan C. Volker, litigating public interest lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act and other state and federal environmental laws.

Nick Campins, Associate

Nick Campins joined Sher Leff in July 2008.  Mr. Campins received a B.A. in political science with highest distinction from the University of Michigan where he was Phi Beta Kappa.  A Delegate to the 37th Annual United States Senate Youth Program, Mr. Campins has always held a deep interest in public policy and in the environment.  While at Michigan, Mr. Campins interned for the United States Department of State, and was house chair of the Michigan Branch of the Telluride Association.  

Mr. Campins received his law degree from Columbia Law School in 2005.  At Columbia, Mr. Campins was a Human Rights Internship Fellow, a Teaching Fellow (Multi-State Litigation, State Attorneys General), and a member of the Executive Board of the Public Interest Law Foundation.  Mr. Campins completed internships in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the offices of U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis, IV, and MALDEF. 

Prior to joining Sher Leff, Mr. Campins was an associate at Heller Ehrman LLP and Taylor & Company Law Offices, LLP, where his practice focused on the representation of technology companies in commercial, intellectual property, and securities litigation.

Sara D. Van Loh, Associate

Sara D. Van Loh joined Sher Leff in October 2009.  Ms. Van Loh received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Oregon in 2001, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.  Ms. Van Loh received her law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 2004, with a certificate in environmental law.  While in law school, Ms. Van Loh was an Associate Editor and Articles Editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly, and she served on the board for the Environmental Law Society.  Ms. Van Loh also wrote a note titled, "The Latest and Greatest Commerce Clause Challenges to the Endangered Species Act: Rancho Viejo and GDF Realty," 31 Ecology L. Q. 459 (2004).

After graduating from law school, Ms. Van Loh worked for three years as an associate at Bullivant Houser Bailey, PC, in Portland, Oregon, and completed a two-year clerkship with U.S. Magistrate Judge Marc L. Goldman in Orange County, California.  Ms. Van Loh is licensed in Oregon and California.

Seth Tuman, Director of Operations

Mr. Tuman earned a JD in 1996 from Santa Barbara College of Law and an MBA in 2002 from Pepperdine University.  Mr. Tuman has ten years of paralegal experience in complex business litigation, class actions, and environmental litigation.

Jeffery Osbun, Paralegal

Jeffery joined Sher Leff in 2005.  He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is currently working toward his JD at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.  Mr. Osbun has over ten years of legal experience in toxic tort litigation, insurance defense, and environmental litigation.

Dagny Brown, Paralegal

Dagny earned her B.A. in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.  While at UC Santa Cruz, she taught an undergraduate seminar on the social and environmental histories of United States South.  After graduation, Dagny decided to use the law to pursue her interest in environmental and social justice.  She received her Paralegal certificate from the University of San Diego in December 2008 and joined Sher Leff LLP in March 2009.

Legal Assistants

Prior to joining Sher Leff in March 2008, Sarah Lucey received an M.A. in English from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007.  In her final semester of study, she focused on the overlap of law, literature, and language in Virginia Woolfe's "Three Guineas."

Katherine Wu graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.S. in Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology and a minor in Political Science in 2008.  While at UCLA, Ms. Wu completed multiple internships in both HIV and oncology research.  Ms. Wu also worked as a Legal Assistant at Issacman, Kaufman & Painter prior to joining Sher Leff in 2009.