With over four decades of experience and a national reputation as one of the most respected practicing water law attorneys in the West, Stuart Somach recently expanded his water law practice to include work as a mediator. While Stuart has spent much of his career inside courtrooms, including arguing before the U.S. and California Supreme Courts, he has also spent much of it working vigorously outside of traditional courtroom settings, using alternative dispute resolution to find solutions to the West’s most contentious water law disputes. Stuart has a well-known ability to cut through complex issues and move conflicts to resolution. He couples experience with creativity and common sense to find thorough solutions that allow individuals, agencies and organizations to confidently move forward.

Background Information on Stuart Somach

After law school at McGeorge School of Law, Stuart Somach honed his expertise in water law experience early on with tenures at the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior. After serving in Washington, D.C., he returned to California and eventually founded the firm that has grown to become Somach Simmons & Dunn. Through the years, he has profoundly shaped nearly every facet of water and reclamation law throughout California and in the broader Western United States. His practice has involved transactional work, litigation, and the development of new policy as part of his involvement in the legislative process. In addition to arguing cases before both the U.S. and California Supreme Courts, his extensive career has included testifying before Congress on water issues and briefing former Presidents. He is the recipient of the Northern California Water Association’s Will S. Green Award for lifetime achievement.

Somach Simmons & Dunn is a midsize environmental and water law firm, with offices in California, Colorado, and the District of Columbia. The firm’s attorneys represent public and private sector clients across a range of water, air, and land disciplines, including litigation, transactional, and public policy matters.