The Thomas Law Group announced today the opening of a new office at the Kaiser Building in Oakland. The expansion comes on the heels of the law firm’s hiring of four new attorneys in 2014 to support the growing environmental and land use law firm.
The new office will be led by Thomas Law Group Of Counsel Todd Smith and enable the firm to establish closer ties with its Bay Area clients. Firm Founder Tina Thomas will continue to oversee all of the firm’s work at the existing Sacramento office and new office in Oakland. The Thomas Law Group is one of California’s top environmental law firms concentrating on land use issues and assisting clients to navigate the challenges of the California Environmental Quality Act and other environmental regulations.
The Thomas Law Group signed the lease on the new office space this month and will officially open the office for daily business in April.
“With several of our clients pursuing new projects in the Bay Area this year, the timing is right for us to establish a more formal presence in Oakland,” said Tina Thomas. “The Bay Area has always been a leader in environmental policy so it is a natural fit for the firm and the direction the firm will go in the next few years.”
The new office is the latest development for the flourishing law firm, which added four attorneys to its staff in 2014. Prior to joining the Thomas Law Group last year, Todd Smith spent five years with Ragghianti Freitas LLP in San Rafael, CA and seven years as Counsel with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco advising public entities and private developers in environmental, land use, and natural resources law. Angela McIntire joined the firm after several years as corporate counsel for an environmental consulting firm where she oversaw the environmental review process for a variety of energy, agricultural, urban, and rural development projects. Holly McMannes, who graduated U.C. Davis law school and interned for the Thomas Law Group in 2012, also joined the firm last year. The Thomas Law Group also added Natalie Kuffel, who will begin her work later this year after completing a one-year clerkship with the Hon. Morrison England in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Tina Thomas founded the Thomas Law Group in 2011 after nearly three decades at a separate environmental law firm in Sacramento. Thomas co-authored “Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act,” which is in its 11th edition, and has argued successfully before the California Supreme Court, California Appellate Courts and Federal District Court with many of her cases establishing new case law to guide future decisions in environmental law.
Media coverage of the new office news includes:
The Sacramento Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/01/28/thomas-law-group-grows-adds-oakland-office.html
Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article8216358.html
The contact information for the new office is:
Thomas Law Group
One Kaiser Plaza, Suite 875
Oakland, California 94612
E-mail: info@thomaslaw455.wpengine.com
Telephone (916) 287-9292
Fax: (916) 737-5858