Gary A. Meyer is an environmental law specialist who has been selected by his peers as a California Super Lawyer numerous times. In 2017 Mr. Meyer was selected by the Los Angeles Business Journal as Environmental Attorney of the Year. Mr. Meyer joined Parker, Milliken in 1980, becoming a shareholder in 1986. In 1985 Mr. Meyer founded and since then has served as Chair of the firm’s Environmental Law Department.
Mr. Meyer’s environmental law litigation practice includes both federal court CERCLA Superfund matters as well as state court cost recovery, toxic tort and property damage matters. Mr. Meyer has represented Fortune 500 corporations, their corporate officers as well as public entities in numerous high profile cleanup, environmental administrative, civil and criminal enforcement matters. In a recent site remediation and toxic tort case involving over 1,100 plaintiffs who were seeking upwards of $500 million in damages against Mr. Meyer’s public entity clients, Mr. Meyer was successful in obtaining a complete dismissal of plaintiffs’ entire personal injury and property damages case. See, Alexander v. Exxon Mobil, Corp. BC435640 (L.A. Super. Ct.-Complex Litigation Court).
Reflecting Mr. Meyer’s prominence as an environmental attorney with thirty-five years of experience, he has been selected to serve in the role as Specially Appointed Court Receiver to help effectuate settlement of a highly contested soil and groundwater litigation matter in Los Angeles Superior Court. Mr. Meyer has also been retained to serve as an expert witness multiple times, including by a Fortune 50 company to serve as their legal expert witness in a large and highly contested insurance coverage matter involving one of the most high profile and complicated Regional Water Board, State Water Board, EPA, state court and federal court CERCLA groundwater litigation matters in California history. This case was resolved in a very favorable manner based, in part, on Mr. Meyer’s expert witness written opinions and deposition testimony. Mr. Meyer was also recently selected to serve as a legal expert witness in another complex environmental and insurance matter involving claims in both federal and state court which Mr. Meyer’s expert testimony helped to be resolved favorably for his client.
For over three decades Mr. Meyer has successfully represented corporate clients in a number of California landmark environmental enforcement actions filed by prosecutorial agencies including the United States Attorney, the California Department of Justice, the Environmental Crimes Units of Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, San Diego and San Bernardino Counties, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Meyer’s successful defense of one such action led to the California Appellate Court decision of Los Angeles Chemical Company v. Superior Court, 226 Cal.App.3d 703 (1990), which established a businesses’ constitutional right against warrantless or nonconsensual environmental inspections.
Mr. Meyer also has vast experience in advising clients on environmental issues in connection with real property transactions; with an emphasis on assisting his clients minimize their environmental liabilities in the buying, selling, leasing and/or development of contaminated commercial and industrial properties. In addition, Mr. Meyer has a wealth of knowledge regarding environmental compliance, reporting and disclosure, soil and groundwater remediation and underground storage tank matters. In this regard, Mr. Meyer has assisted many of his clients in obtaining “no further action” closure letters from government regulatory agencies.
Mr. Meyer is a popular and frequent speaker and lecturer throughout California. Since 1985 he has chaired his firm’s annual Environmental Law Seminar, which, since its inception, has been attended by over 5,000 business, government and industry representatives. Mr. Meyer’s 34th Annual Environmental Law Seminar, which is the longest running conference of its kind in California, was held on May 11, 2018.
Mr. Meyer has served on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar’s Environmental Law Section since 1996, chairing the committee in 2005-2006 and has also served on the Environmental Law Section of the California State Bar (now the California Lawyers Association) since 2008. In these capacities, Mr. Meyer chairs and lectures at environmental conferences throughout the state, including as both speaker and moderator several times at the State Bar’s Annual Yosemite Environmental Law Conference and at the Los Angeles County Bar’s Environmental Law Super Symposium. For over a decade Mr. Meyer was an instructor in the UCLA Extension Hazardous Materials Certificate Program. He is also an author and editor of numerous environmental law publications, articles and newsletters, and a frequent lecturer to business organizations and educational institutions.
EDUCATION
• University of California, Los Angeles B.A. in Philosophy, summa cum laude, 1975, Phi Beta Kappa, Departmental Honors
• University of California, Los Angeles J.D., 1979 , Member of the UCLA Law Review and Moot Court Honors Program