Mr. Grant’s extensive experience includes four years as the federal government’s top appellate lawyer for energy and environmental litigation. As a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice, he supervised the lawyers who defended rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies under pollution control statutes. Mr. Grant’s work also included supervising the lawyers who defended a wide range of permitting decisions related to pipelines and other projects, as well as those who prosecuted Clean Water Act claims against private defendants.
Both before and after his service at the Department of Justice, Mr. Grant has handled a wide range of important legal matters in federal and state appellate courts around the country. He successfully defended clients in litigation involving the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and other environmental contamination claims. He won a unanimous decision in the California Supreme Court that established the right of ratepayers to lower utility rates charged by public agencies, and he filed a successful petition for certiorari and argued in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Early in his decades-long legal career, Mr. Grant served in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and as a law clerk for retired Chief Justice Warren Burger and for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.
Mr. Grant is board certified in appellate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for 2023 and 2024, and he was named to Lawdragon’s 2023 and 2024 lists of 500 Leading Litigators in America and its list of 500 Leading Lawyers in Environmental Law in 2023.
Representative Cases:
- Northern Plains Resource Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 141 S. Ct. 190 (2020); 9th Cir. No. 20-35412 (dismissed as moot Aug. 11, 2021): Defended the Corps’ Nationwide Permit 12 (authorizing discharges associated with oil and gas pipelines and other utility lines) from attacks under the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, including by obtaining a stay of preliminary injunctive relief from a unanimous Supreme Court.
- U.S. Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Ass’n, 140 S. Ct. 1837 (2020): Spearheaded the successful petition for certiorari (and ultimate victory) on the interpretation of the Mineral Leasing Act, in defense of rights-of-way for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
- Team Enterprises, LLC v. Western Investment Real Estate Trust, 647 F.3d 901 (9th Cir. 2011), and Hinds Investments, L.P. v. Angioli, 654 F.3d 846 (9th Cir. 2011): Won two related decisions in the Ninth Circuit establishing that equipment manufacturers are generally not liable under CERCLA or RCRA or for nuisance or trespass for environmental contamination resulting from equipment purchasers’ disposal of hazardous waste.
- Osborn v. Haley, 549 U.S. 225 (2007): Drafted the successful petition for certiorari and argued for the petitioner in this dispute involving the Westfall Act, a procedural component of the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Updated Oct 2023
