Linda C. Klein

Linda Klein is a land use attorney who focuses on California land use entitlement and litigation. 

Linda’s practice has a strong emphasis on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and she routinely helps clients navigate the complex regulatory hurdles facing development projects in California. Over the course of her career, Linda has worked on a diverse range of projects, including residences, corporate headquarters, large mixed-use master planned communities, industrial facilities, and independent and charter schools.  From the initial acquisition to the entitlement approvals, she ensures project files contain evidence to support the agency’s determination. If a project approval is challenged, Linda vigorously defends her clients’ interests through to final judicial hearings in trial and appellate courts. 

Housing 

Housing law is an area of rapid change and Linda is attuned to the latest developments.  Her knowledge of housing law helps her clients avoid unnecessary hearings and discretionary approvals, as well as maximize a site’s development potential.    

Sustainability & Green Building 

Among the thorny issues Linda routinely faces in getting projects approved is how to address GHG emissions under CEQA.  Linda has litigated some of the key CEQA cases concerning climate change and draws on her experience and informed perspective to minimize risks for her clients while protecting their projects from unworkable alterations or mitigation.  

Background 

One of the unique attributes Linda brings to client matters is her understanding of the building process. With a background in civil engineering and architecture, Linda works productively with lead agencies to ensure regulation is clear and practical, so that once approved, a project can smoothly proceed. Linda also uses her knowledge of architecture to advise clients on historic resource issues, including assessing whether a building is historic, navigating historic regulations, and crafting appropriate mitigation measures. 

Prior Legal Experience 

Linda clerked for the Honorable Sandra S. Ikuta of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. After her clerkship, Linda was a litigation associate at Irell & Manella, LLP. 

Housing Development Projects 

Entitled numerous residential and residential mixed-use development projects, ranging from 2 units to approximately 2000 units, including in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Los Gatos, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Foster City, South San Francisco, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Sunnyvale, Larkspur, and Richmond, and in the counties of Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, and San Benito.

Master Planned Communities 

Point Molate, Richmond. Represented a developer in securing entitlements for 1,260 new residential units, 250,000 square feet of mixed uses, and rehabilitation of approximately 375,000 square feet of historic structures, to be adaptively reused for a mix of uses, including ensuring that the CEQA document was adequate, addressing difficult historic and tribal cultural resource issues, drafting the zoning and General Plan amendments, and negotiating a Development Agreement and Development and Disposition Agreement with the city. 

Oak Knoll, Oakland. Represented a developer in securing entitlements for 918 residential units and 82,000 square feet of commercial space, including ensuring that the CEQA document was adequate, addressing difficult historic resource issues, drafting the zoning, and negotiating with the city. 

Office/Research and Development 

• Corporate Headquarters, Sunnyvale. Represents two corporations in their expansions of their respective headquarters in Sunnyvale.  

• Corporate Headquarters, Los Gatos. Represented developer in securing entitlements for a 485,000-square-foot office campus in Los Gatos, including drafting a successful ballot measure in support of the project. 

Industrial 

• Ongoing representation of an energy company on CEQA compliance issues related to work in an area with numerous tribal cultural resources. 
• Provided advice on compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act to an industrial operator on a site with numerous cultural (historic, archeological, and tribal) resources. 

• Ongoing representation of owners of industrial facilities on CEQA and zoning issues in various northern California jurisdictions. 

Institutional  

• Charter Schools, Various Jurisdictions. Ongoing representation of developer in securing entitlements for charter schools in various California jurisdictions.  

• Independent Schools. Ongoing representation of an independent school in Oakland. 

Land Use Due Diligence 

Provided developers and investors the land use information they need to decide whether to proceed with acquisition, development, or investment.  

Cases Resulting in Published Opinions

Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Association of Governments (2017) 3 Cal.5th 497. Defeated a challenge to the agency’s chosen greenhouse gas thresholds to evaluate climate change impacts in the environmental impact report for its Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy. 

Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Rail Authority (2017) 3 Cal.5th 677. Represented a private railroad operator in a case concerning whether federal law preempts the application of CEQA to rail operation. 

Golden Door Properties, LLC v. County of San Diego (2020) 50 Cal.App.5th 467. Represented the lead agency on appeal of a trial court ruling that its climate action plan was inconsistent with its general plan and a mitigation measure relying on carbon credits violated CEQA, winning a reversal of the first claim. 

Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians v. Brown (2014) 229 Cal.App.4th 1416. Defeated a CEQA suit challenging a Governor's decision to allow land to be taken into trust for Indian gaming. The case holds that the Governor’s decision is not a project under CEQA. 

Parker Shattuck Neighbors v. City of Berkeley (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 768. Defeated a CEQA challenge to a mitigated negative declaration for an urban infill, mixed-use project, on behalf of the project applicant. 

Silverado Modjeska Recreation and Parks District v. County of Orange (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 282. Helped defeat a CEQA challenge to a residential subdivision in Orange County. 

Other Litigation Experience 

Successfully defended an affordable housing project from a general plan consistency challenge in an expedited litigation, allowing the project to meet the state’s strict requirements to obtain the tax credit financing necessary to its development. 

Successfully defended a CEQA challenge to a commercial development in San Jose from a neighboring competitor, including overcoming a challenge to the completeness of the administrative record. 

Successfully defended a supplemental environmental impact report prepared for a corporate headquarters in Silicon Valley. 

Successfully lowered the requested attorneys’ fees in several attorneys’ fees motions. 

Honors & Recognitions

Best Lawyers, Land Use & Zoning Law, 2024-2025

Northern California Rising Star, 2013-2020

Northern California Super Lawyers Top Women Attorneys, 2018-2020

Professional Affiliations

California Association of Environmental Professionals, Member

Urban land Institute, Policy and Practice Committee