R. Clark Morrison Named a Top Real Estate Lawyer for 2012

The Daily Journal named R. Clark Morrison a top Real Estate Lawyer in a special report published August 15, 2012. The report recognized 30 of the state's best real estate attorneys.

In an article about him, Morrison, who serves as legal counsel for the California Wind Energy Association, notes the frenzy that wind and solar energy started a few years back. 

“There is a big market in California for renewable energy, and California's deserts are one of the world's best places for both wind and solar energy,” Morrison told the paper. “When the market got created, it was something equivalent to the Gold Rush in the desert.”

Even so, Morrison said energy developers have run into significant regulatory issues. “We have a system to manage endangered species that is, in many ways, antiquated,” he said. “It's not up to dealing with the development proposals.”

As counsel to the wind energy association, Morrison's duties include bringing various stakeholders together, including environmentalists, Indian tribes and off-road vehicle users, a task he called a “monumental effort.

“We're making it up as we go along, because nobody has done this before,” he said. “We are trying to create a new type of permitting program for wind that will both ensure no loss to the eagle population in the desert, and still allow wind turbines and renewable energy to become vibrant energy in the state.”

Morrison also emphasized the importance of converting to renewable energy. “If we can't convert over to renewable energy, all bets will be off,” he said. “Global climate change is a common enemy. We're all at the table to find a solution and this makes the effort really rewarding.”