Ira J. Klein

Ira J. Klein is Senior Counsel on the Environmental team and splits his time between the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. His practice focuses on a broad range of brownfields remediation and development, environmental regulatory, occupational health and safety, and hazardous materials and hazardous waste issues arising under federal and state environmental law. He also represents businesses on prevailing wage compliance and enforcement.

Ira’s brownfields practice includes the remediation and redevelopment of complex contaminated properties, (including at former landfills, former military installations, and properties affected by oil field, refinery, and energy production wastes and regional groundwater contamination) as he guides projects through intricate regulatory requirements associated with cleanup and long-term risk mitigation and management.  Ira is also well-versed and effectively guides clients that encounter cutting edge environmental issues, including with respect to vapor intrusion and emerging contaminants such as PFAS.  Ira also assists clients in obtaining liability-limiting agreements from state agencies, including under the California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act, to further manage risk. He also has experience in environmental litigation and dispute resolution, including cost recovery and other actions compelling or challenging the cleanup of impacted properties.

Ira also represents large and small businesses in environmental compliance counseling, regulatory and legislative advocacy, enforcement defense, and project development work on energy and environmental issues across various industries.  Key representations include clients in the real estate, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, construction, manufacturing, waste-to-energy, solar, oilfield services, and biomass industries, among others.

Ira has become a "go-to" resource and expert for complicated occupational health and safety matters, including key advice on responding to the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic, immediate "boots on the ground" support for catastrophes and fatality investigations and response actions, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and issues implicating and affecting workforce-wide practices and operations.

Ira is honored to have been recognized by Chambers as an "Associate to Watch", noted for providing "superlative legal and regulatory research, and his analysis and use of data in advocacy and framing presentations to advocate for his client is at a level of excellence seldom seen and rarely matched."

Honors & Recognitions

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, 2021-2025

Chambers USA, Associates to Watch-Environmental (California), 2021-2024