Deborah Schmall is widely recognized as one of the leading environmental law practitioners in California. She recently served as the Co-Chair of the Global Environment and Energy Practice at Paul Hastings. She is ranked Band One in Chambers for California Environmental Law.

Starting with her career at the U.S. Justice Department’s Environmental Enforcement Section, where she prosecuted civil and criminal enforcement matters under a range of federal environmental laws, Deborah has practiced environmental law for decades. Her specialty areas include:

• Government enforcement actions and citizen suits.
• Complex, multi-party remediation driven by federal or state agencies or private parties and related dispute resolution proceedings.
• Hazardous materials or waste regulatory compliance and permitting.
• Water quality regulatory compliance and permitting.
• Facility closure regulatory compliance and permitting.

In addition, clients turn to Deborah for her strategic counsel at high-profile Brownfield developments, including the Mission Bay development in San Francisco, the former proposed new MLB stadium at Howard Terminal in Oakland, and a pending mixed-use development over a regulated landfill in Santa Clara. Deborah also has led environmental negotiations in connection with large M&A transactions for petroleum and pharmaceutical companies, mid-market divestitures and acquisitions, and more than 100 real property transactions.

Deborah’s practice spans a range of industries: pharmaceutical, technology, telecommunications, natural resources, and residential and commercial development. Her representative clients include AT&T, BHP Petroleum, Cargill, Genentech Inc., Prologis, the Oakland Athletics, and Western Digital Corporation. In 2024, Chambers noted her clients described her as “best-in-class in all matters environmental and deal-related” and that she is “excellent, responsive, thorough, and successful.”

Over her career, Deborah has been active in environmental policy matters. She was one of the founding members of the California State Bar’s Environmental Law Section (now a part of the California Lawyers Association) and served on its first Executive Committee. She has also served as an invited member of a private-government collaborative group focusing on Brownfield regulatory reform, and is on the board of directors of the Center for Creative Land Recycling, a national non-profit organization promoting progressive governmental policies and funding for Brownfield developments.

• Recommended for Legal 500 Environment: Litigation
• Ranked in Chambers USA for California Environment (2002 – present); current Band 1 ranking
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America, Legal 500, and International Who's Who of Business Lawyers
• Named Best Lawyers’ 2023 San Francisco Environmental Law “Lawyer of the Year”
• Named Best Lawyers’ 2015 San Francisco Environmental Law “Lawyer of the Year”

• Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1977
• Pomona College, B.A., 1974